Over the past few days, response to the casting of this year’s Marlowe Showcase has made it clear to us not only how unacceptable it was, but the hurt it has caused BME students in our community. It should not have taken these responses for us to respond; nor should they have been necessary in the first place. We would like to clarify that our perceived silence in these past few days has not been for a lack of listening. The very last thing we want to do is to perform a knee-jerk, defensive reaction for the sake of assuaging criticism, and instead we want to listen to those who have been hurt. We know we have not heard all these voices yet, and we know that online responses, whilst we are grateful for them, will not be the full picture. To those who have spoken to us: we would like to thank you immensely for your time, and for your suggestions on how we can do better. This conversation is ongoing, and in order to enable this, as suggested by a student we have spoken to, we will be holding an online forum on Monday 8th February, at 5pm, for BME students to discuss their experiences regarding the Showcase with us. More details on this are at the bottom of this response. A full and comprehensive statement, detailing the problems which have occurred, and an action plan on how we will deal with them, will be released after this. Additionally, we have taken the decision, as a committee, to cancel this year’s Showcase. This was not an easy decision, and we would like to make clear two things: one, that this is in no way the fault of the cast; and secondly, that this is not an attempt to clear the slate or pretend that an all-white Showcase did not occur. It did, and we are sorry. However, we think the potential for hurt in carrying on with the production would be more than that in cancelling it. More details on the forum: The forum will be attended by Annika (President), Beth (Showcase Officer), and Mojola and Emily (Workshops Officers.) If you don’t feel comfortable discussing your experiences here, please email Beth at bmk31@cam.ac.uk, or use this form if you would like to remain anonymous: https://forms.gle/6BnS6wdXhwitAxG88 Whilst we appreciate there are other problems with the Showcase and we’d like to address these too, this is specifically aimed at BME students and their experiences; there will be a chance for other people to talk to us soon.
themarlowesociety
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