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Evergreen Tress

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

At ETC, we strive to create a welcoming environment that justly represents the varying groups of our multifarious society, as well as encouraging the voices of these groups to be both heard and respected. Applying this to current and prospective audiences, personnel and partners, our aim is to assemble an ever-growing network of culturally aware theatre enthusiasts. In doing so, we engender an enriching way of working from which we can offer experiences that are not only more accessible but also highlight the enjoyment of theatre.

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There are two main interlinking reasons behind this stance. Firstly, we strongly believe everyone should be treated fairly, and that nobody should be denied opportunities by discriminatory barriers. It’s important to remember that we’re all part of the same overarching race: humanity. In whichever capacity they may choose, we’re wholeheartedly committed to helping people from all walks of life build fond memories in what’s such a gratifying industry.

 

We have a lot to offer, especially to anyone that finds live theatre or paid arts work hard to come by. A benefit we extend to everyone is an intercultural experience. With Board members in Mexico, the UK and the US, there are extensive opportunities to learn about the backgrounds and lifestyles of arts professionals from across the globe. For upcoming thespians, there’s the prospect of following other emerging practitioners in taking on profit-share roles as part of a cast, production team, or board of directors. When it comes to audiences, our shows are offered free of charge as a means of ensuring they’re accessible to all, and we invite donations to a fund split between ETC, our personnel, and a director-chosen charity.

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At a glance, ‘Collective’ is merely part of our name, but we see it as so much more. To us, it’s also about joining forces with exemplary social activists — continuing the emergence of familiar ideas while simultaneously giving rise to our own.

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To further establish our vision, we’ve set the following initiatives:

External

  • State on all job adverts that we welcome applications from those of marginalised groups, highlighting opportunities for all regardless of age, dependant commitments, disability, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, HIV/AIDS status, marital status, pregnancy status, race, religious beliefs, political opinions, spent convictions, socio-economic background, trade union relations or on any other basis a decision could unjustly be made

  • In line with disabilities, offer alternative application processes such as extended deadlines and oral submissions, which applicants can seek by emailing support@evergreentheatrecollective.org

  • Organize a focus group every two seasons- the participants of which representing a range of marginalized groups- to discuss ETC’s recent activity regarding equality, diversity and inclusion

  • Facilitate a scheme where individuals 65 and over or mentally disabled customers can purchase hard copies of video content for a price that creates only a 15% profit margin, contacting us either by email, telephone or post

  • Enable automated captions for all videos when broadcast on social media platforms that allow them

  • Follow marginalized activists, and artists and charities that support marginalized groups on all ETC social media channels, engaging with their posts

  • Engage in worldwide campaign days such as Global Pride Day and International Women’s Day as well as religious events, sharing self-made posts on all social media channels for each

  • Maximize the accessibility of our social media channels and website in terms of visuals and written language, ensuring ALT text and automated video captions are provided where possible

Internal

  • Ensure all workers and partners sign an equality, diversity and inclusion code of conduct, acknowledging procedures for behaviours that go against ETC’s stance such as that of a prejudicial nature potentially resulting in dismissal

  • Provide a service where workers can send thoughts about ETC’s approach to equality, diversity and inclusion along with mental health struggles to the Director of Diversity, booking an audio or video call appointment if desired

  • Assign time to the start of board meetings for one member per meeting to discuss an object or experience they feel is specific to their culture, taking it in turns to do so and encouraging similar at smaller meetings

  • Following each production, include equality, diversity and inclusion questions in the cast and production team’s questionnaires with the results reviewed by the Artistic Board

  • Run a shadowing scheme alongside all productions where a maximum of two individuals per role observe either the director or stage manager’s work

Both

  • Employ a Director of Diversity, who advises on matters all across ETC regarding equality, diversity and inclusion

  • Offer a service where all stakeholders can anonymously send thoughts about ETC’s approach to equality, diversity and inclusion

  • Discourage culturally insensitive behavior such as the use of strong language,  including the moderation of social media channels for such content

  • Ensure equality, diversity and inclusion is on the agenda of every Artistic Board meeting, inviting discussions from Board members over ETC’s level of success in these areas since the last meeting

  • Refrain from using marginalizing initialisms and instead more explicitly detailing the social groups in question

  • Encourage all workers to state their preferred pronouns online and when introducing themselves

  • If a Production Consultant is desired on a production that includes one or more marginalized group characters, recruit an individual that identifies with a corresponding group

  • Involve equality, diversity and inclusion activities in our free educational workshops

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