A Cultural Sensitiviy Specialist is the liason between the Actors and members of the production team. Their job is to help navigate communication, boundaries, and expectations for the Actors when it comes to a show that may contain loaded topics.

These topics can be, but are not limited to shows that contain themes of racism, gender, LGBTQIA+, ageism, sexuality, trauma, violence, religion, disablity, etc. These are not taboo by any means. They are topics that can have connections to the Actors who are telling the stories of the characters they're connected to.

Actors are story tellers. With a CSS as a part of your production we are able to help Actors navigate telling these stories bravely. This allows Actors to do so without impon their own personal stories, lived experiences, and personal connections.

How does a Cultural Sensitiviy Speiclist work?

First we begin with reviewing the script. This allows us to pull all the information that may fall within our umbrella. We then meet with the Director to learn more about their vision for the production. From there we meet with the Actors individually to review this information. We ask a series of questions to learn about the Actors boundaries and disucss what supportive measures they may need.*

*Not every production will be able to fully provide those, but it's important to have that disucssion and be aware of it moving forward.

You may also read more on my blog about Cultural Sensitivy Specilists here.

Cultural Sensitivity Specilists was created by Tavia Rivee Jefferson and Ann C. James.