A survey of patrons and volunteers is the first step on the road to rebuilding Magenta Theater, according to two longtime actors and volunteers who have taken the reins at Vancouver’s downtown community playhouse. Behind the scenes, a training course is coming to the Magenta community called “Differences Don’t Have to Divide Us: Diversity and Partnership.”
Magenta’s board of directors has named Gina George artistic director and Kristen Bennett assistant director on an interim basis for the rest of 2020.
“The three biggest areas we and the (b)oard want to focus on are diversity, transparency, and community,” George said in a statement. “We believe it is more vital than ever to open our doors to everyone and offer more opportunities for diverse voices to be heard.”
The board will search for a permanent artistic director, president Tim Neill said.
“We really did want to take time to reach outside our community … into the theater community in general,” Neill said. “That will take some time. We want to find someone who is very qualified … and willing to work within the parameters at Magenta.”
Magenta is an all-volunteer, nonprofit, community theater that asks a lot of its artistic director, but offers only a modest stipend in return, he said.
George and Bennett, both of whom have acted, directed, worked backstage and in the Magenta office in recent years, presented a business plan to the theater’s board within two weeks of the June resignation of original artistic director Jaynie Roberts.
“We decided we had to do this,” George said. “It was going to be a big hole to fill, but we love Magenta and we love the Magenta community.”
The duo is eager to recruit people of color and LGBTQ people, even those who’ve never dipped a toe into theater before, they said.
“Anybody who wants to come act or work behind the scenes, we want them to come have fun and try it out,” George said. “We plan to do a lot of outreach.”
George, a former house manager at Magenta, is a project manager for Kaiser Permanente. Bennett, Magenta’s current publicity manager and graphic designer, is marketing director at Empress Health Care. Each is a veteran of many corporate and independent training courses in diversity, equity and inclusion, systemic racism, bias awareness and cultural sensitivity.
“I will never stop teaching myself to be a better ally to all,” George said.
George and Bennett “put a lot of thought into … the future of theater in general, coming back from COVID,” Neill said. “They also put thought into the issues we had in terms of how we got into this (situation) in the first place.”
Triggered by protests across the nation, long-standing allegations of racial bias reached Magenta’s board this spring, and Roberts promptly resigned from the organization she founded nearly 20 years ago. Some longtime volunteers and Roberts fans angrily departed in her wake, but Neill said the overall exodus was limited.
“Some of the people closest to Jaynie said, ‘No Jaynie, no me,’ and they’re gone,” Neill said. “But some who were mad at first came back and said they still want to help out.”
Take the survey
Help out with what? While Magenta may be working through management and cultural issues, the coronavirus pandemic continues to keep theater doors closed. There won’t be anything to see on the Magenta stage until next February at the earliest, Neill said. That’s really just a guess in these uncertain times.
The only upcoming Magenta performance will stream Sept. 24 as part of Give More 24!, the charity outreach event hosted by the Community Foundation for Southwest Washington. Magenta will create a telethon-style appeal for financial help and video teasers of upcoming digital performances, George said. Those will likely be monologues or short plays with small casts.
George and Bennett see Magenta’s pause as an opportunity for a reset, in consultation with the community. Visit www.magentatheater.com to take surveys aimed at theatergoers and prospective volunteers:
• Patrons, what sorts of plays have you enjoyed most at Magenta in the past, and what would you like to see in the future?
• Writers, would you be interested in joining a group that creates original content for Magenta?
• Actors and other volunteers, what virus-safety measures would you need to feel comfortable working together on-site?
The surveys will stay up through Aug. 28. Preliminary results have already been pleasing and surprising, Bennett said.
No surprise that people love comedies and Magenta Improv Theater, the in-house troupe that uses audience suggestions to make up sketches on the spot, she said. But it’s a big surprise how hungry theatergoers are for musicals, a format that seemed hopelessly passe until recent successes like “Wicked” and “Hamilton” breathed new life into it.
Neill, who works for a Portland live-event and marketing agency called Henry V, said Magenta’s financial health remains OK for now, even with the doors closed and stage dark.
“We have a good cash reserve, which helps tremendously, and since we’re not actively doing anything we have no cash outflow,” he said. Grants and donations have come in too, he said, and he’s hopeful for more.
“We’re not in crisis mode yet,” he said.
