What We’re Losing: A sobering follow up to the arts crisis that never should have been
Ironically, one of arts oft-cited benefits is the creation of a more just, equitable, and empathetic world. However, the Senate, led by Mitch McConnell and bolstered by the complicity of the entire Republican party, has chosen to abandon these essential lessons and the millions of essential workers across the country who make them possible.
With the Broadway League formally announcing all theatrical work will remain on hold until at least June 2021, more than a year since the initial shutdown began, insiders will tell you a best-case scenario is actually more like January 2022.
Yes, you read that correctly. The best-case scenario here now most likely includes almost a full two years with zero access to work. It remains indefensible to allow one of the most vital, salient fields to sink (for more, please take a look at my original article - and companion piece here).
However, what I unknowingly failed to make explicitly clear before, is now truly past life support; the most marginalized amongst us, especially those traditionally without any generational wealth (mainly Black Americans), simply will not survive.
Generations of performers, arts administrators, crew members, lighting designers, box office treasurers, house managers, ushers, costume designers, company managers, writers, wig supervisors, musicians, choreographers, janitors, stage managers, and millions more, won’t just be forced to leave behind the field to which they’ve dedicated their lives; they will be forced to figure out how to put food on the table, a roof over their head, and access healthcare-without any feasible way to actually do so- in an unbalanced race to simply stay alive.
It is maddening to think about what this means for the landscape of the industry, as well as the personal heartbreak of those who are already asked to give their blood, sweat, and tears just to try their hand at an uneven playing field. Noted cultural journalist and editor, Diep Tran, recently published one of the most important articles on who gets access to pursue their dreams, and who gets paid enough to stay, in a piece highlighting the gross inequities of the off-Broadway pay of white actors to BIPOC actors. Not to mention, the long-overdue reckoning this summer made clear racism isn’t just alive and well on Broadway - it remains a dominating force.
Thus, who (and what) will be left in this industry have become questions with answers bleaker than ever. And, let me be clear, this is not just about Broadway. If we cannot plainly provide aid to those of us who need it most, during an unprecedented time when all of us need it more than ever, those who create theater all over the country will be left shattered into more pieces than there is glue to put them back together. To work in the arts at all demands an exceptionally high level of skill, intellect, and creativity- three attributes you can’t just easily replace when no one is left to fulfill them.
Likewise, arts workers have nowhere to go. We are not merely out of work, we are prevented from work. To have the promise of one’s entire life ripped away over and over again, becoming more agonizing with each pull, isn’t just infuriating, it’s exasperating.
Once more I implore our peers, our families, and, yes, our legislators to remember we didn’t cause this pandemic, we didn’t decimate any competent response, and we are not asking for free handouts. We have the funds to ensure nobody goes hungry, we have the funds to ensure nobody experiences homelessness, we have the funds to ensure nobody loses their health care in the middle of the unjustifiable continuation of the deadliest pandemic our country has ever seen. Our taxes help pay for these benefits, taxes collected via the work we so desperately want, and feel a sacred duty to put back into the world.
There are now even more of us who aren’t merely furloughed, but whose jobs no longer exist... and there is nothing to take their place, there won’t be, for a long time. Without extended unemployment benefits and the passage of the full HEROES Act (not whatever corporate bailout the Republicans are pretending to support after the election), this pandemic will only continue to wreak havoc; bringing along with it the disproportionate destruction of racism.
Arts relief remains a 2-pronged argument; yes, arts are essential to society, but it is also essential for ALL voices to be a part of it. Saving the arts is about saving the people who make such a vital field possible, as well as what and who will be left if we don’t. I still believe we are worth saving...do you?
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Annie Jacobson is an intersectional feminist, actress, writer, singer/songwriter, and MS, CCLS candidate. Her life’s work involves using her voice in a multi-hyphenate approach to help change the world.