A Message to Our Community
March 6, 2023
To Our Beloved Community,
During the past weeks, our Board of Directors and staff leadership have been focused on one priority: making the changes and improvements in Cleveland Play House policies, procedures and supports to protect our staff and artists from the type of harm one of our guest artists experienced in January when she was assaulted in our rented guest housing. We did not do enough for our guest artist and we again apologize for that. Our missteps caused the entire company of artists working on I’m Back Now: Returning to Cleveland to feel disheartened and unsafe, including playwright Charly Evon Simpson, director Stori Ayers, the creative design team and the company of actors. To all, we say we are sorry, but we know that we must show, not just talk about, how we are determined to do better.
To these artists and all the patrons of the arts, we want to provide you with information on the steps we have taken so far.
- While all CPH artists were relocated from the existing housing within 48 hours after we learned of the incident, we have subsequently contracted new apartments on Euclid Avenue. This newer, smaller and more secure building will serve as the Cleveland home for all CPH out-of-town guest artists going forward.
- All CPH managers and supervisors are being trained and retrained on our Reporting Compliance Procedures to make sure that incidents are acted upon immediately, that the appropriate staff members are informed, and that we take any and all steps necessary to assure the individual involved receives the support and services needed, including trauma care when appropriate.
- Our Health & Safety Committee is reviewing all of our safety measures and procedures for efficiency and clarity, and we are communicating all of that updated information to both our guest artists and our staff.
- We are revising our orientation for guest artists to make sure they feel welcome and part of the CPH family. We have committed to increasing our ongoing communications with our guest artists to learn of any issues they may be experiencing so we can respond promptly if needed. We also want to be certain our artists understand the process for reporting any type of incident or concern, know the individual who will serve as their liaison while they are in residence at CPH, and understand the steps we will take when they voice an incident or a concern. That new orientation will be put in place as we start rehearsals for our next production, beginning March 15.
- Members of the outside human resources consulting firm we hired last November have increased the amount of time they are now on site at our offices, and we have encouraged our staff and guest artists to meet with them for any related needs or questions. The firm also is reviewing and updating our personnel policies and procedures and identifying any additional resources we need to provide to our guest artists. We also have prioritized the search for permanent HR staff that will have an EDI focus – positions we hope to fill by June.
- All employees will be completing sexual harassment training or retraining this season, including an overview on how to report concerns that take place at any and all CPH-related work sites, including our theater, our school programs and other community outreach.
- We have established a Collaborative Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Access (CEDIA) committee, consisting of board and staff members. An external facilitator is being retained to lead discussions for this 11-member committee. The committee has been charged with examining the CPH work culture, our existing EDIA commitments and policies, and evaluating the progress we are making toward achieving our goals in this area.
- One of the Vice Chair positions on our Board has been designated as Vice Chair for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Access (EDIA). The Vice Chair for EDIA is a member of the board Executive Committee and chair of the joint board-staff Collaborative Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Access Committee noted above.
- We will be reporting progress on all our activities to the CEDIA Committee and the Board at every board and full staff meeting, to make sure the entire Board and staff are fully engaged with and aware of this work.
- Finally, we are determined to provide full compensation to all artists involved with the canceled production of I’m Back Now: Returning to Cleveland. We want to make sure that they receive the salaries or fees they would have earned if the production had gone forward, and we intend to make those payments as quickly as possible. We are not, however, in full control of when those payments will be made. We still must honor the processes in place in our union collective bargaining agreements before making all payments.
We acknowledge that we have been slow to communicate about this matter. We want to assure our community that our silence has not indicated inaction. We hope this letter provides some assurance of the gravity with which we view the incident that happened in January; the remorse we feel for our guest artist who experienced this trauma while with CPH; and the sincere, organization-wide commitment we have made to changing the way we operate and the culture we operate in so that an event like this does not happen again.
Thank you for allowing us to update you on the work we have been doing. Our work is ongoing, and we pledge to keep you informed as we move forward with the process of healing and repair.
Sincerely,
Michael J. Meehan
Chair, CPH Board of Directors
Mark Cuddy
CPH Guest Artistic & Managing Director of the 2022-2023 Season