An Open Letter: A Statement to the Public Theater

Dear friends:

It took me a while to build up the courage to write this letter. Even now there is a certain level of anxiety that my speaking out will cost me opportunity, but I can no longer stay silent. The cost of my self-worth is too high. I couldn’t have begun to type this out without the courage of Karen Olivo, Eden Espinosa, Jaime Cepero, Sis and other artists who’ve spoken out about the abuses in our industry. The most recent March on Broadway, it’s organizers, and the support I’ve received from family and friends in the business have all inspired me to have courage in sharing my own story. I questioned whether to even publish this letter for fear it would read as just an actor’s ego driven complaint form, but for me it’s most important that my experiences are heard and in hopes empower others to speak up against the harm they face in this industry.

Like many trans actors in this industry, I have faced immense marginalization because of the intersectionalities of my identities. Being South Asian and being trans has greatly limited the types of opportunities I am called in for. Still, 24 years into this business, I have had a very successful career, spanning regional work, a Broadway national tour, film and television. But all of that success didn’t come without a cost to my self-worth and a lot of harm endured....

Full text here:https://aneeshtheactress.medium.com/an-open-letter-a-statement-to-the-public-theater-f1086a3c5bad

A lot to digest, and not sure I have anything new to add. RE: Shakespeare, it sounds like they did there best to help you understand the language, etc? I don't see the complain there.

And I'm not sure I agree the nuance should come only from the text? Isn't the job of an actor to - for a lack of a better word - color in the lines? Add some nuance and create a fully realized character?

Honestly, what I got from all this is we need to be focusing on the creative teams and casting directors who are perpetuating all this and not calling out Actors Equity. Call out all the horrible casting directors who have said so many disrespectful stuff to all of us.

Agreed. I think if we were to produce an all Trans musical, I think we'd find it might be more difficult than we think to find people up to the task. The Public is at least VERY diverse in their programming.

Updated On: 4/26/21 at 05:55 PM

Regarding only two actors being trans out of five trans roles, it sounds like The Public at least gave it a shot. They had an open casting call and got 130 submissions from trans actors.

I don't know much about the average talent level from an open casting call. Maybe you could find five Off-Broadway-caliber actors out of 130, but maybe not. Maybe it would be easier to do in 2021 than it was in 2015.

It's possible they were faced with the difficult decision of casting more talented cis actors, or less talented trans actors, and they ultimately chose the option that would make the show itself better (rather than the circumstances surrounding the show better).

Based on the details I've gleaned from reviews, I can't really blame them. The NYT review said the creative team had worked on the show for ten years at that point, so this was their shot at Broadway. They had respected actors attached (Annette O'Toole, Jeff McCarthy) who had been with the show for years and knew their characters inside and out. At that point the producers' goal was to make the best show they could.

If there was a time for the show to cast five trans actors, it would have been back when they were workshopping it (before The Public involvement, I would assume). At the point that Aneesh was cast, I just don't think it would have been plausible, going through the details, for them to have jettisoned their existing cast in order to make sure the actors' demographics matched the characters.

Also, the show ended up getting a NYT Critic's Pick and a bunch of award nominations for O'Toole and McCarthy, so from a pure quality standpoint, it seems like the creative team made the right decision.

Editing to ask: has any cis creative team ever produced any trans/trans-adjacent work and not been subject to insane controversy? I'm thinking of this, and the recent JLP controversy where they briefly dabbled in Jo being non-binary. It just seems like the ultimate third rail for cis folks. You touch it, you die.

Updated On: 4/26/21 at 09:31 PM

“Editing to ask: has any cis creative team ever produced any trans/trans-adjacent work andnot been subject to insane controversy? I'm thinking of this, and the recent JLP controversy where they briefly dabbled in Jo being non-binary. It just seems like the ultimatethird rail for cis folks. You touch it, you die."

This. I don’t think people realize that by talking about theaters and creative teams who fumble their way through this as if they’re Harvey Weinstein that were basically teaching people in power in this industry that certain queer topics are not worth the risk, because if they mishandle it, the community will cancel them.

Good to hear his response. I actually thought it might be a resignation letter.

It will be interesting to also see whether other actors who have worked with Saheem or the Public will come forward with similar open letters.