Anti-Racism Work at Steep Theatre

Update - March 20, 2024

Steep leadership have undergone an audit of the anti-racism statement released in January 2022 to evaluate how the company is doing in meeting its commitments. The plan is a living document, that continues to evolve with the company. Below is a summary update to the Anti-Racism Action Plan:

Steep has made strides in organizational structure and staffing including but not limited to: the creation of additional part-time paid positions and increased budget for staffing; key staff members are receiving annual theatre-focused DEIBA education; intervention protocols for harmful moments have been developed, enhancing transparency and safety within the company; succession plans have been completed and the company successfully transitioned Executive Directors since the action plan was first shared. Ensemble members are no longer expected to do volunteer labor for the company – monthly paid positions were added for members of the Ensemble Council, and all Ensemble members are paid for their work in productions. The Board of Directors has also made progress in making space for new members and adding three new board members.  Board and Ensemble communication has improved with ensemble presence at board meetings and regular reporting of board business in company updates.  Board and ensemble also collaborated successfully in the hiring of new ED and partnering in the Building Committee.

For Artistic Programming, the company has ensured that at least 50% of all plays produced, workshopped, or otherwise presented are written by BIPOC, LGBTQIA, and/or other historically marginalized playwrights, and forged new relationships from those communities through classes, auditions, and performances. Steep has also added both a cultural consultant role and DEIBA officer role in the budget for all future productions. Moreover, all information is readily available to those participating in productions through the Artist Handbook, which includes the anti-racism action plan, the concern resolution path, and additional resources.

There are several items in the audience experience section that cannot be fully addressed until Steep has open its new home, but the company has also made strides in this category, including developing a land acknowledgment and maintaining an Accessible ticket program. The items that were marked as ongoing in all categories continue to progress and be implemented into our day-to-day work. Through reviewing this document regularly, we keep those commitments top of ensure they are continuously implemented.

Update - January 24, 2022

Expressing our intent to be an anti-racist organization was an important step in Steep’s ongoing work to create a truly welcoming and inclusive space for theatre and conversation. It is also a critical part of how we see our role as a community-focused arts organization. Like any goal, becoming an anti-racist organization isn’t something that happens simply by stating a desire. Over eighteen months, a group of Steep ensemble, board, and staff members, with the help of a wonderful consultant, explored every thread in the fabric of our operation with an eye towards anti-racism, anti-bias, and inclusion. The result of that work is a series of 134 specific action items that support 32 organizational commitments, allowing us to live our values every day while we build new practices and dismantle ideas we once took for granted. This is our script for the years ahead, and we are grateful to be doing this work.

This plan is a living document. It is thorough, and it is imperfect. It will take years to implement, and over that time it will evolve and grow as we work and learn together. We are developing, and will continue to refine, internal methods of holding ourselves accountable to this work and to live up to the commitments that we make to ourselves, to you, and to every artist and audience member who joins us in our artistic home and in our art.

We welcome your input, questions, and feedback, now and long into the future. We look forward to keeping you up to date on our progress and our challenges as we build a more equitable, inclusive, and anti-racist Steep.

Update - October 25, 2021

Work on our anti-racism strategic plan is progressing well, and we intend to have more to share very soon. In the meantime, we have created a webpage devoted to financial transparency. We hope you’ll check it out!

Update - July 8, 2021

The past year and a half have been remarkably active inside Steep as our small staff and volunteer ensemble and board dug into strategic planning and anti-racism work while exploring countless options for our future home, and we found our capacity stretched as we tried to simultaneously manage multiple priorities. This summer and fall we are taking a brief pause in our search for the next Steep Theatre to focus our energy on getting back on stage and continuing the crucial work of building a more equitable and sustainable organizational structure with production policies that emphasize diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Conducting a racial equity audit of our production process and organization has been as enlightening as it has been challenging, and we are grateful for the help and guidance we have received as we strive to build accountability and transparency into this process. We continue to learn and grow, and we have more to do - prioritizing this work now will ensure that we will be a stronger and more collaborative organization that is better equipped to create and share powerful stories once we return to the stage.

Stop Asian Hate - March 19, 2021

Steep Theatre Company condemns all violence against the Asian American Pacific Islander community. Tuesday’s hate crime in Atlanta, resulting in the murder of eight people, six of them women of Asian descent, is yet another horrific example of the white supremacist and misogynistic culture deeply rooted in American history. According to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, Anti-Asian hate crime in American cities increased nearly 150% in 2020. We stand in solidarity with all those impacted by these racist and misogynistic acts, and we strive to dismantle the white supremacy that perpetuates them.

The names listed below are just the most recent victims lost in this ongoing epidemic of hatred and misogyny. They are not anonymous. They each had lives and families and connections that are forever broken due to this horrendous act.

Soon C. Park, 74
Suncha Kim, 69
Yong A. Yue, 63
Hyun J. Grant, 51
Xiaojie Tan, 49
Delaina Yaun, 33
Daoyou Feng, 44
Paul Andre Michels, 54

Join us in deepening our understanding of the history of anti-Asian violence, supporting organizations that serve victims of violence, writing to legislators, and finding other ways to help. #StopAsianHate #UpliftAsianCommunities

Update - January 16, 2020

We would love to know what makes you feel welcome so that we can design our next theatre with our diverse community in mind.

For twenty years, Steep has been bringing artists and audiences together for important conversations, and we’re excited to dream about many more years of these conversations. Now, as we envision our future home theatre, we want to bring artists and audiences together again to help us experience our prior venues through your eyes. We don’t have a particular building in mind yet, and we’re not in the design phase, but when we begin this work we want to know what you think makes Steep special. You will be asked about memories you have of either of our prior venues, thoughts about what makes you feel welcome at Steep, and what it feels like to be at the theatre.

Update - December 17, 2020

An essential part of our work, both now and in the future, is the process of eradicating white supremacy from our art and our organization. Guided and inspired by the work of the generous people who wrote and assembled the We See You White American Theatre Demands, Steep’s ensemble, board, and staff are working together to educate ourselves while we audit, interrogate, and revise Steep’s policies, processes, and distribution of responsibility. Minimizing harm and striving for equity touch every facet of our organization from where we order our printing to how decision-making authority is distributed, and we are grateful to have a designated budget line and the time we need to support these efforts.

This update is a preamble to more specific details that will come this spring and summer, and we will keep this webpage up to date as we move forward.

Steep Theatre Company is 47 ensemble members and artistic associates, 15 board members, and two staff members. Collectively we are committing to make Steep an anti-racist organization. This commitment manifests in the work of the company, the board, and the staff, both internally in how we go about our work and externally in how our art manifests in the community. Greater detail about specific plans and policy changes will be forthcoming, but as we are diligent and rigorous in this work and striving to include as many members of our community as possible in a thoughtful and thorough process of learning, evaluation, and change, we will begin with an update on the current shape of our anti-racism work.

Of the 64 people who comprise Steep Theatre, only ten are people of color, and none of these ten people currently hold leadership positions within the company. As the ensemble collaborates with, welcomes, and empowers more artists of color, and as board vacancies are filled by leaders of color, Steep will be honored to welcome, respect, and defer to those who will shape the future of the company. But, it is not the responsibility of these future Steepers to correct past harm or diversify a white organization. Rather, it is the responsibility of the current Steep community to listen with our whole selves, identify and rectify oppressive systems, cede authority, and create a theatre worthy of the brilliant artists who will shape its future.

The work of transforming Steep into an anti-racist organization is being conducted by two groups of ensemble, board, and staff members. Both of these groups are comprised predominantly of white people. All Steep ensemble, board, and staff members are invited to participate, people in leadership positions are expected to participate, and people of color who choose to participate are compensated for their time and emotional labor.

Anti-Racism Working Group
This group is focused on research, collective learning, and establishing a shared understanding of racism, white supremacy, and the way these ideologies permeate theatre-making practice. This group meets every two weeks, and each meeting is led by a different member. There is an infinite amount of learning to be done, and this work will be ongoing.

Anti-Racism Action Group
This group is in the process of auditing every aspect of Steep’s operations. Each of five areas (finance, artistic programming, audience experience, the production process, and the board) is currently being reviewed and evaluated according to the We See You White American Theatre Demands, feedback from artists of color within the Steep community, and other resources identified by the working group. Once these audits are complete the group will propose changes to current policies and practices, and these proposed changes will be submitted to the ensemble and board for approval with particular emphasis on the perspectives of the people of color in the ensemble and staff, who will be compensated for their input. This group intends to contract a consultant to oversee parts of this work and help build accountability and transparency into the process.

This work is rigorous, ongoing, and being embraced with enthusiasm. We are all growing as individuals and as a community, and we are inspired by the art that will be born from this work in the future. Thank you for joining us on this journey.