Report #16 of the Wisconsin Theatre Diversity Study
Check out this post for more info on the study and our methodology.
Our sixteenth report is for Kith & Kin Theatre Collective. The reporting period begins with Things I Know to Be True in 2022 and runs through their current production of Of Thread and Thorn in 2026.
Actor Breakdown
The below data is the number of roles cast with actors of each demographic and the percentage total.
White - 32 roles, 72.7%
Black - 3 roles, 6.8%
Multiracial - 3 roles, 6.8%
Latino/a/x - 2 roles, 4.5%
Asian-American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) - 2 roles, 4.5%
Southwest Asian and North African (SWANA) - 1 role, 2.3%
Indigenous - 1 role, 2.3%
Director Breakdown
The below data is the number of times a director of each demographic was hired and the percentage total. These numbers include directors and co-directors.
White - 7, 100%
These numbers reflect 7 full productions consisting of 44 total roles for actors. Only actors listed in the adult cast/adult ensemble were considered for this study. Their casting rate of white actors at 72.7% puts Kith & Kin at the 4th lowest/10th highest rates out of the 13 total storefront companies.
That 72.7% represents a little over 2.3 times the representation in city racial demographics while their 6.8% Black actor casting rate is a little under 1/5 of the representation of Milwaukee's largest racial demographic of 38.5%. Kith & Kin’s casting rate of Indigenous actors matched or exceeded their relative representational population in the City of Milwaukee that were tracked per the census.
Milwaukee Demographics
White (Alone) - 31.1%
Black (Alone) - 38.5%
Latino/a/x or Hispanic - 20.9%
AAPI (Alone) - 5.2%
Indigenous (Alone) - .8%
All Others (Including Multiracial) - 3.6%
Current Milwaukee Census Estimates: Link
We acknowledge that census data is imperfect, in part due to a lack of representation for SWANA and South Asian populations and confusion for Latin/Hispanic populations, but it gives us a starting point to understand where we’re falling short when it comes to representation in our community.