Equity, Justice, & Inclusion
At Time’s Fool we respectfully recognize that by being in Wethersfield, CT we are on the traditional, unceded, and ancestral territory of the Mohegan and Wappinger, Wangunk, Tunxis, and Podunk people who stewarded this land for generations. They were telling their stories here first.
At its core Time’s Fool Company has a social justice mission: Art is a human right.
We may explore that in different ways at different times, but access to live, professional theatre is always the seed of how we work and why we work we the way we do. Right now, through our artistic and producing practice, we are focusing on removing cost as a barrier to art by providing our productions for free to the public and through space, by producing in shared, public, and found spaces.
Time’s Fool Company stands in solidarity with the Black community and its allies to dismantle the systems that have contributed to the racial injustice and deep violent oppression in our country. We believe in doing what we can with what is available to us and are actively working on equitable practices in our organization. We encourage our peers in the theatre and entertainment industry to do the same and we hope that our actions speak louder than simple statements.
Actions we have taken for greater equity & inclusion:
Separated Governance from Philanthropy – we have removed “buy-ins” or minimum donations for board members. Being a board member is about more than money, it’s about perspective, experience, leadership, volunteerism, and guidance. If you would like to be involved with our board, please email info@timesfool.org.
All of the artists engaged with our organization are paid professionals and they are all receiving an equitable wage. As we grow financially as an organization, so will our ability to increase artist wages.
We do not engage in unpaid or pay-to-play internships & apprenticeships.
We removed the “10-out-of-12” workday during the technical rehearsal process.
We have moved to a five-day rehearsal week instead of a six-day rehearsal week.
In regards to how we cast, we sincerely hope that our actions speak louder than any statements in aiding access to roles in classical theatre. We love Shakespeare and classical theatre and if it is to endure and be used for entertainment, education, and as a tool for social justice then it needs diverse voices, not the other way around.
·Our leadership is engaged on-going training through workshops in EDI, and because we believe in working locally to change things globally our leadership is a part of the Wethersfield Social Justice Coalition https://wps.wethersfield.me/district/social-justice
We acknowledge that this work is constant, and we will change and adapt as we grow, learn, and evolve.