Myth. Language. Embodiment.

Shakespeare Theatre Company is committed to building an inclusive organization that better reflects the diversity of the community we serve.

Shakespeare Theatre Company launched its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) committee after STC members participated in Theatre Communications Group’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Institute in February, 2016. The EDI committee is comprised of more than 40 staff members from across all levels representing administrative, production, and artistic areas with a mission to identify both successes and opportunities for growth regarding EDI issues at STC. The committee works to make recommendations to its leadership regarding intersectional inclusiveness and implementation strategies at all levels of the Company. Through informal monthly discussions held in an open forum and educational opportunities, this significant portion of STC’s staff gathers to identify, analyze, and address obstacles to creating a truly safe, inclusive theatre for all staff, artists, audience members, patrons, and community members.

STC’s EDI initiative is not something to be established and checked off a list; rather, it is a non-linear process that requires continuous movement and assessment as an organization. With a commitment to listen, learn, and be accountable, STC welcomes you to learn more by reviewing our initiatives and plans below.

Shakespeare Theatre Company is committed to adopting the following Anti-Racist Actions centered on cultural competency, working conditions and hiring practices, and artistic and curatorial strategies: this document will be updated on a rolling basis.

Cultural Competency

STC will provide mandatory Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) and Anti-Racism Training annually. Training items will include bystander intervention, de-escalation techniques, ending microaggressions, and conflict resolution training to provide the necessary tools to address racism and harm when it happens. Separate EDI and Anti-Racism leadership trainings for senior staff and management will be included based on individual roles.

STC will provide public-facing theatre personnel (including ushers, front of house, concessions, and other staff) with Anti-Racist, Implicit Bias, Anti-Oppression, Microaggression, and Bystander Training.

Board members will be invited and encouraged to attend all trainings.

STC will incorporate a land acknowledgement into first rehearsals and in all of our spaces to honor tribal sovereignty. Statement and signage will reflect this.

A timeline of our efforts will be listed on the website and updated quarterly.

Working Conditions and Hiring Practices

STC will provide a dedicated EDI presence alongside existing human resource procedures to promote a safe and anti-racist environment.

• The Director of Equity and Enrichment will work with the Director of Human Resources to provide transparent procedures and policies handling discriminatory actions and practices as well as incorporating and developing new hiring procedures to ensure a diverse pool of candidates for all available positions, including volunteer roles.
• The Director of Equity and Enrichment will work with the Director of Human Resources to ensure all policies, documents, communications, and procedures are available and accessible for all employees and volunteers.
• Visiting directors will meet with the Director of Equity and Enrichment to discuss STC’s EDI and anti-racist policies, to offer resources and guidance as requested, and to act as a mediating force.
• All hired actors and designers will be given thorough documentation of STC’s policies, practices, and resources.
• Company management, union deputies, and the Director of Equity and Engagement will collaborate to foster the cultural care of BIPOC artists. This includes setting anti-racist expectations at first rehearsal as well as ongoing check-ins throughout the production process.
• STC has discontinued the practice of “10 out of 12” rehearsals.

With an EDI lens, STC will review and revise drafted hiring practices and job descriptions for all levels of employment in the company to counter bias and to codify improved and equitable employment.

Artistic and Curatorial Practices

STC will establish consistent, meaningful, long-term relationships with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) artists. This includes exploration of gap training and/or directing fellowship opportunities for future leaders of color.

STC will implement equitable season curation and programming with added BIPOC voices in the season planning process.

STC will measurably expand the diversity of BIPOC artists’ voices in its programming with the writers and directors represented on our stages.

STC will work with individual directors to ensure diverse design teams.

STC will ensure that all directors have casting and dramaturgical resources available to them to protect and support the cultural specificity required of the work.

STC will review and then adjust accordingly the process and scheduling of production rehearsals when full seasons and capacity returns (post-COVID-19 pandemic).

STC will provide equitable access for BIPOC audiences through STC’s marketing and education programs, including:

• Seeking opportunities to provide resources for students and their families to attend shows
• Connecting with community groups and organizations (churches, shelters, Boys and Girls Clubs, etc.)
• Finding BIPOC marketing consultants or new hires to support efforts in expanding STC’s reach and creating inclusive content.

Accountability

As we make progress with the efforts listed in this document, STC seeks to create a work environment and community that is transparent and inclusive. To achieve this, accountability is essential. In addition to maintaining an open door policy within our company, we will be conducting annual assessments addressing our diversity goals, which will include:

• Data analysis of demographics (audiences, staff, students, volunteers)
• Pay scale evaluations
• Production assessments
• Staff surveys
• Audience surveys

We aspire to create a theatre and staff as diverse as our community. That means enacting new policies, developing new programming, and welcoming new perspectives. Some systemic changes are already occurring at the theatre; others will take more time. Small steps and large leaps will lead to meaningful, sustained change. To that end, we wish to be held accountable by our artists, staff, patrons, and community.

Download STC’s Code of Ethics

Code of Ethics

Shakespeare Theatre Company’s (STC) Code of Ethics articulates our core values, shares our ethical standards to provide guidance for the application of these principles to all work on and off our stages, and provides the standards to which the general public can hold STC as an institution accountable.

This Code of Ethics establishes the standards and principles for ethical conduct that apply to Shakespeare Theatre Company collectively as an institution, and to all members of the Board of Trustees, staff, artists, fellows, interns, and others who are employed by or volunteering at Shakespeare Theatre Company. We expect that these standards will be met by all STC members and will be enforced by policies as outlined in our Employee Handbook.

As the nation’s premier classical theatre company, Shakespeare Theatre Company has become synonymous with artistic excellence and making classical theatre more accessible to audiences in and around the nation’s capital. The Company’s mission is to create innovative productions that inspire dialogue and connect classic works to the modern human experience.

Shakespeare Theatre Company is dedicated to treating our board, staff, artists, partners, audiences and communities with dignity and respect. We are expanding our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) efforts and writing Anti-Racism policies into all of our existing Human Resource materials. We are working to increase the representation of Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), women, non-binary/gender non-conforming individuals, members of the LGTBQIA+ community, and people with disabilities in our applicant pool, on our staff, in our senior leadership and Board positions, and as participants in all programming.

Shakespeare Theatre Company is committed to building an inclusive, equitable, and anti-racist organization that better reflects the community where we reside and work. STC recognizes the significant room for growth in its company culture and staff composition, artistic programming, and education and engagement programming. In addition to prioritizing racial diversity on- and off-the-stage, STC will also take measures to ensure the support for and safety of women, non-binary/gender non-conforming individuals, members of the LGTBQIA+ community, and people with disabilities.

Company Culture:

Shakespeare Theatre Company’s EDI Committee is instrumental in bringing staff together to discuss and address EDI issues, and EDI Committee efforts have led to important policy changes including more equitable hiring and recruitment policies, the practice of including gender pronouns in email signatures and during staff meetings, and Anti-Racist Theatre (A.R.T.) training for staff led by Conscientious Theatre Training. We are committed to supporting the work of the EDI Committee.

We are also pledging to continue to revise our company’s policies and enhance our practices to ensure the safety, security, and success of all members of our staff.

Artistic Programming:

We are accountable for the work we produce on our stages and acknowledge that “classical” theatre has traditionally been an exclusionary term, limiting the contributions of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), women and nonbinary/gender nonconforming individuals, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and people with disabilities.

We are committed to expanding the definition of “classic” to include playwrights previously excluded from the canon, with a renewed commitment to high-quality, exhilarating, inclusive theatre. We vow to diversify artistic programming, both on- and off-stage.

Education and Engagement Programming:

As a prominent fixture in several D.C. neighborhoods, we acknowledge our interconnectedness to Washington, D.C.’s varied communities, neighborhoods, and people residing within the greater Washington, D.C., metro area. STC is dedicated to working with our community to provide educational, engagement, and enrichment programming for all.

Shakespeare Theatre Company is committed to building an inclusive organization that better reflects the diversity of the community we serve. While some of us are comfortable with the gender pronouns assigned to us at birth, there are many who do not have this privilege—whether they are intersex, transgender, non-binary, gender nonconforming or, simply, do not present themselves as what we typically describe as male or female. Mis-gendering people or ignoring their stated pronouns has the harmful effect of not only disrespecting them, but also invalidating someone’s identity. At STC, we welcome and support our staff, patrons, artists, and community to share their pronouns so that we may address them fully, respectfully, and appropriately.

At STC all are encouraged to share their personal pronouns in their email signatures, on employment and fellowship applications, and when introducing themselves to new people. Additionally, we now offer a wider range of pronouns on our website so that patrons may update their pronoun preferences in our ticketing system.

Shakespeare Theatre Company is honored to welcome everyone to our theatre, which sits on the unceded homeland of the Nacotchtank, Piscataway Conoy, and Pamunkey peoples and their descendants. It is our hope that in gathering together communities from near and far to engage in art and storytelling, we are doing so responsibly, with respect and recognition of Indigenous people and First Nation members and elders who are with us, and of all the Native peoples for whom D.C. is their ancestral home.