Portland Center Stage (A)

In May of 2021, Managing Director and Artistic Director of Portland Center Stage (PCS) Cynthia Fuhrman and Marissa Wolf thought about what a tumultuous year it had been for the Portland, Oregon-based theater. Amidst navigating the COVID-19 pandemic, during which time the theater endured significant layoffs and financial uncertainty, the national movement around Black lives and the ensuing We See You White American Theater movement spurred PCS to shine a light on the ways in which the organization was upholding practices of racial and socioeconomic inequality. At the center of this scrutiny was the PCS board, a group of almost all white, middle-aged individuals of significant financial means. Several members of the board had been accused over the years of microaggressions towards staff, and of exercising their powerful position in ways that caused harm.

Sensing they were becoming out of touch with the organization’s increasingly racial justice-oriented priorities, the board had attempted to introduce antiracist literature into its meetings. However, the effort was unsuccessful due to lack of interest or discomfort around sharing honest opinions in a hierarchical environment. These conversations around antiracism culminated in a rant by two white board members following the murder of George Floyd, essentially praising the theater’s history of diversity, and arguing institutional change was unnecessary. This tirade caused so much consternation among the leadership staff that a consultant, Shari Dunn, was hired to mediate tensions. But when Dunn led the board through a workshop series to impart antiracist pedagogy and action steps, the result was catastrophic. Dunn felt so disrespected by members of the board during her session that she dissolved her contract with the theater.

Upon relaying this news to the staff, Fuhrman and Wolf gave staff members the option to vote on whether the board should be asked to resign. Such a request, if accepted by the board, would mean the theater would lose a significant source of support and contributed income, and PCS leadership would need to populate and train a new board in antiracist pedagogy to avoid the same pitfalls of privilege. Fuhrman and Wolf also knew that the board could respond to such a request by firing them, as was their prerogative.

In May of 2021, as they awaited the staff’s vote, Fuhrman and Wolf weighed how to respond to its potential outcome.