Workshops

“Dues is a vulnerable, raw, confrontational, but also loving theatre experience that does not let you go. With raw honesty, she shares her daily experiences of racism, which causes deep reflection in me as a viewer. Crystal asks striking questions about privilege and inclusion that force you to move beyond comfortable conversations and critically examine your own role in this dialogue. Dues provokes thought and remains resonant for a long time.

In the workshop series that followed the lecture performance, Crystal Hassell offered our students and staff a unique opportunity to engage with the impressions of the theatre performance. She invited participants to write a personal love letter-a powerful way to explore their feelings and thoughts around inclusion and privilege. These interactive sessions, spread over three meetings, led the group from writing a love letter to turning words into concrete actions. The concluding reflection session provided space to share insights and anchor the impact of the performance more deeply. These workshops were felt to be extremely valuable and gave us the opportunity to further spread the message of Dues within our community.” 

“Halfway through the performance, Crystal asks the almost entirely white audience: “Do you think this isn’t scary for me?” and you realize once again that you have taken yourself as the starting point. Crystal presses where it hurts, generously shares her knowledge, and openly shows how society is not inclusive and how that personally affects her. Guaranteed food for thought.

“I have great admiration for this art form, the lecture performance by Crystal Hassell. It was personal, humorous, and sometimes a bit uncomfortable for me as a ‘highly educated young white woman’. Just the right amount of friction to go home with constructive food for thought.”

“I was rendered speechless, is I think, the best description of what Crystal Hassell’s lecture performance Dues did to me. The succession of detailed situations that a person of color (in the cultural sector) is confronted with daily washed over me. Vivid and to-the-point.”

“With Dues Crystal Hassell creates a compelling follow-up to Only Well Meaning People. Harsh experiences are interspersed with a loving outreach to the other, theory and anecdotes alternate. Crystal presents herself vulnerably and courageously in this new lecture performance. She makes the audience reflect on their own work practices and, most importantly, on their individual roles and responsibilities within them. Highly recommended!” 

“For me (woman of color), Dues was all about recognition. It is so special and powerful how Crystal can articulate these sensitive experiences and combine them with scientific backgrounds. This helps me to better express the things I experience and go through. I am very happy and grateful to have met Crystal!” 

“Just like Only Well Meaning People, Dues  is a beautiful, candid, personal, serious but also funny and balanced monologue. I wish I had brought my notebook to write down the three or four pieces of wisdom that punctuated the performance, so I could reread them often. Now, the only thing to do is to see Dues again. And I know a few unconsciously privileged people I’d like to take with me.” 

“Dues is a powerful lecture performance about the price people of color pay in their interactions with white people. Seemingly calm, Crystal shares accessible and, at first glance, everyday personal experiences. As a white listener, you quickly realize that the experiences Crystal describes are not about you. At least, not experiencing them – but perhaps contributing to them. This makes the performance confronting and uncomfortable, and so incredibly important to see. Dues prompts reflection on how we, as white people, interact with others, what we (think we) achieve with this, and the actual effects of our behavior on the recipients on the other side.”