The world is a mess and everything is terrible. Thankfully, community theaters and other local theatre organizations are uniquely suited for helping those in their community and for chipping away at the inequality heaped onto marginalized people. By using influence in local spheres change attitudes, opinions, and realities, and directly assist the communities and patrons they serve, theatre organizations can become genuine, active forces for good.

If your theatrical institution has ever performed Hairspray, or The Laramie Project, or Les Mis, or Ragtime, or Newsies, or Almost, Maine, or Cabaret, or Urinetown, or The Hunchback of Notre Dame, or Hair, or She Kills Monsters, or Miss Saigon, or Rent, or To Kill a Mockingbird, or Billy Elliot, or West Side Story, or Fun Home, or South Pacific, or Once on This Island, or any other musical about poverty, racism, homophobia, or confronting general bigotry and inequality, and you have profited off of or otherwise benefited from that work, then it’s time to put your money where your mouth is. Don’t be hypocritical theater: you cannot profit from these works while not ensuring enactment of their anti-bigotry themes and messages in your real-world actions. While performing these works is already important on its own, ensuring their messages are adopted in your organization’s daily activities is far more crucial.