As students of color, we are often confronted with a stark lack of diversity within the plays we study. The majority of these works are either written by white playwrights primarily for white audiences or penned by playwrights of color focusing solely on their race's generational trauma. We believe that our education should reflect the diverse world we live in and include narratives from all walks of life.

New York City is home to people from various backgrounds and identities. Yet, this diversity is not mirrored in our curriculum nor in the works made accessible to us through our library.

This lack of representation not only limits collective understanding of the actual human experience, which is what we study at Adler, but also fails to represent the people in studio. And this doesn't mean work about solely about racial trauma - this means work by playwrights of all backgrounds, about a multitude of topics. We want to advocate for an environment that allows actors to celebrate their identities.

We propose an increase in the diversity of contemporary plays studied within classes, ensuring they are inclusive of ALL identities. We have drafted a starting list of 50 plays that cover Indigenous, Latin, South Asian, Black, East Asian, African, Queer, Middle Eastern identities amongst many others. Furthermore, these plays should be made accessible through the purchase of copies for the Marlon Brando library. By purchasing these plays and putting them in the library, students will be able to access them easily and immediately use them for classes, auditions etc.

According to a 2018 study published by The Dramatists Guild and The Lilly Awards, around 84.9% of shows produced across America were written by white playwrights (The Count 2.0). This statistic underscores the need for increased representation within our curriculum and library.

By signing this petition, you will be advocating for an inclusive educational environment that respects and reflects all identities through its choice of literature studied in classes. Sign today. 

50 Essential Works: 

1. Vagrant Trilogy Mona Mansour
2. English by Sanaz Toossi
3. Confederates by Dominique Morriseau
4. Cost of Living by Martyna Majok
5. Slave Play by Jeremy O’Harris
6. Fat Ham by James Ijames
7. Vietgone by Qui Nguyen
8. Oh My Sweet Land by Amir Nizar Zuabi
9. Clydes by Lynn Nottage
10. The Hot Wing King by Katori Hall
11. Nollywood Dreams by Jocelyn Bioh
12. Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo by Rajiv Joseph
13. The North Pool by Rajiv Joseph
14. Plays: Maria Irene Fornes (Includes Mud, The Danube, Sarita, and The Conduct of Life) by Maria Irene Fornes
15. Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea by Nathan Alan Davis
16. Pipeline by Dominique Morrisoue
17. The End of the Moment We Had by Toshiki Okada
18. Goodnight Tyler by B. J. Tindell
19. Wish You Were Here by Sanaz Toossi
20. Disgraced by Ayad Akhtar
21. Blood Wedding by Federico García Lorca
22. M Butterfly by David Henry Hwang
23. The Headlands by Christopher Chen
24. The Who and the What by Ayad Akhtar
25. Quantum by Tara Moses
26. Bound by Tara Moses
27. Selling Kabul by Sylvia Khoury
28. Prima Facie by Suzie Miller
29. Passover by Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu
30. Rafta Rafta by Ayub Khan Din
31. Zoot Suit by Luis Valdez
32. The Father and the Assassin by Anupama Chandrasekhar
33. Topdog/Underdog by Suzan Lori Parks
34. Spell No. 7 by Ntozake Shange
35. Yoga Play by Deepika Guha
36. Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress
37. The Brother Size by Terrell Alvin McCraney
38. The Bombay Plays by Anosh Irani
39. Dutchman and the Slave by Amiri Baraka
40. Funny House of a Negro by Adrian Kennedy
41. The Importance of Being Earnest Part Deux: Thoroughly Stupid Things by Montserrat Mendez
42. The Language Archive by Julia Cho
43. Wolf Play by Hansol Jung
44. Stop Kiss by Diana Son
45. Ching Chong Chinaman by Lauren Yee
46. Welcome to the Taj Palace (Motel) by Riti Sachdeva
47. Marisol by Jose Rivera
48. Swimming While Drowning by Emilio Rodriguez
49. Halfway Bitches Go Straight to Heaven by Stephen Adly Guriguis
50. BLKS by Aziza Barnes

Sincerely,

Adler Affinity