The National Arts Centre (NAC) has drawn criticism over plans for a first-ever Black Out night scheduled during Black History Month,
“A Black Out is an open invitation to Black Audiences to come and experience performances with their community. The evenings will provide a dedicated space for Black theatregoers to witness a show that reflects the vivid kaleidoscope that is the Black experience,” states its website.
The performance Is God Is on Feb. 17 “will welcome Black audiences to experience and enjoy a performance in the Babs Asper Theatre,” it adds.
The suggestion that the show is for Black audiences led to criticism by a number of American right-wing media outlets, plus the Daily Mail in the United Kingdom, which published a story with the headline, “Canada’s top taxpayer-funded theater sparks fury by holding ‘black only’ performance of play that BANS white and Asian people from attending.”
“I think what’s sad about it is that we’re not talking about the arts… what it feels like is a distraction,” said Rose-Ingrid Benjamin, community connections lead for NAC.
Benjamin attended a Black Out event in Toronto last May and said she was inspired to do the same in Ottawa.
“I’m an actor myself. I’ve been on stage and looked around and seen no one who looked like me. I’ve been in the audience and seen incredible shows and even had moments where I’m like, I’m laughing at the joke, but no one else gets it because it’s a cultural-specific moment,” she said.
“That’s how it started. I was like, I really want to do this,” she added.
In response to the controversy, Kondwani Mwase, executive director of audience engagement at NAC, said there are several shows targeting specific communities and this is no different.
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“We’ve got programs for young audiences, we’ve got a program focusing on women, we’ve got focus on youth so all of that culminated in this energy that we have, which is, ‘How can we write more love letters to communities, especially those that are underserved?'” he said.
“And so when Rose-Ingrid brought that energy and that opportunity, we felt it was the right thing to do.”
According to the website Blackoutnite.com, Black Out is “the purposeful creation of an environment in which an all-Black-identifying audience can experience and discuss an event in the performing arts, film, athletic, and cultural spaces — free from the white gaze.”
“The first one that was out was in Broadway, which was in 2019, and it was for a play called Slave Play, and it was Jeremy O. Harris who did that on Broadway and then since then there have been a few others that have happened throughout the world,” said Mwase.
“There’ve been a lot of different theatre houses who have done this exact type of an outreach, if you will, invitation to audiences.”
“I think that one of the advantages is that there are times when it’s really important for people who have like experiences and like issues to come together and talk about what it means to them, come together to share, come together to heal, come together to find common solutions that might be a bit more challenging to come to if they were doing it in a group that was much more diverse,” said historian and author Rosemary Sadlier.
She called the criticism of NAC’s upcoming Black Out night “unwarranted.”
“I think that people are taking a cheap shot and using a misunderstanding of what is segregation,” she said, adding, “When people gather together on an ad hoc or at one purposeful moment, like going to the theatre, that is not segregation.”
Speaking to Global News from a Black History Month event, she added, “What better time for Black people to choose to come together purposefully to talk about some of the harms and find some of the ways to heal?”
Later this month, Theatre Passe Muraille in Toronto will also host a Black Out night.
Its website states, “Black Out Nights are performances exclusively for Black audiences … The spirit behind this evening is to provide a space for Black theatre-goers to experience theatre in a space made for them.”
The artistic director said he was surprised to hear Black Out events were sparking controversy given the positive reaction his theatre has received in the past.
“I find it a bit strange because our communities have responded in such a positive way. Certainly our audiences have been very, very welcoming and understanding,” said Indrit Kasapi.
“It identifies even more so the need for these events because it speaks to the lack of understanding that we have with each other as human beings … it highlights the need for more Black Out nights but also for the need for marginalized communities to have room and space to gather and feel safe,” he added.
Is God Is is the first Black Out night at the NAC but its website points out that this will be “an ongoing engagement initiative,” adding “Everyone is welcome at all our shows.”
“It truly is an invitation to Black communities to come and experience the NAC and community. No one’s being turned away. It’s not about exclusion,” said Benjamin.
“It’s about celebration, it’s about the arts … it’s about allowing a community that may not have always felt safe or comfortable or welcome to know that you are not only welcome, that this is your space, that we thought of you.”
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