Is This Request For Total Diversity Boarding On Absolute Ridiculousness?

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/an-allwhite-shakespearean-cast-its-theatre-of-the-absurd-10457383.html

/// Of course, if his cast were to be truly reflective of the period they should all be shorties with no teeth and the pox, and Richard III would have scoliosis of the
spine. ///

[douglas9401]

Tish and pish, mostly the latter.

[Zacs-Master]

I'm really not sure that she's sure what point she's trying to make.

BTW, it's Bordering, not boarding.

[agchristie]

To cater for the 10%, the new production of 'The Merry Wives of Wandsworth' is on the cards...

[jno]

you can cast who you like in Shakespeare; the director appears to like white people. But as the writer says, claiming this is about historical authenticity is nonsense.

I'm not sure she's right about teeth, though; people didn't really start to lose teeth en masse until sugar arrived in the country.

[woofgang]

Shakespeare's plays weren't historically accurate (or intended to be) when they were written....but they say no publicity is bad publicity so I guess that Trevor Nunn is happy.

[sandyRoe]

I somehow can't see Donald Sinden giving a realistic portrayal of The Moor. Sir Larry now, you'd not have known he was covered in brown shoe polish.

[sandyRoe]

And here he is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F96DlM3N5KQ

[anotheoldgit]

jno

/// you can cast who you like in Shakespeare; the director appears to like white people. ///

Oh a black Henry V that's new, but then even if they did there wouldn't be such an outcry as there was (and still is) over a white actor daring to black up to play Othello.

[jno]

sandyRoe, one does not lightly strangle Maggie Smith; but of coure he was very stressed out at the time.

[sp1814]

Is This Request For Total Diversity Boarding On Absolute Ridiculousness?

No...not really.

Having non-white actors playing roles within Shakespeare's plays isn't a big deal for many younger people. It will be less of an issue as time goes on.

If you built a time machine and were able to bring a theatre-goer from Shakespeare's time to 2015, he or she would find most of our white actors unrecognisable as 'Shakespearean' because they would be so physically different.

If theatre-goers can accept Bradley Cooper as the Elephant Man, then I'm sure that they have the sophistication to accept non-white actors in Shakespeare.

I know that there are some who feel that black actors should feature more as villains in drama, and that their inclusion in some programmes 'spoil' the narrative, but we must accept that not everyone has these views.

[anotheoldgit]

sp1814

Since you are so keen on black actors playing white Shakespearean characters, what are your thoughts on white actors playing Othello?

[jackthehat]

As one who strives for 'a level playing field', AOG, I would have thought you'd be in favour of giving black actors the opportunity to play some of the greatest theatrical characters ever written....

[Svejk]

Great, let's have a few random whites in Porgy & Bess. When they remake Zulu, we could have random white Zulus and a Chinaman or two. And a handful of women Welsh Borderers just,,,,just because.

[sp1814]

svejk

I'm sure you're aware of Ridley Scott's 'Exodus' aren't you?

With that famous north African actor Christian Bale?

[Khandro]

I've come to find women like Katy Guest who have long red hair in curly ringlets to be confused and untrustworthy (Rebekah Brooks is another)
they're best avoided and should be ignored completely.
Actually, in Olivier's film version of RichardIII he did play him as if he had scoliosis of the spine (see my avatar).

[anotheoldgit]

sp1814

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2887607/Morocco-bans-cinemas-screening-Ridley-Scott-bible-epic-Exodus-Gods-Kings-threatens-close-theatres-flout-rule.html

*** Mr Scott has already come under fire over the decision to cast white actors in the lead roles, despite depicting events in the Middle East and north Africa. ***

***Christian Bale, who plays Moses, caused upset last month after he described his character as 'barbaric' and 'schizophrenic' at a press conference. ***

*** Speaking in Los Angeles, Bale said he had undertaken significant research for the role in the Biblical epic, reading the Torah, the Koran and Jonathan Kirsch's life of Moses. ***

*** The actor said: 'I think the man was likely schizophrenic and was one of the most barbaric individuals that I ever read about in my life.' ***

Didn't stop him however from accepting the role along with a very fat pay cheque.

[sp1814]

AOG

I personally think that it's more important to get a talented actor in a role, than to fill any perceived quota.

But there are considerations that need to be addressed when you're launching a multi-million dollar film (such as 'Exodus') which are not the same when launching a Shakespearean play.

Named stars are more important to Hollywood - because of the vast investment that needs to be made to get a film like Exodus made.

To me, Mark Strong or Amr Waked would have made a more 'authentic' Moses, but it's not a big deal for me that they chose a known Hollywood 'name' to headline the film. Basically, there aren't enough marquee actors who can play authentic Middle Eastern or north African roles.

Shakespeare, however is an odd fish.

If I went to see MacBeth or Hamlet, what I would be looking for are actors who can convince me of the tone of the play. They need to be actors not film stars (there's a massive difference - very few actors are film stars and vice versa...the few that I can name off the top of my head are Meryl Streep and...err...that's about it).

[mikey4444]

Actors are actors....they make their living from playing people other than themselves. I couldn't give a monkeys what colour an actor is...its the performance that counts.

I recall seeing Fiona Shaw playing Richard II and she was marvelous.

But who could deny that this clip of Olivier and Maggie Smith isn't completely compelling !

[douglas9401]

Where's andy_hughes when he's needed?

[Khandro]

Despite modern theatrical conventions, Othello wasn't black or even brown, he was a 'Moor', - an Arab.