ACTION PLAN FOR PRODUCING THEATRE THAT IS CREATED BY, TELLS THE STORIES OF, AND IS SHAPED BY THE PERSPECTIVES OF BLACK, INDIGENOUS, AND PEOPLE OF COLOR, WOMEN, DISABLED PEOPLE, NEURODIVERSE PEOPLE, AND THE LGBTQ+ COMMUNITY.
- OJP will actively seek out works by playwrights who are BIPOC, Women, LGBTQIA and/or neurodiverse, and will make sure those works make up at least half of our main season every year.
- OJP will require that all personnel receive, understand, and agree to OJP’s policies that promote its commitment to being a multi-ethnic, multi-racial, neurodiverse person inclusive, disabled person inclusive, and gender non-discriminatory organization. This empowerment philosophy will underlie and be at the core of all decisions we make.
- OJP will implement a casting philosophy that actively rejects the status quo which sees the norm as “white” and casts non-specified characters as white. Unless race is a specific plot point, OJP will cast characters with a goal of increasing racial and ethnic diversity on its stage so that it represents or exceeds the ethnic and racial makeup of Southern California.
- OJP will not produce plays by non-BIPOC playwrights who place restrictions on the race, ethnicity or gender of characters that are not necessary to the plot and that tend to diminish opportunity for women, for BIPOC or LGBTQIA performers, or for representation of BIPOC or LGBTQIA characters.
- OJP will state its affirmatively diverse casting policy in all audition notices and unless a certain race or ethnicity is required for a particular piece, as described above, all roles will be truly open to all races and ethnicities.
- OJP will conduct a review of its performance with respect to implementation of these policies in August each year and will provide a transparent and full report to its audience and members. The report will be presented to the board and be included in its corporate minutes.
- If OJP presents awards based on performances, those awards will be based on non-gender related criteria.
- OJP will commit to hiring BIPOC, female, and LGBTQ+ artists and technicians in leadership roles with a goal that at least 60% of all leadership positions in the company are filled by members of these communities.
- OJP will immediately start work to identify sources of funding and will apply for funding to ensure that all its main season productions are fully captioned for deaf and hard of hearing audience members.
- OJP will seek out and solicit works by new and emerging BIPOC, female, LGBTQ+, disabled, and neurodiverse artists for inclusion in its development programs.
- OJP will promote and maintain a transparent and open culture that provides a safe space for artists to create collaboratively by maintaining best practices as adopted in the OJP Production Norms and Practices.
- With respect to casting in Shakespeare and other public domain pieces, OJP will encourage directors to give priority to specific qualities that an actor brings to a role over any gender-based considerations and will welcome casting that does not conform to traditional gender stereotypes.
- OJP will actively recruit members of the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ community for its board of directors and will seek to increase representation on its board by such members to at least 50 percent by 2022.
- OJP will actively recruit members of the BIPOC and LGBTQ+ community for its board of directors and will seek to increase representation on its board by such members to at least 50 percent by 2022.