Cebelihle Hlatshwayo, Renée Bartlett-Webber, Samayia Kirby & Victor Chambers | Editors

The cast of "By The River Rivanna," surround Tia Jiji, dressed in the white robes of the Yoruba Ancestral Spirits, during the final scenes of the play performed on Tuesday Oct. 17th, 2023 in Santa Monica, Calif. at the Santa Monica Colllege Studio Stage. (Akemi Rico | The Corsair)

The premiere of SMC Theatre Arts’ production “By The River Rivanna” has officially been canceled after a week of intense debates about its content and social impact. With the support of other 13 SMC employee-based organizations, the Pan-African Alliance led the opposition to the performance, organizing a protest set to take place today at at 6:30 p.m. in front of the Theater Arts Studio Stage on the college’s main campus.

The organization stated that the play “embraces a romantic version of the terrible and tragic legacy of slavery, sexual abuse, and exploitation in our country, in addition to trafficking in stereotypic tropes.” They further cited historical inaccuracy, the focus on themes of sexual abuse of Black male and female bodies, and a lack of sensitivity for peoples of African ancestry among some of the reasons for their course of action.

The decision was confirmed by the play’s director Perviz Sawoski in a statement shared on Friday morning. She explained the decision was made on Thursday night, adding that “the level of hatred and anger in the community was unprecedented.” She supported that “there was no disrespect whatsoever to any community” and that the play “was made a scapegoat.”

Confirmation also came from the SMC administration a few hours later, explaining that the production “has been halted following a collective decision made by the faculty and student actors involved.”

SMC’s Black Collegians program leader Sherri Bradford shared with faculty and students in the afternoon that while the protest will no longer happen, they would still “come together in community at 6:00 pm to provide a space to process all that has happened.”

It was revealed days later that the cancelation came after the student actors voted for the play to not move forward. The SMC administration confirmed that Smith and Sawoski were consulted and in agreement with having the voting process determine the production’s future. The first round of anonymous votes was aimed at determining how many of the cast members wanted the play to move forward and nine students voted to cancel, seven to move forward, and four to delay it. A second round of votes weighed in on how many would like to show a private showing for family and friends. This time, 12 voted yes and eight voted no. After discussing the results, the students agreed that since eight of them did not want to be part of a private showing, the play should be canceled altogether.

Smith said that while he respects the wish of the student actors, he has “no reason to believe they would have voted to cancel the play if the SMC administration hadn’t harassed them.”

The cast members have so far declined to comment on the play’s cancelation.

NOTE: This article was updated on Friday, Oct. 20, at 5:52 p.m. (Pacific Time) to include the official statement by the SMC administration and Sherri Bradford’s comments.

NOTE 2: This article was updated on Friday, Oct.27, at 10:19 am.m. (Pacific Time) to include information on the voting process that led to the play’s cancelation.

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