Racism

I'm an optimist so I see the last gasp of this. The next generation (with a small minority of exceptions) wont care about colour/gender/sexual orientation. But, as I say, I'm an optimist.

You know Nick I too am an optimist and I have read (or heard) a similar statement somewhere.

I remember listening to NPR in the USA -- their closest equivalent to Radio 4 -- in the 90s, and there was an interesting feature on so-called "colour-blindness", i.e. where you treat everyone the same regardless of skin colour, something I had previously thought was a good thing. There were compelling arguments from several black voices that this was an inherently racist thing to do; that someone's race was an intrinsic part of their identity and that to ignore it or to assume their experience matched a white person's and treat them accordingly was not good. You should always see someone's race and realise it's part of who they are. With stage roles, I don't pretend not to see a character's racial identity. It's important.

I don't really have much to add other than I bloody hate racism and there's just no need for it. I agree with nick that perhaps we might see the last gasps of it as generations come through.

I agree social media has created a lot of issues in recent years and there has been a rise in the far left and far right in many parts of the world. The extremes almost meet as they are so far apart and both are pretty unpleasant IMO.

With so much diversity and multiculturalism there will unfortunately be some pushback against this and how some want theirs rights in one country but deny others similar rights in their own country.

The kick back against Francesca Amewudah-Rivers was totally unjustified be it about her ethnicity, looks or how high profile she was.

Indeed, social media has set progress back at least 10, perhaps 20 years. Trans, for example; which was almost no thing at all in 1972 when David Bowie was representing the whole thing at 7pm every Thursday on BBC1. That was half a century ago, folks.

The latest thing I saw was about the casting of historical characters. People like or say they like, to see historical characters acted by their race so people in Elizabethan courts all white. Any black person would have been a servant or a musician. And there were some, we know. But not the aristocracy. ( mixed race people entered a little later I think, via slave/master relationships and are documented ) This feeds into the larger ‘thing’ about fictionalising history so that the fiction becomes what we all accept as the reality. This is probably ok if we accept the imagination of the writer as being probably true to the emotions etc of the history ( as in making what Queen Liz I might have said to her courtiers ) and also we accept that getting some history out there is a ‘good thing’. Remembering that poor RIII has been demonised because Willie was on the side of the winner, needfully in his case, we should try to seek a balance when we can but also be aware that children especially do need to see themselves out there. I went to kids’ dance show just the other day: one black dancer . One. And this a really good school that leads some kids into the profession. So we do need to get some work done here and perhaps blind casting will help. I too live for the day when colour/ethnicity/nationality/gender/faith will cease to be a talking point Me and John Lennon, eh?

IMO this falls very much into the 'it depends' category. 

There are times when race is relevant to a story or a person's character, in which case colour blind casting is not appropriate. There are times when race is no more relevant to the story or a person's character than eye or hair colour, in which case colour blind casting is appropriate. There are of course times when hair colour is relevant, in which case wigs are usually acceptable for stage, and contact lenses may be used for film and tv.

Some will argue about believability, but theatre is all about suspending disbelief, and I find it easier to accept the people on stage in fancy outfits are pretending to be aristocrats, than to believe that people find the addition of brown skin to be the point at which it's too confusing. Colour-blind casting isn't about pretending you don't notice colour, it's about understanding that it's not always relevant.

One of the better arguments against colour-blind casting for stories that aren't specifically about race, but where different nationalities and races are present is that race relevant casting means opportunities are reserved for people who might not traditionally have had the opportunity, and reduces the risk of stereotypes. Miss Saigon springs to mind. But how accurate should you be? 

One of the many arguments for colour-blind casting is that without it we're limiting opportunities for black and brown actors. That's also an argument for more diversity in story telling.

But for something like Romeo and Juliet, there's absolutely no reason why Juliet being black should be in any way controversial. It's just so tiresome.

The comments are absolutely shocking and racial abuse must not be tolerated.

BUT……

It is worth discussing the current trend of black/white couple casting in the West End? I can name over ten recent shows where the lead love interests have been cast this way. In theory I couldn’t care less - but why is it never an Asian performer? Latino? Never a black performer with Indian heritage? Someone from Central Asia? It’s not. Ever. Should demographic of society be a benchmark of socially acceptable casting?

A lot of performers say the same to me but daren’t mention it - an exceptional Japanese performers I know hardly works. Why are there hardly ever any Asian/black couples? Why are plus size characters in musical often now mostly played by women of colour? Are Asian performers ever used outside Miss Saigon/King and I/Pacific Overtures? The balance is not there - West End casting is often full of agenda and politics. Is this post BLM? Social guilt? Or is the West End spot on?

I actually find the West End is obsessed with horrible LGBT stereotypes, it frowns upon certain UK regional accents, is xenophobic towards countries like Russia (while being pro Palestinian - where does this leave Israel) and ultimately BAME casting isn’t equal at all.

People aren’t often racist - they are bored with identity politics. I hope you don’t all mind me sharing my views.

I haven't seen the twitter stuff on Juliet but I do remember the (re)casting of Patsy Ferran as Blanche Dubois, and Patsy getting a lot of stick for not being beautiful.

Fwiw, I think the truth for Juliet and Blanche is that, historically, these roles attracted 'leading' (industry powerful) women  - who were inevitably the most bankable/beautiful - and so, over time (and mostly via film), the public associated beauty with those characters. That is a function of the market, not art.

As was proven with Ferran's Blanche, other qualities are available - feminie and professional, and can knock you for six.

Perhaps this is a genuine artistic choice; intentionally deviatng from the historic representation of Juliet (yup, I haven't forgotten it's Jamie Lloyd). A lot of people are challenged by change (and, fwiw, far moreso by pace of change).

It seems pretty clear - all the time - the twitter Offenderati are ignorant, and reactionary, fools.

Bowie wouldn’t have ‘identified as’ in the current sense it is used. He was playing different characters as part of his art. He *was* an actor!

We used to have a culture that understood this - that actors *act*, they are not presenting their own ineffable and authentic essence. That characters don’t have authentic ‘identity’ and are always open to interpretation.

The idea that artists are representing a particular identity on stage - and therefore that they can’t play what they cannot, the essentialist trend - may well be implicated in this racist backlash.
If you see Juliet as a ‘white character’ - because after all she was a 16th Century Italian from a noble family - then in theory her whiteness in as inherent to her identity as the ‘blackness’ of Othello is. And so the double-standard of insisting that Othello must always be played by a black actor but that Juliet can be played by an actor of any non-white race creates the backlash.


But that is a silly overreach of identity politics. The reason that Othello should be played by a black actor is that racial othering is an important part of the story.