(Last updated 24th September 2020)

This Core Values Statement serves as a guide for Antipodes Theatre Company’s institutional practices and interpersonal relationships. If our Mission Statement articulates why we exist, this Core Values Statement articulates how we exist. This is a living statement to be consistently reviewed in the ongoing evaluation of our practices.

FOSTER AN INCLUSIVE AND ACCESSIBLE ENVIRONMENT

Communicate respectfully. 

Recognise conflict as an opportunity for growth while addressing issues directly and with compassion.

Question our histories and practices and disrupt patterns that reinforce institutionalised racism, anti-Bla(c)kness, colourism, anti-Indigeneity, xenophobia, sexism, heterosexism, homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, anti-Jewish oppression, ableism, ageism, body shaming, and other forms of hatred, oppression, and inequity.

EMBRACE DIVERSE STORYTELLING

Champion stories that address a range of topics and issues with clarity, empathy, and creativity.

Support work that speaks to ideas and events originating both locally and globally.

Expand our view of ourselves and the world.

CULTIVATE AND CELEBRATE COMMUNITY

Harness the power of theatre to deepen human connections.

Create opportunities to strengthen relationships with artists while contributing to their wellbeing.

Strive for transparency in our work, on our Committee and Board, and with our supporters.

ENCOURAGE NEW VOICES

Develop and produce the (new) work of artists who are engaging with challenging ideas and pushing the theatrical form.

Eliminate barriers for artists from historically marginalised communities.

Collaborate with artists to enable a variety of aesthetics and modes of making.

ACTIONS

To ensure that our practice matches our core values, we commit to assessing our institutional culture and its impact on members, artists and audiences on a regular basis. Looking ahead:

• We will work to dismantle fear of open conflict and continue to develop tools that empower anyone working with us to raise difficult or awkward conversations without fear of retribution or retaliation.

• We commit to a dedicated budget line item for equity, inclusion and anti-discriminatory work at the organisational level. 

• We commit to participating in annual anti-discrimination workshops led by an outside facilitator on topics including but not limited to dismantling white supremacy, recognising unconscious bias, and prohibiting sexism in the workplace. We expect 100% participation from ATC Committee and Board members in this effort.

• We commit to participating in regular workshops and exercises led by outside facilitators on topics including but not limited to microaggressions, conflict resolution, and de-escalation training.

• We will continue to assess our recruitment, hiring, onboarding, feedback, performance evaluation, and retention processes to uphold a more equitable and inclusive work environment. This includes explicitly stating our organisational culture and values within every job description to foster personal and collective accountability to these principles.

• We commit to supporting businesses owned or operated by people who are multicultural, LGBTQIA+ or with disability, as well as companies with publicly stated anti-discriminatory principles.

• We commit to exploring models of power sharing in artistic programming wherein artists, thinkers, educators, and activists who are Indigenous, Bla(c)k, and People of Colour (IBPoC), Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD), Trans, Non-binary, or people with disability will be given the same financial parameters, access to resources, and collective decision-making authority. 

• We commit to exploring program initiatives with an emphasis on long-term mutually beneficial partnerships that are grounded in equitable, power-aware relationships that intentionally combat extractive or tokenist practices enacted in the name of community engagement. These partner organisations may serve communities of colour and/or share a commitment to inclusion, anti-racism, social justice, and the power of art as a tool for advancing those values. 

• We hold zero tolerance for child abuse, and commit to actively working with, listening to and empowering children.  We will implement systems to protect children from abuse, will take all allegations very seriously, and will respond to them consistently in line with our organisation’s policies and procedures.  We are committed to providing a safe environment and promoting the cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and children with disability.
 We require all members to hold a Working With Children Check wherever minors are involved.

• We will continue to practice inclusive hiring through our ongoing commitment to ensuring that at least 50% of all roles – on stage and off – are filled by women, ethnically diverse artists, people with disability, trans and non-binary people, seniors, or other members of historically or culturally marginalised communities who are not well represented on stage.

• We commit to listening to artists, audiences, board members, and other stakeholders to better understand how to become a more inclusive organisation.

ACCOUNTABILITY

In our commitment toward being a fully inclusive organisation, we’re adopting these Core Values alongside this list of action steps to interrogate practices, disrupt patterns that reinforce institutionalised oppressions and inequities, acknowledge our missteps, and hold our organisation to a standard that does not accept that this work is ever done. We stand in solidarity with the historically and culturally marginalised members of our community, and recognise that we have not always lived up to these values and must contend with any harm that those shortcomings have caused.

If you have thoughts about how we’re doing or would like to begin a dialogue, we invite you to reach out to us by email at info@antipodestheatre.com.