our mission statement
On its expansive stage, the Hannon Theatre Company welcomes young artists from all over Los Angeles to collaborate on productions renowned for their professionalism and innovation. In its seats, audience members witness creativity they rank with the best theatre companies in Southern California. But first and foremost, in its rehearsal halls and technical shops, our members grow personally, academically, and spiritually due to a shared sense of mission. Our students and teachers commit themselves to working together, bringing theatre to life which resonates with meaning and purpose.
our equity and inclusion statement
Whereas HTC’s philosophies have been published for years in our in-house handbook given to prospective members and their parents, we are moved to share it on our website’s landing page for full transparency. We do so in an effort to keep us accountable and to provide inspiration through proclaiming our commitment to grow stronger and do better.
The Hannon Theatre Company believes whole-heartedly in a fully-inclusive casting and membership policy. HTC’s producers, directors, and casting committee cast productions in such a manner that a performer's racial, or ethnic background as well as a performer's gender identity or sexual orientation, does not limit the roles they can be assigned nor do such matters diminish the learning opportunities available to them. We espouse a color-conscious and gender inclusive policy in which we recognize the beautiful complexity and intersectionality of the many ways students express their individuality. In our selected literature, we choose to celebrate diversity without making any member’s personal identifiers a plot point in our stories. Our paramount objective is to honor every student’s cultural, racial, and gender identity through work which celebrates God’s unconditional love and creative spirit.
Likewise, young women from any secondary institution in Southern California are welcome to join us to both perform on stage and work behind the scenes as valued members of the Loyola High School community and its Student Life component. Although our male membership will consist exclusively of young men from our student body, our artistic process and outcomes will be aligned to fully support feminist ideals . We vow to champion the respect and empowerment of our sisters in Christ.
As a program sponsored by a Jesuit Roman Catholic institution, part of the fully-inclusive membership policy for the Hannon Theatre Company is grounded in practice of non-discrimination for those of different religious beliefs and traditions. While a central goal of the company is to encourage self-discovery through the lens of Ignatian spirituality in all of its members, and the means for achieving that objective often take the forms of prayers and spiritual rituals, every student regardless of denomination or belief system is welcome to become a member without fear of proselytization or disapproval.
As we reflect on the history of the Hannon Theatre Company, we have come to grips with certain decisions which fell short of our ideals. Although our intentions were never to make anyone feel excluded, we are aware that some casting decisions had an inverse impact on previous members of our community. We fully own the mistakes we have made which have minimized the experience of our Black and Indigenous students and all People of Color in our body of work. We vow to be vigilant in recognizing where there are obstacles for full equity and inclusion in a historically white-dominated art form and to diligently eradicate them within our theatre. And for the world at large, we seek to be a model theatre program which celebrates true diversity in the artistic experience.
Over the past year, we have been committed to devising a rigorous Equity, Diversity, and inclusion Plan which serves as our call to action with meaningful accountability. Each of these measurable steps have been taken to strengthen our anti-racist, feminist, and spiritual ideals. Some of the conscious changes we've made and have put forth to our administration include restructuring student theatre council positions and protocols, changing casting panel membership with a focus on diversity, creating new approaches to audition camp with regard to transparency, recruiting to increase BIPOC representation, and devising a meaningful retreat program centered on issues of inclusion. Areas we continue to develop include establishing an alumni advisory board and developing an alumni and community mentoring outreach program to level disparities in access. Our success will be not only data-driven but also holistically student-centered as we diligently work together to develop a safe environment where every student is welcomed and honored and every audience member is entertained and enlightened.
Drafted by HTC directors in consultation with LHS Office of Equity and Inclusion and posted here by the Webmaster and unaffiliated members of HTC supporters.
