Our Community

Mountain Community Theater statement regarding Racism, Police Violence, and Racial Inequality

Mountain Community Theatre whole-heartedly supports the Black Lives Matter movement and other groups and individuals who are working against racism, police violence, and inequality. We realize that what we present to our community on stage makes a difference — and we endeavor to tell stories that deepen an understanding of the human condition. We consider ourselves a “family of artists’ behind the scenes, where we strive to make sure that everyone feels seen, heard, and valued for who they are. We believe that justice matters and that the fight for meaningful change must involve all of us.      

MCT has been active for 38 years. We grew out of our community and have always been an active part of the community, doing what we can to help those in need, such as giving tickets away, raising money for employees of businesses that have closed and victims of wildfires, and supporting local food drives. We remind ourselves often that “community” is our middle name. Most fundamentally, we keep our ticket prices extraordinarily low so that as many community members as possible can afford to attend high-quality live theater.  Most productions have a Community Night when tickets are even cheaper. But we know we can do much more to educate, inform, and engage our audiences about issues of racism, police violence, and inequality.

Now, we need to ask ourselves what we can do better. We can speak out when we see or learn of racist conduct in our community. We can give money to help those who are struggling. We have always chosen our productions to be entertaining, stimulating, moving, and thought-provoking. But we can also include consideration of these societal problems when we choose the plays that we produce, including the roles that are available for actors, directors and designers of color. We can commit in a much stronger way to lifting up the work of artists of color.  We can commit to listening to those most affected by the inequities in society and finding ways to be true partners in creating social justice. We are already doing some of these things.  We pledge to get better at doing all of them, and look forward to seeing you at the theater.

The Board of Mountain Community Theater