The 60-year-old Milwaukee Repertory Theater and the 2-year-old Bronzeville Arts Ensemble (BEA) formed an open-ended partnership this season. Bronzeville receives office, rehearsal and performance space and operational mentoring; the Rep deepens its relationship with Milwaukee’s African American artists and audiences. BEA Producing Artist Director Malkia Stampley and Rep Artistic Director Mark Clements had a dialogue about goals. Here’s a taste.
Stampley: All of Bronzeville’s founders have lived in Milwaukee for some time. We started seeing that there was a lack of black arts shown here. We wanted to add to the pool and be part of the growth. Our focus is on illuminating the black experience in America and on developing new works and educational opportunities. We take very seriously the mentoring of the next generation, and even of retirees or those who’ve been doing community theater and are looking for something different. I’ve become an activist in the last couple of years. It’s difficult not to, being a black woman in the United States and in theater. We want to collaborate with community organizations and use social and civic issues as a backdrop for our work. I’m a product of Milwaukee regional theatre. BEA wants to be a part of the regional theater community and to partner with other black arts organizations, help bring more credibility to the black arts community and find innovative ways to have our say and let our voices be heard.
Clements: The Rep’s emphasis had always been on finding work that worked for an ensemble of actors; and what we transitioned to, really, was finding work that was right for the Milwaukee community and then asking, who do we need to tell that story? The idea that we could perhaps host a company who’d benefit from some of our infrastructure, and have the mutual benefit of finding an audience that we want to get better at understanding, felt like a great opportunity. We don’t have all the answers; the things we come up with as priorities now may not be the ones we have next year or beyond. But you have to start somewhere. You have to make mistakes or try things to know what actually works. Until you start that process, it’s just rhetoric. We need to live the creed. I think we’ve been doing that for a while now.
Stampley: The black community, at least in Milwaukee, knows when a theater just wants to put on that one cash cow production every five years or so. As artists and audiences, we see right through it. That’s not enough anymore. Community engagement is very important. It has to go beyond the stage. That’s become my mission. We need a platform for black artists, not just onstage but offstage.
Clements: There are things that are absolutely unique to Milwaukee. As a Brit living in the Midwest, which is a learning curve in itself, it takes a while to “get it” and therefore know where you can try to go, or should be going, and who’s going to be there to help you get there.
Stampley: Milwaukee residents can be very hesitant. When I go to a restaurant, I want what I usually get. Don’t change it up on me. Unless the chef comes to me, has that conversation and tells me why. And when you do that with Milwaukee residents, they’re very forgiving, very open; but they have to know that you’ve extended a hand. And when you extend a hand, the answer most times in Milwaukee is yes. That can’t happen as long as we stay separated in our different communities or neighborhoods. It takes someone like Mark coming from overseas—or those who are courageous but fearful like me—to go across those borders and grab those allies. That’s how partnerships like this can happen. That’s how productions like Dreamgirls this season can happen, a production that would never even have been on the table 15 years ago at the Rep.
Clements: What excites me most about working with Bronzeville is that we’re not adhering to any particular sets of rules or normal spheres of judgment or trying to appease a certain faction of the audience with our participation and involvement. It’s about “what’s next and what do we build from that experience?”
