Policies and Practices
In response to the open letter released by The Ground We Stand On entitled Dear White American Theatre, Apartment 20 will be meeting the following demands going forward in all of our work. The original document is 29 pages long and includes extensive mandates intended for larger, non profit regional theatres. Although Apartment 20 is a very small, independent theatre collective, we have identified the following demands that we too can rise to meet.
Land acknowledgment practice must be incorporated into first rehearsals
Apartment 20 mainly produces work in the Philadelphia area, and would like to acknowledge the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Lenni-Lenape Nation on which we are learning, working, and organizing. All relevant land acknowledgements will also be posted in the lobby at our performances.
Ongoing mandatory EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) and Anti-Racism Training
In light of the pandemic, we are in the process of researching digital courses and seminars that Resident members can participate in and learn from. If you have found one to be particularly valuable, we are always grateful for resource sharing.
Employ intentional and honest effort in establishing consistent, meaningful, long term relationships with BIPOC artists
Apartment 20 continues to cultivate already established relationships with returning BIPOC collaborators, and seeks to offer opportunities to BIPOC artists we have yet to work with, who see our work as a good fit for them.
Institute anti-racism statements that must be read at all first rehearsals
Apartment 20 will not stand for racism in any form. Any persons seen or reported as exhibiting racist behavior will meet with Apartment 20's Resident Artists to discuss participation in DEI training and how offenders may work towards repairing the damage they have made to the trust built in the room. If any offending party refuses to take these steps, they will be removed from the production.
Eliminate "Ten out of Twelves" and the six day rehearsal week
In the past, Apartment 20 has operated its rehearsal and tech process according to the longstanding tradition of "ten out of twelves" and the six day rehearsal week. Going forward, we will no longer structure our processes in this way. Each rehearsal process is unique and no two have been formatted the same way, due to the non traditional nature of our often devised work. However, artists will neither be working more than 6 hours in a given day nor 5 days in a given week, including tech week.
Production job descriptions must use language that is free of unconscious bias, such as “years of experience” requirements for production staff. Production job descriptions must not have education requirements.
Apartment 20 hires artists based on the quality and merit of their work either in past collaborations with us or in the community. We have a commitment to hiring early career artists as often as we can. Years of experience and/or level of education has never and will never play a role in our hiring decisions. We also will be holding ourselves accountable to the demand that BIPOC candidates comprise the majority of the final candidate pool for all positions.
We demand that the theatre’s highest paid executive staff members make no more than 10x the yearly salary of the lowest paid full-time staff member.
All Residents and Guest Artists who work on an Apartment 20 project are paid an even split of the box office profits. We understand that, as a small, independent company that is still finding its feet, this amount is not yet enough to justify a given artist's participation in a project. We always want to be transparent about our financial limitations, and encourage folks to only accept offers that are a good fit for them artistically and financially.
We demand specific training for stage management students and guest stage managers on care for BIPOC bodies.
In any instance where Apartment 20 chooses to tell a story about race, there will be a discussion about how it relates to the overall production, its impact on the artists asked to tell that story, and how it is delivered to our audiences. The lead artist(s) will open this important discussion, and will empower the stage management team to maintain open communication surrounding it throughout the rehearsal and production. In every instance where Apartment 20 brings artists into a shared space to collaborate, stage managers and assistant stage managers will receive information and resources on anti-racist practices to be implemented in rehearsal rooms, and are expected to utilize these tools in their unique and important task of managing and reading the room to keep artists emotionally and physically safe on a daily basis. The SM team shall approach all artists, especially BIPOC folks, in a trauma informed manner to make sure they feel heard and cared for. In accordance with our statement above, BIPOC candidates will comprise the majority of the final candidate pool for all stage management hires.
Apartment 20 mainly produces work in the Philadelphia area, and would like to acknowledge the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Lenni-Lenape Nation on which we are learning, working, and organizing. All relevant land acknowledgements will also be posted in the lobby at our performances.
Ongoing mandatory EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) and Anti-Racism Training
In light of the pandemic, we are in the process of researching digital courses and seminars that Resident members can participate in and learn from. If you have found one to be particularly valuable, we are always grateful for resource sharing.
Employ intentional and honest effort in establishing consistent, meaningful, long term relationships with BIPOC artists
Apartment 20 continues to cultivate already established relationships with returning BIPOC collaborators, and seeks to offer opportunities to BIPOC artists we have yet to work with, who see our work as a good fit for them.
Institute anti-racism statements that must be read at all first rehearsals
Apartment 20 will not stand for racism in any form. Any persons seen or reported as exhibiting racist behavior will meet with Apartment 20's Resident Artists to discuss participation in DEI training and how offenders may work towards repairing the damage they have made to the trust built in the room. If any offending party refuses to take these steps, they will be removed from the production.
Eliminate "Ten out of Twelves" and the six day rehearsal week
In the past, Apartment 20 has operated its rehearsal and tech process according to the longstanding tradition of "ten out of twelves" and the six day rehearsal week. Going forward, we will no longer structure our processes in this way. Each rehearsal process is unique and no two have been formatted the same way, due to the non traditional nature of our often devised work. However, artists will neither be working more than 6 hours in a given day nor 5 days in a given week, including tech week.
Production job descriptions must use language that is free of unconscious bias, such as “years of experience” requirements for production staff. Production job descriptions must not have education requirements.
Apartment 20 hires artists based on the quality and merit of their work either in past collaborations with us or in the community. We have a commitment to hiring early career artists as often as we can. Years of experience and/or level of education has never and will never play a role in our hiring decisions. We also will be holding ourselves accountable to the demand that BIPOC candidates comprise the majority of the final candidate pool for all positions.
We demand that the theatre’s highest paid executive staff members make no more than 10x the yearly salary of the lowest paid full-time staff member.
All Residents and Guest Artists who work on an Apartment 20 project are paid an even split of the box office profits. We understand that, as a small, independent company that is still finding its feet, this amount is not yet enough to justify a given artist's participation in a project. We always want to be transparent about our financial limitations, and encourage folks to only accept offers that are a good fit for them artistically and financially.
We demand specific training for stage management students and guest stage managers on care for BIPOC bodies.
In any instance where Apartment 20 chooses to tell a story about race, there will be a discussion about how it relates to the overall production, its impact on the artists asked to tell that story, and how it is delivered to our audiences. The lead artist(s) will open this important discussion, and will empower the stage management team to maintain open communication surrounding it throughout the rehearsal and production. In every instance where Apartment 20 brings artists into a shared space to collaborate, stage managers and assistant stage managers will receive information and resources on anti-racist practices to be implemented in rehearsal rooms, and are expected to utilize these tools in their unique and important task of managing and reading the room to keep artists emotionally and physically safe on a daily basis. The SM team shall approach all artists, especially BIPOC folks, in a trauma informed manner to make sure they feel heard and cared for. In accordance with our statement above, BIPOC candidates will comprise the majority of the final candidate pool for all stage management hires.
To read the full open letter, click here. |