In light of recent events, we feel that it is necessary to be as transparent as possible, especially in regard to the public’s concern.
This week, less than 24 hours before our Shakespeare Festival, the troupe was sent a private Facebook message with information regarding a cast member that required immediate attention. Until then, we had no previous knowledge about this cast member’s actions 24 years ago; or status on the Missouri sex offender registry. Given that the cast member had two large roles in the production and that our cast included his three children (the only minors involved in the production were his children), we could not find immediate replacements without completely cancelling the performance. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to react. Our troupe members had already invested hundreds of work-hours learning lines, running rehearsals, building sets, designing costumes, and fixing technical issues. Setting up for the festival has been a Herculean task for our small cast of thirteen actors (now twelve) and even smaller technical crew of four. This task was exacerbated with the extreme heat wave that coincided with the build. With all this in mind, the board made the difficult and contested decision to continue with the production with specific caveats: the cast member was confined to backstage and a buddy system was implemented to severely restrict his interactions with the cast and crew, and to prevent interactions with the public. The board also immediately determined to prohibit his involvement in future productions. It is also worth noting that the Rec Center facilities were closed during our performance time. Our initial decisions were made in the belief that the production could continue safely. We understand that those actions were not supported by members of the community at large, and we deeply and sincerely regret not taking more direct action. He has since been removed from this production entirely, as well as any future productions. We are now exploring options to continue our second weekend of performances without his participation. We are absolutely committed to the safety of our cast and crew, and of the public. Though it is not standard practice for small organizations like ours to run background checks on participants, we will implement those procedures to vet current and future troupe members. We hope that we can continue to provide the local community with a place to express their art and to unite members of the community through the joy of performance. Comments are closed.
|
Next Board Meeting:
All board meetings are open to the public. Contact the board if you would like to attend.
If you want to suggest an item for the agenda, or if you'd like to be updated as meeting plans change, please send an email request to: [email protected] Want to be notified when this page is updated? Try http://www.changedetection.com
or subscribe to our Twitter feed. Archives+
March 2024
Categories+ |