The Lie of "Inclusivity."

Thoughts on being blacklisted.

Earlier this year I was invited back to a New York stage for the first time in four years. Off-Broadway's Red Bull Theatre was throwing its 20th anniversary bash, and stepping into the Machiavellian skin of Aaron the Moor in Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus was too good an offer to refuse.

It was only a two-week workshop. But it was enough to ignite a passion I thought killed. I began to wonder if my future in the theatre wasn't as bleak as I'd assumed, given my tarnished reputation.

This notion was further inflamed in private conversations with entertainment professionals. Their feedback ranged from "I agree with you on a lot of the political stuff" or "you were right about a lot of the COVID stuff" or "you have a lot of allies in the industry." One highly-esteemed actor assured me "people want to help you...give them grace and let them." Another praised my willingness to speak out against the "toxic" (their word) leftism currently killing show business.

Then there was the aftermath of the wanton massacre of 1,200 Israeli Jews on October 10th, 2023. As actor Patrick Page put it: "I would never...have expected the day after October 7 for people to be in the streets protesting against the country that was attacked before they had taken a single measure in self defense....And not one or two people, I'm talking thousands of people. I did not know that that existed."

Many shared Page's shock, beginning to re-evaluate the left they'd pledged allegiance to their whole lives. Some entertainment professionals even found themselves on the receiving end of the Cancel Culture they've sworn doesn't exist.

This will never not be funny.

On top of all this were conversations with other artists in the Lower East Side's "Sovereign House." Gathered there were an intellectually diverse array of actors and writers and comedians and more, some of whom thanked me for taking a public stance against the hysteria disguised as "public health," and where I'd heard the term "Post-woke" more than once, and where it appears a new artistic and intellectual movement seemed to be simmering.

The energy had shifted. Sanity was returning. Industry insiders assured me that while my outspoken views might cost me some jobs, there would likely be far more opportunities than not.

They were wrong.

A recent phone call with an industry friend confirmed what I already knew:

I'm being blacklisted.

Am I disappointed? Yes. Am I surprised? No.

In the months since the Titus workshop, correspondences went cold. Connections dropped. Those who'd offered a helping hand disappeared. I learned of former peers concerned of "tensions" I have and would cause--tensions never observed pre-2020, when I was working with Tony Award-winning directors and winning effusion from luminaries like the late Stephen Sondheim.

The problem is neither my attitude, nor that I'm "difficult" (a dreaded label for any actor).

The problem is clearly my politics (or the perception of them).

The problem is that I should and should have shut up.

Truth be told, I wouldn't want me around either. In a proudly "Progressive" industry that sees itself as fully righteous and everyone else as fully fascist, no one is allowed to see when the emperor is naked, much less draw attention to it. I've been incredibly uncharitable in my public statements and predictions over the past few years--"directionally correct" as they may have been (though it's understandably difficult to remain gracious in the midst of one's niggerization).

Such candor is ill-advised in a field where swallowing bullshit is required for a career, on top of the eggshells one is forced to tap dance on to protect our fragile artist egos. Unfortunately the most pervasive bullshit one is expected to swallow is the belief that the industry truly adheres to its stated principles, chiefly "Diversity" and "Inclusion."

War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, blah blah blah

When perusing audition notices for prospective jobs, theatre professionals are met with the following statement from the Actor's Equity Association, the union for stage actors:

Equity’s contracts prohibit discrimination. Equity is committed to diversity and encourages all its employers to engage in a policy of equal employment opportunity designed to promote a positive model of inclusion.

Every single person working in the American theatre knows this is a lie. Recalling the "doublespeak" coined in Orwell's ominous 1984, none of the operative words in the above statement truly mean what they say.

Discrimination is lustily employed against anyone perceived as offensive to "Progressive" orthodoxy. Technically they are not allowed to blackball people over politics, but the rule is farcical. Any number of reasons can be manufactured ("tension!”) to bar an artist from employment, and actors in particular are cheap and replaceable. And in the wake of Donald Trump's rise even moderates and independents must lock themselves "in the closet" politically to avoid the wrath of their increasingly unhinged "Actorvist" peers.

Ironically America is extremely diverse, to a far greater extent than its ailing theatre industry seems willing to accept. Beyond its tapestry of races and ethnicities, the nation is also a rich mosaic of philosophies and religions--a panoply of views the theatre is either ignorant of or openly hostile to. In six months of employment at an Atlanta nightclub I found far more diversity--racially and ideologically--among my co-workers than I did in a decade spent in the New York theatre scene.

Industry professionals crow that audiences are more "diverse" than ever...yet theatres are still shuttering, open-ended runs on Broadway are still considered a thing of the past, there are still far fewer jobs than before, and the institution is still a shell of what it was pre-2020. This, as Americans continue to pack music venues and sports stadiums, continue to financially support their favorite influencers, and as "blacklisted" artists with a steadily growing fanbase generate six-figure funding for one-man plays.

This is because these forms of live entertainment are genuinely inclusive, not "inclusive" as doublespoken by "Progressives." If the theatre wants to "promote a positive culture of inclusivity," it first needs to learn humility. In the current zeitgeist this is not possible.

For who gets to be included?

Are Pro-Lifers included? Are blacks who deplore DEI included? Gays who oppose political "Queerness?" Women who reject feminism? Latinos against mass immigration?

Jews who stand with Israel?

Everyone knows the answer.

CD