Even an infrequent patron of the theatre can’t help but notice that, in recent years, the array of options available has undergone a noticeable shift.  The classics are still there – stories that reflect the white (mostly male) experience, some which we have seen repeatedly. The stories spring from the minds of (mostly) white, CIS, male, able-bodied playwrights and feature a cast that is also (mostly) white, CIS, male, and able-bodied. However, there are more options available to the theatergoer than previously as more stories are produced that are written by folks of every persuasion, and performed by casts that are also much more diverse. This shift can be seen in shows on and off Broadway, and in regional and local theaters.

Vauhini Vara. Ghost Variations, Colorado New Play Summit 2024. Photo by Jamie Kraus Photography

Tim McCracken is a Denver actor who has performed in New York, and who serves as the Head of Acting for the Education department of the DCPA. He suggests that the shift gained momentum around the time the country was ensnared by COVID. “There was a recognition and a slow-moving shift towards normalizing the opportunity to have plays and playwrights representing a much more diverse population of people and therefore identifying a much more diverse point of view, ways of storytelling, and representation on our stages…those have all been long overdue in their development and have been broadly, I think, embraced by a lot of theater artists.”

“This is a shift and a recognition of what has always been true, which is we are here and we’ve always been here,” says Betty Hart, co-artistic director of Local Theater Company and an actor and director who has also worked in New York. “People of color have always been telling their stories. The question has been are institutions willing to program those stories, willing to take the risk in telling the stories because of the thought that the majority of theatregoers only want to see one kind of story.”

Billie McBride, who spent years in New York before re-locating here to Denver, says that the shift is real. “I’m really happy now that I get to see a much more diverse world in the theater…if this had not happened, this is not something I would have ever gotten to see, let alone be a part of.”

Rosa Isabella Salvatierra and Heather Lee Echeverria in I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter. Photo by Jamie Kraus Photography

Some BIPOC artists note that tokenism is still a problem, especially in musical theater. Actor Erin Willis, now in Minneapolis, found there was little diversity in theater programs and productions, and that this created major challenges for her and limited her opportunities as an actor in training when she was young and later in New York. She recalls, “…going to conservatory [there were limits] to what parts black actors, especially black women could play…. [Now] they are celebrating our individuality and what makes us unique and showcasing us in more shows.”

This evolution in theater has led to greater inclusivity and representation of BIPOC actors. Since the time of Shakespeare, when all roles were played by men, women have fought to appear on stage. Since the majority of plays published are written by men, women have struggled to find roles they feel represent the lives and experiences of women in an authentic way. “I’ve been a professional actress for over 30 years,” says Tara Falk, another local actor who has performed in New York, “and I have probably done four plays written by women. And only one by a black woman.”

Phamaly Theatre Company, Annie. Photo by Michael Ensminger Photography

Lagging even farther behind has been the normalization of casting actors with disabilities. Recently, former Denver Actor Jenna Bainbridge, made history as the first wheelchair user to originate a role on Broadway in the musical Suffs. She is currently appearing as Nessa Rose in Wicked. However, Paul Berhorst, co-founder of ConsultAbility, an organization that works with theater organizations to increase representation and create safe theater spaces for actors with disabilities, notes that the fact that this is finally happening in 2025 should be alarming. “That’s not a lot of representation. There’s been two wheelchair users in a musical on Broadway…and I can name three disabled actors on [Broadway] stages right now.” He continues, “There’s a desire for inclusion, but not always necessarily visible representation.”

Phamaly Theatre Company, based in Denver, is a disability affirmative professional theater company, which exclusively casts actors with disabilities. Artistic Director Ben Raanan feels that some of the challenges theater companies in New York and elsewhere have had in becoming more disability friendly and promoting stories of folks with disabilities is in how they choose to market those shows. He says, “after COVID, there were a slew of shows that focused on being black in America, being Latino in America, being disabled in America, and a lot of those shows didn’t actually survive or do well.” He continues, “It was not marketed as ‘come see this amazing show’; it was ‘come feel better about yourself for supporting [this kind of] theater .’A lot of those shows closed really quickly.”

The shuttering of some shows, however, does not mark the end of this evolutionary process, at least not in the eyes of many local artists. They feel that the changes that are occurring will not stop. The inevitable challenges the theater community faces in continuing will only lead to the creation of more great art by diverse artists and more opportunities for diverse actors.

“It’s kind of like once you have the momentum, it can’t stop. It’s going down the hill. The Boulder is rolling,” says Hart.

“Gravity says it can’t stop. And the same is true of art.”

Twanna LaTrice Hill is a teaching artist, actor and director who has published works of fiction and nonfiction and penned two plays that have been produced and performed in the Denver metro area. Princeton/Harvard/Regis educated and a trained Sovietologist, she is currently seeking representation for her first memoir, What’s Done in the Dark.