Perseverance Theatre (2023)

In the summer of 2023, Leslie Ishii, Perseverance Theatre’s Artistic Director of three years, sat in the organization’s newly painted lobby. An abbreviated quote from their mission statement, “to create professional theater by and for Alaskans,” was painted in large print for all visitors to read. She admired the achievements she and her staff made as they re-emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic’s closures. This global pandemic, coupled with a national racial reckoning in America, heavily impacted Alaska’s largest theater. At the time of her arrival, Ishii inherited a grab bag of challenges including a history of imbalanced budgets, a burnt-out staff, and an unsustainable audience base.

These barriers did not deter Ishii from entering this organization very intentionally. Ishii had a specific set of values she was persistent in implementing holistically, coupled with a plan to address the inherited culture. The first of these values included re-indigenizing—a process that centers native voices in the policy, culture, and programming of an organization. The second value was accessibility. This meant ensuring the organization was financially, physically, and artistically accessible to its audiences and other stakeholders. These two values are at the heart of Ishii’s strategy to create an organization that prioritizes justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI).

Despite having made great strides toward progress in these collective efforts, Ishii was acutely aware of pressing challenges that stood in the way of fully realizing this vision. These included addressing the organization’s not easily accessible and weather-torn building, strategically marketing the organization’s work to increase revenue, and addressing the white supremacy rooted in the culture of Juneau-Douglas.

As she prepared to enter her next season, Ishii knew that these challenges posed immense threats to the implementation and sustainability of her vision for the organization. If she did not move quickly, she would risk leaving the organization vulnerable to financial instability, without a permanent home, and/or without an audience or community receptive to such diverse programming.