Black Lives Matter

We at the New Wolsey Theatre want to offer our support and stand in solidarity with the black community at confronting recent horrific events, and hope this will be a pivotal moment for us all to make change. Having made a simple statement of support on social media last week, we decided that our full response should be considered, thoughtful, devoid of self-promotion, and taken in collaboration with others. Change will not be achieved over a few days of protest or social media activity, but will require sustained collective action.

We have always supported black artists and theatre makers to present work at the New Wolsey, so with all of this in mind we have been reaching out behind the scenes to artists, Trustees, and companies we’ve partnered with in the past to ask them for their thoughts.

One outcome of those conversations is that we use our privileged platform to positively promote the profile of the black community: additional exposure for black artists and organizations, with whom the New Wolsey has had a genuine relationship, and those that are working on a grassroots level in Ipswich that our audiences might not be aware of. There will be other, new relationships to be built too.

These conversations are still developing and we’ll widely share the outcomes just as soon as we can. They are starting points for sustained change, for which we will take our share of responsibility. Together with the robust Equality and Diversity Action Plan that we’ve been preparing over the last few months, please be assured that we are actively addressing this issue with humility, honesty and a great deal of care.

If you would like to support this work, or have any questions or comments about New Wolsey Theatre’s response to Black Lives Matter, please email: bwillmott@wolseytheatre.co.uk

LETS ALL PULL TOGETHER AND HELP
GET THIS SHOW BACK ON THE ROAD