"Why aren't the theatre publications running stories on Scott Rudin?" If you've ever trained or worked in theatre, you know why. We've all been programmed to keep hush-hush about abuse, for a very long time.

Even if theatre professionals don't wind up working as actors, they likely started by performing in community theatre or acting school. If you tell me there were no abusive or toxic behaviors in any of your community theatre or educational theatre spaces, I don't believe you.

From formative ages, we all have been taught the idea that we don't want to "Piss off the wrong people" by speaking up, because the "Wrong people" to piss off are also the "Right people" to give us opportunities. And we've been fed the idea that opportunity is a constant drought.

You know the "I think this is affecting me mentally/Like, long-term, shit is gonna fuck with me" TikTok meme?

You could apply that to many youth theatre and educational theatre norms you and the folks working at theatre publications adapted to from a young age.

I am not exempt from this. I still have topics and environments that make me feel the impulse to say in private conversation, "Hey, keep this between us, because I can't speak publicly about it, but..."

I'm sure you do, too.

I am memorized in the behaviors of upholding toxicity while trying to shield myself from it, and those are incredibly difficult behaviors to unlearn.

If you know the language of dysfunctional families, I often switch between the roles of The Enabler, The Mascot, or
The Hero.

Again, to borrow from the language of dysfunctional families, we need to be giving our attention, our space, and our opportunities to The Scapegoats. We are not a society that knows how to do this very well yet.

Think about the first time someone taught you the definition of the word "Whistle-blower." I don't know about you, but I felt for a long time that whistle-blowers were rule-breakers, villains (the way we teach kids about rules needs to shift, too, but that's another discussion).

I wish I could end this succinctly with a call to action, but I don't have the emotional muscle memory for the skills that we as professionals in this industry need for this phenomenon, and I'm sure I'm not alone, which is part of the problem!

So, if you're farther along in your journey of unlearning the behaviors that uphold and enable abusive creative environments, please comment any action or advice that has helped you speak truth to power rather than hold open secrets that only live in private discussions.