What does Diversity mean to you?

Contributed by Guest Blogger of the Week, Derek Lee McPhatter.

Indie Theater is, in my opinion, the artsy, gutsy creative, risk-taking counterpart to more mainstream and institutionalized Theater. 

As such, the Indie Theater scene enters the “diversity” conversation on different ground from Broadway.  And in terms of diversity, its been my experience that many of the movers and shakers in Indie Theater are there precisely because the kind of theater they are doing, or the sort of background/perspective they bring to the table isn’t being supported by the Big Shots…

The force behind diversity is a commitment to INCLUSION.  So, as a person of color and whatnot, I have some questions for the IT Awards crowd…

What does Diversity mean to you? And how would you think about diversity issues if there was no such thing as a Black History Month?,  Women’s History Month, Gay Pride, etc. etc.? 

Also, what sort of Perspectives/Communities do you feel are NOT included in the Indie Theater community?  What should/could happen to change that?

I’m sitting here at my computer trying to answer these questions myself, and I’ll be interested to see what you all have to say.

Guest Blogger of the Week: Derek Lee McPhatter

We want to thank Kelley Nicole Girod for kicking off our discussion about diversity on NYC's indie theatre stages.

This week's guest blogger will be Derek Lee McPhatter.

Derek Lee McPhatter is a dramatic writer, producer, recently relocated to Los Angeles as a member of the 2012 Guy Hanks and Harvey A Miller Screenwriting Program (The Cosby Program).  He is part of the leadership team for The Fire This Time Festival in New York City, which completed its third season in January 2012. Plays include: Undercover on Another Day of Absence (featured in Harlem 9's 2011 48 Hours in Harlem Festival); The Lattice Crashes (The Tank / Harlem Stage), Bring the Beat Back (Freedom Train Productions), A Better Destiny for Bethany (Horse Trade's The Drafts Fest); and two Fire This Time Festival plays, Citizen Jane and On Troubled Waters. He is a Harlem Arts Alliance/Columbia University Dramatic Writing Fellow, in partnership with New Heritage Theatre. He holds a BA in English from Morehouse College, and a Master's in Humanities from NYU. He is a native of Pickerington, Ohio.