To the deaf community and its advocates,
I am the Artistic Director at Theatre Cedar Rapids where we will be doing a production of Tribes this fall. I want to address the questions, complaints, rants, and vitriol against our production, the director of this production, and our theatre because we cast a hearing actor as the play’s deaf character, Billy.
Theatre Cedar Rapids is a community theatre in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The population of our city is just over 128,000. If you combine the Corridor population (Cedar Rapids to Iowa City), the population is right around 200,000. The number of people in the entire state of Iowa ages 18-64 (the role of Billy is in his 20s) with hearing disabilities is just under 38,000 [Gallaudet University Library] …that’s 2% of the population of our entire state. That means that the odds for finding a local deaf actor were stacked against us, but we still had hope that a deaf actor would show up. We advertised the auditions for Tribes in the same way that we advertise our auditions for all shows…through social media, local media, and TCR publications. I know that at least one organization that advocates on behalf of the deaf community was contacted to let them know that we were holding auditions for a show with a role for a deaf actor.
What’s more, we are a community theatre. We exist for the community we serve, Cedar Rapids and its surrounding towns. We do not pay our actors or our backstage crew (that is the difference between a professional theatre and a community theatre). It is our policy at TCR to cast from the pool of actors who auditioned. That is the only fair way to cast…that is the purpose of auditions.
Unfortunately, no deaf actors showed up to the auditions. Because we do approximately one show a month, we have a finite amount of time to cast and rehearse our shows. Once a show is cast, there is no time to re-audition or recast without losing precious rehearsal time.
While I empathize with the deaf community’s concerns, and I am moved by the passion with which everyone is speaking, this was not a decision that was filtered through any kind of bigotry by the theatre or the show’s director. It was a decision made in service to the show we have committed to do, to the audience who has already purchased tickets to this particular show, and to the actors who showed up to audition.
David S. Schneider was contracted by TCR to direct this show, and we support David’s decisions as a talented theatre professional and as an incredibly thoughtful and decent man. David did what we all would have done…he cast the best actor at the auditions for the role of Billy. Unfortunately, as I have pointed out before, there were NO DEAF ACTORS at the auditions from which David could choose. Had there been a deaf actor who followed the audition process for the show and impressed David, I have no doubt that he would have cast that actor in the role of Billy.
My question to you is: with no deaf actor in the role of Billy, should we just not do the play, thereby ending any conversation that this play or the controversy of our casting might bring? Or is it more valuable to do the play with the actors available so that we can talk about the issues confronting the deaf community?
I believe the latter. The conversation is the important thing. And that’s why we will be hosting post-show conversations about this very issue following every Sunday matinee performance. I invite anyone, hearing or deaf, to join us for the show and for the conversation afterward. If you are not available for one of these performances or would rather address the issue with me, please don’t hesitate to send me an email at leslie.charipar@theatrecr.org.
While all of us at TCR are very sorry that people are upset about our production, I firmly believe that this is an amazing opportunity for us to have this conversation face-to-face. It’s the very reason that Nina Raine wrote the play in the first place. It’s the reason that we do theatre.
Sincerely,
Leslie Charipar
For show information, please visit www.theatrecr.org/tribes.
