Mike Wiley, who wrote and directed The Parchman Hour on the Wells stage, raised this familiar Martin Luther King Jr. quote in a video he posted to his Mike Wiley Productions Facebook page this weekend - “A riot is the language of the unheard.” He went on to remind us of the ending of that famous quote - that America "has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.”

The depth and entrenched nature of the systemic racism and inequity of our country is staggering, and it is compounded by the global catastrophe that the pandemic has wrought. To friends, colleagues, and the patrons of Virginia Stage Company who are white - I ask you to not be paralyzed by the size of the problem. If this time feels heavy to you, can you imagine what it feels like to the members of the black community?

What can we do today to be more concerned about justice and humanity than tranquility and the status quo?

Core to our mission is being a place for our richly diverse, yet often divided community to come together. Sometimes that is to share a laugh or to be moved by a song, and sometimes it is to examine the tough questions that help move our community forward together. This is a time for those hard conversations. It is also a time for action. Our Virtual Virginia Stage will be a platform to move the community conversation forward, and we will lay out steps we are taking to become a more anti-racist organization.

Last night I was reading a book with my daughter about a girl genius who is obsessed with Einstein. The last chapter we read ended with this quote: “Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.”

I know I have much to learn, and am committed to bettering my understanding of the enormous challenges we face in this country. I invite you to join the conversation.

Tom Quaintance
Producing Artistic Director
tquaintance@vastage.org