Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging

Weston Theater Company is dedicated to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment where everyone feels respected, valued, and empowered. WTC embraces and celebrates the unique experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds that each employee, theater-maker, artist and audience member brings to our theaters, our campus and our community.

These values are part of our history and our mission. [We state our commitment to them and have a committee charged with assuring that we live up to them.] Weston Theater Company, like its home state of Vermont, is dedicated to creating spaces that bring people together—think of Town Meeting as an example—to discover all that they have in common.

The effects of oppression, discrimination, systemic racism and other forms of bias are deep rooted and divisive. Theater is an art, powerful in its ability to foster community and heal division, that stands in opposition to the hatred, fear, and discrimination that seek to divide neighbor from neighbor, friend from friend.

WTC recognizes that Vermont is a state full of people with various backgrounds, different experiences and numerous points of view. WTC further acknowledges that the absence of racial, cultural, and religious diversity in Vermont in particular mean that joining our community can at times be difficult for those whose backgrounds and cultural histories are not widely represented here. As we strive to create a safe place where ALL participants feel that they belong, WTC has established a set of Commitments for a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Theater, as a living document (started in 2022), which we will update and report on annually.

These Commitments stem from our core values and seek to widen our appetite and our aperture for open dialogue; anticipate and mitigate inevitable ‘blind spots’. The goal is to protect staff, board members, artists, and audiences whose identities and voices have historically been underrepresented in Vermont; and to truly welcome uniqueness, individuality, and diversity in all aspects.

We do this in the spirit of self-reflection and with the aspiration to continually learn how to be more inclusive with each new day and theatrical season. We set benchmarks for success across these commitments and will share our efforts, progress and gaps publicly as necessary. We welcome ideas and questions to help keep us accountable to these ideals, from every community we serve.