A brilliant veteran actor, Nike Imoru, who is a dear collaborator of mine filed a race discrimination lawsuit against A.R.T. where we collaborated on the world premiere of a new adaptation of The Odyssey last year. Due to the violation of existing safeguards, Nike sustained extraordinarily painful and permanent damage to her hair and scalp. Witnessing this horrific breakdown of our production process on a project I was helming has been a huge wake up call. While we have made progress in recent years in conversations and some policy around actor safety, we still have a long way to go. In this particular instance the rule that was violated exists to protect actors with textured hair and the specific care and styling that kind of hair requires. This is bigger than the utterly preventable harm that was done to one actor. It is about the treatment of black women’s bodies in our industry. The disfigurement sustained by Nike Imoru was an outcome of bias and disregard of protocols and rules that exist to prevent exactly this kind of harm.

To learn more about Nike's story and the broader impact of her case, you can read recent news articles from the Boston Globe:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/19/arts/art-harvard-black-actor-lawsuit-discrimination-hair/?event=event12

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/02/25/arts/american-repertory-theater-race-discrimination-hair-lawsuit/

While witnessing the build of this legal case, it has been astonishing to realize how few public court cases have been pursued to protect actor safety in the workplace. I suspect this is because of how much performers risk in pursuing this degree of justice and change. In an industry that already has far fewer jobs than artists, risking publicity that could limit future employment is a chance few can afford to take. And that’s not to mention the substantial legal fees that have already been incurred and will keep mounting in the months to come until this case is settled. Please join me in supporting Nike Imoru in pursuing protection and justice not just for herself but for all actors in the theater industry. She simply cannot sustain this marathon alone. The funds raised here will enable her to go the distance on this drawn out legal process and support a critical commitment to setting a precedent so that actors aren’t harmed in this way in the future. Thank you for your generosity and belief in the power of community.