It has been interesting for me to observe the proportion of whites in the audience of black theatrical performances in the United States. It is significant. There appears to be a far greater awareness and interest by the media, and the ensuing publicity creates and fosters a bigger audience. Whereas in Canada, there appears to be a total indifference by the media to promoting black theatre. Perhaps this is because Americans accept the black population as very much an integral part of the American reality, while in Canada blacks are regarded as interlopers, as non-belongers.
Black theatre is dismissed as part of the migrant culture.
I believe that white Canadians would patronize black theatre in greater numbers if the media were to give it the same exposure it gives to mainstream theatre. I have been involved for a number of years in bringing the work of Caribbean play wrights to Toronto. These are plays that have been enthusiastically reviewed in other metropolitan centres throughout the United States and have been major hits both there and in Britain. They have done badly in Toronto. Part of the reason for this is that the media hardly recognizes our existence, so we don't get coverage.