BSH Community Commitments

​

1. All Prospect Theatre Community Agreements are true for Bellingham Story Hour

2. All stories are true as the storyteller remembers them

3. Subjects that cause harm to the community are not appropriate for Bellingham Story Hour. Harming an audience can mean exposing them to extremely violent acts, assault (sexual/childhood/other), or extreme gore without their consent or warning. There are also some subjects that when glorified or justified can continue further harm.  These subjects are: Racism, Homophobia, Anti-Trans rhetoric, Bigotry toward community groups, ableism, body shaming, suicide/self-harm, violence against animals, child abuse, and severe morality judgments as programmed by faith.

4. Bellingham Story Hour presumes participant willingness and commitment to responsibly engage the ideas raised by stories addressing challenging topics in a broad range of cultural contexts. Participants should be alert to the fact that many stories/performances include content, imagery, language and situations that might be challenging and/or disturbing to some. Participants are expected to engage seriously with stories addressing diverse spiritual traditions, obscenity, censorship, violence, war, race, religious fundamentalism, pornography, nudity, transgender identity, homosexuality, AIDS, sexual labor, feminism, abortion, self -harm/suicide, and PTSD, among other potentially controversial topics. By Participating in Bellingham Story Hour or Slam events, Participants are obligating themselves to hearing/reading/viewing/discussing such works. Additionally, Participants choosing to be in the space are making a commitment to treating these subjects, community members, and the instructional staff with courtesy and respect.