The Unit Collective

Cultural Microaggressions in Theatre Reviews: A Call for Dialogue The Latina/o Theatre Commons Steering Committee responds to a recent New York Times review containing a cultural microaggression.

I’m a black actor. Here’s how inequality works when you’re not famous. The director stands up, smiling broadly, walks over to me, and says, "Great, great job, Bear. I'd like for you to do it again. This time I want you to imagine if you were a black man and someone was saying all of these things to you."

Check out Unit member Michael Terrell Brown in Sister Act at Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. Way to go, Michael!

Welcome to Chanhassen Dinner Theatres Online!

Meanwhile in Canada...

Toronto Star http://m.thestar.com/ #/article/entertainment/stage/2015/03/17/the-unplugging-tells-an-indigenous-story-but-the-actresses-are-white.html

Why It's Important to Have Black and Brown Bodies Onstage Outside of Stereotypical Black and... Actor Isabel Dieppa writes about her experiences as an actor of color being cast in a variety of roles.

Standing Up for Playwrights and Against 'Colorblind' Casting In light of recent controversies over plays by Katori Hall and Lloyd Suh, it's clear that theatre needs a color-conscious casting approach.

Exclusive: Tonya Pinkins Issues Unedited, Full Statement Detailing Abrupt Departure from CSC's... Tony Award-winning actress Tonya Pinkins has provided Playbill.com with a complete statement detailing her decision to depart the Classic Stage Company production of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children Jan. 5, 2016, while the show is still in previews.

Reviews are coming in for Unit Collective alum Jessica Huang's new play Purple Cloud and City Pages Minneapolis agrees with us -- they love it! It runs until December 20th so don't miss it!

Purple Cloud explores intersection of ancestry and identity Fitting in is hard for any teenager, but for the woman at the center of Jessica Huang's Purple Cloud, that's exacerbated by her fluid racial identity. A mixture of multiple generations of Chinese, European, and American blood, the "Hapa Girl" ("hapa" is a Hawaiian term referring to mixed ethnicity)…

You'll see our name on this list very soon!

Minnesota theaters lead nation in diversity pledge There's a word in the Twin Cities theater community that's been causing fierce debate for decades: diversity. While the Twin Cities have become more diverse in recent years, theater troupes have often failed to include a range of voices and artists in their performance seasons. However, change migh…

On the merits of Yellowface: why casting the “best” actor for the role is actually just a... Nelson T. Eusebio III addresses the argument that the “best” actor must always be cast in a role, regardless of race.

"In 1974, two young girls meet at a dinner party in Zambia. One girl would be sentenced to a life in solitary confinement, the other would become an artist diving into her story. In a world of They Hate Freedom, If you see something, say something and The Terror Alert is… where can one find the truth?" Check out Unit Collective guest playwright Aamera Siddiqui's new play opening at Intermedia Arts on Thursday! We're even more excited because it features Unit member Eliza Rasheed!

www.intermediaarts.org “One of the challenges I faced during this process was fear. This fear went beyond the routine fear that comes with writers block or presenting any new work. This subject matter felt risky to me as well as the actors from Arab and Muslim backgrounds. We live in a society where questioning governm…

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