If you don't know about the Great Dickens Christmas Fair, it's this big event that happens
in the Bay Area during November and December. Imagine a Renaissance Fair, but it's mid-Victorian
and Christmastime. The ghosts of Christmas are wandering around, the Queen and her family
are out in London doing their Christmas shopping, the Carolers are singing, the rebellious Irish
are causing mischief and getting chased by the Coldstream Guards . . .
And, surprise surprise, people of color exist! They existed in Victorian London, at all levels
of society and in all kinds of roles, and they deserve to exist at Dickens Fair, full
stop. They shouldn't need to justify that. Although, apparently the production company
that puts on Dickens Fair feels otherwise.
The Londoners of the African Diaspora is the affinity group for Black cast and crew members
of Dickens Fair. Over the past year, since the murder of George Floyd and the massive
civil rights movement that arose in response, LoAD have made a major push to work with Red
Barn Productions, the company that puts on Dickens Fair, to fix their very minimal inclusion
policies. After several months of Red Barn failing to make any meaningful changes, and
disregarding the Anti-Racism Initiative that *they asked* LoAD for, LoAD gave a new statement
on their webs. You can read the statement, the Anti-Racism Initiative, and a timeline
of relevant events all at the links in the description. The Anti-Racism Initiative is
. . . really pretty standard stuff, for an event of this size. Having HR and DEI professionals
involved, clear policies addressing harassment, diversifying leadership and vendors, casting
BIPOC historical figures, using color-conscious casting policies, including anti-racism in
the yearly cast workshops . . . Inclusion 101, basically. None of this is unreasonable
for an event that, last I heard, has a cast and crew of over fifteen hundred people. The
Londoners of the African Diaspora deserve a say in these policies and a seat at the
table, and they have the backing of every other affinity group at Dickens Fair, including
me as a Jewish cast member. These changes will make the magic of Dickens Fair available
to everyone, instead of only a privileged few who can see themselves in Red Barn Productions'
vision of London.
By doing all this work, *for free,* LoAD has essentially taken the load off of Red Barn's
shoulders. They've offered a path forward on a silver platter, all Red Barn had to do
was say yes. And yet, Red Barn keeps brushing them off, disregarding their voices, refusing
to make even minimal changes, and dealing with them deceptively and in bad faith. There's
numerous examples of this explained in their statement, as well as in the timeline linked
below, including a time Red Barn *wanted to cast a white man in brownface*.
LoAD explain that after escalating bad-faith actions from Red Barn, they've made a "Statement
of No Confidence" in the production company. They're calling for a supervisory board and
proper inclusion policies, or if Red Barn refuses to work with them, a strike from the
cast and crew. A link to the "Statement of No Confidence" is also in the description.
Now, I *love* performing at Dickens Fair. If you've been here a while, you've heard
me talk about my experiences there— long days spent singing and dancing with friends
and strangers, wearing the costume that was my first step into historical dressmaking.
Dickens Fair got me through a really rough winter, and I don't want to see it end or
be canceled! But it's not all sunshine and rainbows, either. With my disability, I ran
into a lot of accessibility problems. My corset hurt, badly, even after I paid the costume
shop to help me with it. The accommodations I needed, things like flexible attendance
requirements and a place to rest if my pain flared up, were completely up to my cast directors.
If they'd refused, there's no recourse at all. I haven't even tried to play a Jewish
character— because that character probably couldn't be part of the performance groups
I'm in. And I've had it *so easy* compared to other marginalized cast members. No one's
told me to change my costume, or my backstory, because of how I look. No one's told me I
can only play roles that give me gender dysphoria. No one's made me justify six ways from Sunday
why I should be allowed to exist in a whitewashed, reductive, and regressive portrayal of Victorian
London.
Maybe a strike seems extreme at first, but this has been brewing for a long time. Red
Barn's issues go back decades, and LoAD has spent nearly a year trying to negotiate with
them before reaching this point. When LoAD's statement was posted to the Dickens Fair Cast
and Crew Facebook group, Red Barn's response was to delete the post, describe it as a "takeover",
and then *nuke the entire Facebook group.* The e-mail they sent out responding to LoAD
gaslit the cast about Red Barn's long history of mishandling issues like sexual harassment
and accessibility, misrepresented Red Barn's communications with LoAD, and made no apologies
for the environment they've created, nor any indication that they'd share leadership like
LoAD has called for. After a year of cheap talk and no change, their words ring *very*
hollow. These aren't the actions of a company that's learning *how* to do antiracism—
these are the actions of a company trying to get away without the most basic of steps
towards a safe and inclusive event. LoAD doesn't want Dickens Fair to be cancelled, no one
does. But they, and I, refuse to be part of an event that doesn't stick up for its cast
and crew, and perpetuates racist and otherwise bigoted ideas about the past and the present.
We want a safe, inclusive, and equitably-run Dickens Fair. We know it's possible, and we
will accept nothing less.
So here's my point : I don't know the details of all of the racism that the BIPOC cast members
have been subjected to . . . *and I don't have to.* I believe them. I don't need them
to display their trauma in front of me to be willing to support them. If people of color
are telling us what they need, I am in no position to judge what they're asking for,
because I haven't been through what they've been through. If my version of allyship is
to think I could ever know better than them, that they should have to work to convince
me that their needs are real, then I am not really an ally. I'm just another judgy white
person, and I'm a judgy white person who wants a pat on the back for being "a good ally"
even while I'm standing in the way of actual change. My role is not to judge. If they're
ready for a strike, my role is not to question or to need convincing that it's necessary.
My role is to have their back.
So I have their back. I trust them, I stand with them, and I will walk with them.
What about you?
The Londoners of the African Diaspora need us to show up for them by e-mailing Red Barn's
management, posting on social media, and being prepared to leave Dickens Fair if Red Barn
doesn't get their act together. I'll put a list of e-mail addresses for Red Barn and
Dickens Fair management up on screen, as well as in the description; please e-mail these
people and tell them you won't go to a Dickens Fair that isn't equitable and inclusive. LaToya
Tooles, the president of LoAD has made an Instagram post you can share, also linked
in the description. You can do all of this even if you aren't local to the Bay Area;
Dickens Fair gets a ton of business from people visiting from out of town. But most of all,
if we're going to save the Dickens Fair we love, we need to be prepared to let it go.
If Dickens Fair isn't, well, *fair*, then it isn't worth having.