In 2017, Marin Theatre Company produced the world premiere of Thomas and Sally, Thomas Bradshaw’s play about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. As a theatre, we made mistakes in the production and marketing of the play. One of the mistakes we seek to correct is a failure to provide patrons and school groups attending the play with information about consent, rape and the sexual violence endured by enslaved Black girls and women.

Kyra Jones, a Chicago-based theatre artist and educator, has written a fact sheet for MTC, “Consent, Slavery, and Sexual Violence in the Black Community,” and included a list of resources for further reading and learning to deepen our understanding of these issues.

To better prepare our audiences in the future, MTC’s dramaturgy department is committed to developing research packets that contain historical, socio-political, and theoretical framings of the larger stakes and context of each play we produce. MTC will also secure input from affected and involved communities to prevent omissions and biases that undermine our goal of fostering better, fuller understanding. These packets will be distributed to everyone involved in the production.

Thank you for continuing to engage with MTC as we continue to improve our policies and processes for responsibly producing and promoting culturally diverse work.

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