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Ahead of Little shredded pill ‘When Broadway reopened on October 21, its producers apologized for mishandling a character’s gender identity, describing several steps the production took to provide a clearer and more respectful portrayal of their nonconforming character. to the genre.
On Friday, the show’s lead producers Vivek J. Tiwary, Arvind Ethan David and Eva Price released a lengthy statement on the production’s website and on social media, acknowledging the missteps in the way they spoke publicly. and identified Jo, a loving teenager who deals with religious parents, their sexuality, and an embittered relationship while continuing their own gender journey, which has no confirmed results on the show.
The statement began by thanking “those who have spoken on this subject” before acknowledging the time it took for the production to respond publicly to criticism of its language and the characterization of Jo. “We owe you a response in both word and deed,” the statement read. “It took a while to put the actions in place, so we also apologize for the delay in these comments. We recognized the importance of the job and decided that doing it right was more important than doing it quickly.
The question regarding Jo’s gender and whether they identified broadly as non-binary, as some other more specific gender identity, or not at all, arose as the show moved from a Boston stage to Broadway. The character was played by Lauren Patten, a cisgender woman, but Small jagged pill also directly referred to the fact that Jo at the very least was not a cisgender woman or man, with the character using them / them pronouns and having their identities invalidated by various people around them, among other narrative points. Many at the time referred to Jo as non-binary, although this identity tag was never explicitly attached to the character on the show.
Things got tough after the show moved to Broadway in 2019, and audiences watched Small jagged pill with those previous gender threads removed. Marketing had also apparently removed mentions of gender identity among the issues addressed by the show and in an interview with Vulture, Patten – who started referring to Jo with her pronouns on social media, responded to a question about the show’s pronoun change, saying, “Jo was never written other than cis.”
The statement acknowledges all of this, saying that Little shredded pill ‘s the producers “set out to portray a character on a genre journey with no known outcome,” but during the creation process and the move from Boston to Broadway, mistakes were made in the way the team handled it. ‘character evolution in’ a process designed to clarify and rationalize.
“To compound our error, we then declared publicly and categorically that Jo was never written or conceived of as non-binary. It reduced and rejected what people saw and felt in this character’s journey. We shouldn’t have done that, ”the statement said. “Instead, we should have engaged in an open discussion about nuance and the spectrum of genres. “
The producers acknowledged the “hurt” of their “failure and its aftermath” as well as the “silence” for the cast and fans of Jagged Little Pill, before describing four key areas in which the team has since taken action to. correct errors in their representation of Jo. It begins by explicitly stating that Jo’s is “the story of a gender nonconforming teenager who is on an open journey in regards to his queer identity and gender identity.” He then confirms that a new dramaturgical team featuring non-binary, transgender and BIPOC performances has been asked to “review” the script and help the show “commit to clarity and integrity in the storytelling of Jo’s story ”.
They also addressed the issue of casting, promising that the production has adopted practices that “intentionally broaden” hiring for “all roles to performers of all gender identities.” This involves ensuring that all future castings are not only explicit about Jo’s gender journey, but “will prioritize auditioning for actors for the role who are on gender journeys or personally understand this. experience – including non-binary, genre fluent, gendered artists – or otherwise fall under the umbrella of the trans community.
Tiwary, David and Price also confirmed several other off-screen efforts, including partnerships with The Trevor Project and Trans Lifeline, as well as anti-bias training related to transphobia and anti-racism that will be offered to existing members of the l ‘business to help support a more inclusive, safe and supportive environment for Small jagged pillnew non-binary, trans, queer and BIPOC recruits from.
“We are doing these things so as not to stifle the debate around these issues,” the statement concluded. “We are touched and grateful for the critical conversations that continue to occur. We welcome all who would be constructive in this endeavor. Broadway has a lot of work to do. We have a lot of work to do. We can’t wait to do it together.
Following Friday’s statement, Patten – who will reprise the role of Jo when the show reopens in October – shared a 42-minute video recorded on August 19 to her Instagram account. In it, she discusses the controversy surrounding Jo and the language that she and other members of the Small jagged pill production crew used to talk about the gender-non-conforming character after the show hit Broadway.
Speaking to Shakina Nayfack, trans writer, actress and activist, Patten said they agreed to share the video to increase transparency around the conversations taking place about Jo to be responsible for the damage resulting from the erasure. Jo’s genre journey, as it ties into a larger conversation on Broadway about transparency and the production changes that have taken place when it comes to portrayal, especially over the past year or so.
“The truth is, I didn’t know as much as I should and get into something that I knew would resonate with a lot of people – a lot of queer people and a lot of trans people,” Patten said. “I should have known more how to talk about it. I should have known exactly as you said, affirming the experience without trying to be.
During the high-profile conversation, Nayfack specifically addressed the decision to remove from the final scene of the show Jo walking on stage in a binder, which was featured in the Boston show, and replace it with a sports bra. for the Broadway production. “In the Broadway iteration, I actually put on a second sports bra for that scene, because in fact, for this character’s journey, it was always very important to me what this character wears for the majority. of the series, ”she explained. “I always have a change, just by not using something that signified a particular identity.”
While Pattens said she couldn’t say if it was the creative team trying to shape the character more around her own experience – which is that of a queer woman whose relationship to gender “isn’t really cut out ”but also isn’t something she talks about online – but said she was told if the character was meant to be explicitly trans they wouldn’t have chosen her.
“What I do know is that the character breakdown when I auditioned for reading and what the intentions of the creative team were when I walked into that audition room was to write a cis person because that I wouldn’t have been in this hearing room otherwise, “she said. “I spoke with the creative team and I know they said unequivocally, ‘If we were going to write a trans character, you would never have been in this audition. “”
Patten also noted that the production had trans advisers from the start, but it’s not the same as having trans and non-binary voices in the room on a day-to-day basis, and that’s a privilege. among those working on the character prevented them from seeing potential problems.
“Part of the reason I feel like it’s very important for me to make this video is just as changes are being made without transparency, I’ve heard from so many people at this. stadium, friends of mine that I have known for a long time, it’s like it’s wrong to make these changes and not explain why and not talk about what the process was, ”Patten said. .
“Creative teams change things all the time from an out of town trial. It’s part of what an out-of-town trial is. Sometimes you have a whole different act by the time you get to Broadway. So conventionally you don’t present for your audience, here’s why every change was made, ”she continued. “But I always thought very strongly that with this character transparency is necessary for the trans community.”
Small jagged pill is based on Alanis Morissette’s 1995 hit album of the same name, with music by Morissette and Glen Ballard. The show is directed by Diane Paulus, with her book written by Diablo Cody and a choreography by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui. After its premiere at the American Repertory Theater in Massachusetts on May 5, 2018, it premiered at the Broadhurst Theater on Broadway in November 2019, before opening on December 5 of the same year.
You can read the full statement on Small jagged pill‘s producers here.
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