Lean Ensemble Theater

Lean Ensemble Theater has not done enough to stand with Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) artists and patrons. Today we begin again, with profound urgency and hope. We will actively take meaningful steps to support racial equality. In the coming weeks, months and years, we commit to- SEEK EDUCATION. Lean Ensemble Theater leadership and staff will engage in equity, diversity and inclusion training provided by an outside professional, in order to become a company whose structure and board governance is more representative of the population of the Lowcountry of South Carolina as well as Georgia’s Coastal Empire. BE A STRONGER ALLY. We will tell more inclusive stories and pursue BIPOC artists to share them. We will have rehearsal rooms and performance spaces where diverse opinions may be shared safely. We will have BIPOC theatermakers in artistic leadership positions and on design teams. We will have an ensemble membership that better reflects the entirety of the American theater. These commitments are an effort to balance the power dynamic, both on stage and off. LISTEN MORE. Our post show discussions have covered a wide range of topics, from suicide to religion to the hearing impaired, but we have never focused on race relations. We will produce work that engages conversation on the long history of race relations on Hilton Head, as well as the world outside our island. We will provide a space where those who feel like they have no voice will be welcome and will be heard. Difficult and uncomfortable conversations can safely occur in a place that is worthy to hear them, and we will strive to be that place. This is how we begin the work. Our upcoming commission of the play Mitchelville, a project which we have been developing for over 2 years, is a step in the right direction, but only a step. This is a living document. Commitments will be achieved and new ones will be added. We will make mistakes and we will own them. Through all of this, we wish to be held accountable. If you see us lagging behind, please let us know.