Statement Regarding Protests Against Injustice in Communities Where We Perform

In several of the communities where we regularly perform, citizens have recently come together to protest the killing of George Floyd, and to draw attention to systemic racist violence and injustice across the county. Following protests in Grand Rapids, our leadership team came together to make this statement:

The Pigeon Creek Shakespeare Company condemns systemic violence against black bodies, and recognizes that this violence is part of entrenched racist structures which have been in place since the beginnings of our country. We commit ourselves to examining the ways in which arts organizations participate in racist structures, and the ways in which we can help to dismantle them.

The plays that comprise the core of our mission often address issues of violence, oppression, and injustice. We hope that these plays offer audiences and performers the ongoing opportunity to engage in dialogue about these issues, and about the biases and assumptions that are embedded in the texts of the plays themselves.

We wish safety and peace our to audience members and performers as the communities that host us struggle not only with a global pandemic, but with the specter of police brutality, We look forward to a time that we can again be together in the same room with our audiences, and we look forward to a time that we can again be together in the same room with our audiences.