Colour-blind_casting

Color-blind casting

Color-blind casting

Casting practice in the performing arts


Color-blind casting is the practice of casting without considering the actor's ethnicity or race.[1] Alternative terms and similar practices include non-traditional casting, integrated casting, or blind casting,[lower-alpha 1] which can involve casting without consideration of skin color, body shape, sex or gender.[citation needed] A representative of the Actors' Equity Association has disputed the use of "color blind casting", preferring "non-traditional casting". Non-traditional casting "is defined as the casting of ethnic minority actors in roles where race, ethnicity, or gender is not germane".[2] Race-reversed casting is one form of non-traditional casting.

Examples

More information Production, Year ...

Notes

  1. "Blind casting" can be shorthand for either color-blind or gender-blind casting
  2. The Laroche family, father Joseph and daughters Simonne and Louise, were the only known passengers of black ancestry on board the ship in real life.

The Non-Traditional Casting Project

The Non-Traditional Casting Project was founded in 1986 to examine problems of racial discrimination in theatre, film and television.[91] The Actors' Equity Association is a co-founder.[92]

Debate and "color-consciousness"

In the theatre community, there is significant debate over the concept of color-blind casting vs "color-conscious casting".

In 1996, Pulitzer-winning playwright August Wilson used his Princeton University address on black culture in the United States "The Ground on Which I Stand" to attack the notion of color-blind casting.[93]

"Colorblind casting is an aberrant idea that has never had any validity other than as a tool of Cultural Imperialists who view American culture, rooted in the icons of European culture, as beyond reproach in its perfection... We do not need colorblind casting; we need theatres." - August Wilson

In 2017, Associate Editor of American Theatre magazine Diep Tran declared "color-conscious" to be a preferable term. "Color-conscious means we're aware of the historic discrimination in the entertainment industry... and we're also aware of what it means to put a body of color onstage.".[94] The idea promotes intentionality and race-conscious affirmative action to avoid racially homogeneous casts, and has been supported widely across the theatre community.[95][96]

In 2018, the Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law published the article "There's No Business Like Show Business: Abandoning Color-Blind Casting and Embracing Color-Conscious Casting in American Theatre". The article discussed the implications for US employment law and mooted that color-blind casting has not produced its intended result. "Race is still a determining factor in American society, and it is counterintuitive to argue that problems related to race can be fixed by ignoring race altogether".[97] The Broad Online calls a color-blind casting "a superficial solution to a deeper problem."[98]

Popular shows that employ color-conscious casting include: Hamilton: An American Musical, the BBC's Les Misérables, and the film Mary Queen of Scots (in which the black actor Adrian Lester plays a 16th-century ambassador). In 2017, director Michael Streeter made a color-conscious casting decision for his production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - believing "the decision would add depth to the play".[94] Edward Albee's estate denied permission for the production, stating the casting "would fundamentally change the meaning and message of the play".[99]

See also

Notes


    References

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