http://jezebel.com/5980419/many-major-theaters-believe-in-color-blind-casting-except-when-it-comes-to-people-of-color
"You want it to be universal, you gotta cast white."
This statement epitomizes one of the current issues plaguing the theatre community. It all centers around a single concept: Color-blind casting. Also known as race-blind casting, this trend has become popularized as a ways of trying to rid of racial bias in theatre. However while understanding the good intentions this method of casting attempts, there are a few issues that arise out of casting blind.
One issue that arises is addressed in the Jezebel article Many Major Theaters Believe in Color Blind Casting (Except When It Comes to People of Color). The article speaks on how often times theaters that claim to cast blind to color or race often do it in inappropriate settings. For example, if a play is purposely placed in China to represent an Asian cultural piece, would not it make sense for the characters to be played by Asian actors? However, theaters have been using the color-blind casting excuse to cast white actors in roles specified for specific races. Why must they use white actors instead of using any of the plentiful underrepresented Asian actors?- Because white has been accepted as universally appealing.Though what is being said is that these theaters are just casting color-blind, it is often an excuse to use white actors in the place of actors of color.
Another issue is whether color-blind casting truly exists at all. Though the cast may have been cast without the acknowledgement of race, the audience is not suddenly blind to race as well. The audience comes into any production with their own racial preconceptions and when they see actors of color playing roles that have traditionally be in the past it makes a statement. What I mean by that is that the audience will not see a production that is cast color-blind as just another production of a play, but instead it will be assumed that the play is only using the actors of color to make some type of statement.This creates a fear for those who produce plays that if they stray from any play's traditional race that is cast that the audience will not be able to look past the race and pay attention to the true points of the play. If the audience is not able to step out of their previous racial preconceptions, then the blind casting becomes ineffective. If a producer of a play doesn't want their play to centralize on a theme of race they avoid casting people of color and stick to the "universality of white."
The debate on color blind casting continues in the theatre community as more actors of color demand they be represented The under representation of actors of color is a definite issue, but is color-blind casting an efficient method of fighting this issue. I'll leave the ultimate decision up to you.
"You want it to be universal, you gotta cast white."
This statement epitomizes one of the current issues plaguing the theatre community. It all centers around a single concept: Color-blind casting. Also known as race-blind casting, this trend has become popularized as a ways of trying to rid of racial bias in theatre. However while understanding the good intentions this method of casting attempts, there are a few issues that arise out of casting blind.
One issue that arises is addressed in the Jezebel article Many Major Theaters Believe in Color Blind Casting (Except When It Comes to People of Color). The article speaks on how often times theaters that claim to cast blind to color or race often do it in inappropriate settings. For example, if a play is purposely placed in China to represent an Asian cultural piece, would not it make sense for the characters to be played by Asian actors? However, theaters have been using the color-blind casting excuse to cast white actors in roles specified for specific races. Why must they use white actors instead of using any of the plentiful underrepresented Asian actors?- Because white has been accepted as universally appealing.Though what is being said is that these theaters are just casting color-blind, it is often an excuse to use white actors in the place of actors of color.
Another issue is whether color-blind casting truly exists at all. Though the cast may have been cast without the acknowledgement of race, the audience is not suddenly blind to race as well. The audience comes into any production with their own racial preconceptions and when they see actors of color playing roles that have traditionally be in the past it makes a statement. What I mean by that is that the audience will not see a production that is cast color-blind as just another production of a play, but instead it will be assumed that the play is only using the actors of color to make some type of statement.This creates a fear for those who produce plays that if they stray from any play's traditional race that is cast that the audience will not be able to look past the race and pay attention to the true points of the play. If the audience is not able to step out of their previous racial preconceptions, then the blind casting becomes ineffective. If a producer of a play doesn't want their play to centralize on a theme of race they avoid casting people of color and stick to the "universality of white."
The debate on color blind casting continues in the theatre community as more actors of color demand they be represented The under representation of actors of color is a definite issue, but is color-blind casting an efficient method of fighting this issue. I'll leave the ultimate decision up to you.