It's what the audience is supposed to do .;. theatre is a two way experience.
so no problem with a white woman playing Martin Luther King then?
If the play was about racism then reversing the races of the cast could make some very strong points.
Acting is not about verisimilitude, any more than painting is about making something that looks like a photograph 😑
Supposing a straight black actor was cast as the lead in a play about Derek Jarman’s life … would that be problematic … would the colour get in the way more than the ‘straightness’? If so … why?
No idea who Derek Jarman is/was, but casting an actor of a different ethnicity to portray a real person makes no sense. However, sexuality is not directly visible and less of an issue (for me at least).
It is with some trepidation that I ask this question, but I am interested to see whether my view is the norm. What do we think about a trans gender woman competing in the Olympic weightlifting today?
What colour a historical figure was/is seems to me can only be relevant to an individual if they have a bias against someone who is not of their colour or that of the historical figure being played. I'm not casting aspersion about anyone, but being of a certain age I suspect many of us were brought up with an unconscious bias no matter what colour we are.
Sadly there would be just as many complaints if Martin Luther King was played by a white person as there would if Henry the 8th was played by a person of colour.
Colour blindness in every sphere of life is what we all need now.
'The power of accurate observation .... is commonly called cynicism by those that have not got it.
I think it's changing for the younger generations. My daughter went to a multiracial school. Her meeja studies teacher was American. It took him a while to realise that he needed to explain the issues connected with interracial marriage in America. It had not yet become an issue in their own relationships. I hope that this attitude continued once they had left school.
I remember my Mum explaining to me what the to-do was about in South Pacific because I was completely mystified. I was still fairly baffled even after she explained it.
Gardening on the edge of Exmoor, in Devon
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
I think I must be 'ist'. As I said, if I don't know the story, then I don't care who plays the part or what the story is as long as I find the story entertaining. But, if I were to watch, as I did for the past few nights, something based on Africans, then (maybe because my imagination is naff) I want to see Africans in the part. Ditto for Chinese - and in Shogun I wanted to see someone who was at least Japanese looking IMO (but I wouldn't know the diff between certain Asian countries anyway). Ditto for age. I don't want to see an adult playing a child, a man playing a woman or a woman playing a man ( if I already know the story) unless there's a reason for it. I want the casting to cast what the author tries to describe. I want the locations to be the same if possible and the plot unadulterated. I don't want Hamlet set on the moon because it's arty. I loved the Hollow Crown, but I don't fully understand Shakespearean language. I don't want political correctness just for political correctness - actually, I don't want political correctness at all.
Posts
No idea who Derek Jarman is/was, but casting an actor of a different ethnicity to portray a real person makes no sense. However, sexuality is not directly visible and less of an issue (for me at least).
Sadly there would be just as many complaints if Martin Luther King was played by a white person as there would if Henry the 8th was played by a person of colour.
Colour blindness in every sphere of life is what we all need now.
'The power of accurate observation .... is commonly called cynicism by those that have not got it.
George Bernard Shaw'
My daughter went to a multiracial school. Her meeja studies teacher was American. It took him a while to realise that he needed to explain the issues connected with interracial marriage in America. It had not yet become an issue in their own relationships. I hope that this attitude continued once they had left school.
“It's still magic even if you know how it's done.”
https://www.sarahelizabethgate.co.uk/post/why-it-s-racist-if-you-re-angry-about-a-black-anne-boleyn
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.