Helen R. Murray

To my theatre community,

I would always rather the art speak for itself.  Those playwrights work so hard on those words and spend countless hours honing the themes, the intention, and profound things we will take away after a show finishes. And our artistic teams, the care they put into realizing each moment, how they sweat every detail so that the world we bring you into is whole. And I watch the risks that actors take and the vulnerabilities we ask to be on display, and I know that this is where I would rather the message be born.

My job, many times, is to make space and then to yield the floor. I curate the art to the best of my ability, and help build the family of each production, and then support that family while they do the creative work that brings these stories to life.

I beg you to look to the work I do as the raising up of a bigger voice. It won’t be a quick social media banner or blip on your phone screen. My efforts have to be around something more substantial. As a leader in the arts I have put my theaters, and the work we have produced, at the center on issues surrounding injustice, race, immigration, equity, science, faith, and the human experience. I have regularly reached past the curtain call to engage the audience further in a community conversation, and not only in the times of understandable national unrest like we’re facing right now. These stories and conversations are part of our fabric, to deny them would be to deny our art form, it would be to deny our humanity.

I don’t want diversity and inclusion efforts reduced to a fad we use only when the country burns, to be momentarily coerced out of entities to assuage our rage. The true work should require intention and conscious effort to acknowledge and embolden narratives and experiences that are different from our own. I recognize that my individual commitment to diversity and inclusion must be proactive and mindful. I also acknowledge that I will be imperfect but that I will still keep trying. As a leader in the arts I will endeavor to make space for voices that are not my own. I recognize that the storyteller matters, that the visionary at the helm of each production matters, that the individuals crafting the experience matter, and that the human beings we see on stage conveying these stories matter. I will continue to be an ally, an advocate, and a defender for black and indigenous people of color because their lives matter.

I bring all this to the position I have been so fortunate in which to find myself. I have always understood my role to be one of service. I am in service to you and am therefore bound to tell stories that celebrate our common humanity, our connective tissue, and also challenge us to dig deep into our differences as we work to reach a better understanding of each other.

I personally commit to serving through the active inclusion and development of underrepresented voices and narratives including ethnic and cultural minorities, LGBTQ+ individuals, people with disabilities, and women.

It is my desperate hope that we find better ways forward. That we gather together. And that when we do, through the sharing of these magical theatrical moments, we can bond ourselves to one another in a way that makes us clearly see each other’s incredible worth.

Helen R. Murray

Theatre Director, Playwright and Producer