Old white guys of the world, unite!

Remember the old Chinese curse, "May you live in interesting times"? It's proving especially prescient these days for older white guys (hereinafter referred to as OWGs).

As a card-carrying OWG, I can tell you I have never seen times like these, interesting or otherwise.

Everything is changing, in ways that are seismic and have left OWGs everywhere scrambling to cope. Of course, we've had to make adjustments before — allowing women to vote was pretty alarming, never mind that whole equal rights thing. But we just mixed ourselves another martini and soldiered on.

What's happening now is flat-out unprecedented. Suddenly women are in positions of actual influence that were once our exclusive domain. People of color are being courted for positions that usually went to us. Companies are making diversity a priority. I'm even hearing jokes about us. (How many OWGs does it take to change a light bulb? Two: one to pour the drinks and the other to call the electrician!)

Nowhere is this cultural shift more prevalent than in my business, the theater. Roles I might normally have played are now being cast with people of color or women. Ditto with plays I might have been asked to direct or stage fights I might have been asked to choreograph.

No question, the game has changed. So as someone who has some skin in that game, I say this:

About time.

We OWGs have ruled the world for thousands of years and now it's someone else's turn. We've had a great run, but it's time to turn the reins (or reigns) over to younger people who don't look like us. Oh, we'll still be around — we won't completely vanish until women can teach horses to take the garbage out — but our sway over the world will never be (nor should it be) what it once was.

So, what's an OWG to do? Adapt. Pull ourselves up by those bootstraps we're so fond of talking about and engage with this brave new world. Take a risk, learn a new trade, create a fresh approach to an old construct.

I for one am following my own advice by starting a new theater. This October, Stage North will debut in the newly renovated Capri Theater in north Minneapolis, doing all kinds of plays with all kinds of people onstage, backstage and in the audience. I have hugely talented colleagues, OWG and non-OWG alike, who I hope will join me in making great theater, by and for everybody.

Which reminds me: you know how we OWGs in America are always yelling about all them foreigners taking our jobs? It's actually true in show business, and the biggest culprits are— the Brits!

They're everywhere! They come here with their charm and professionalism and perfect American accents and get hired for everything. Damien Lewis! Michelle Dockery! John Boyega! Felicity Jones! Charlie Hunnam! Hugh Jackman (yes, he's Australian, but that's just British Lite)! Believe me, there are many more.

Forget Mexico, we need to build a wall around London.

So stand up and take a deep breath, fellow OWGs. Hard as it may be, embrace the change. I believe we'll be just fine if we get in there and contribute to the common good instead of sulking about how we're the victims now. We aren't. We're strong and kind and still have a lot to offer.

But I mean it about that wall.

Peter Moore, of St. Paul, is an actor and director.