ALW Report: "UK Theatre hideously white"

Yeah I thought that might be the case, certainly the opera lovers I know very much want to see the best singers no matter what colour (or shape!) they are.


This whole thing makes me very uneasy. If you look at the Print Room's website they hardly seem like the bastion of old school racism they're being made out to be - a musical theatre work about Srebenica, a concert featuring lyrics taken from the diaries of women with mental illness, a play about Karen Blixen, it seems like their heart is in the right place to me. I don't think they're a suitable victim for the Offended Police to be setting the dogs on.


I didn't particularly fancy this play but I think I'll make a point of going now to show a bit of solidarity.

I hate to be all militant about this sort of thing but these small steps that exclude people are exactly how the likes of Trump et al get into power. If you alienate a group of people by saying "This is an English play so we have cast white actors" and as a non-white, I am going to question my Englishness and it makes (some) white people question my Englishness too.

Now imagine that over 10, 20, 30 years etc. I am not saying The Print Room are racist or even that is a racist statement but you can see why people are offended, especially wishy-washy-arty-farty liberals. 

For example, The Print Room could argue that there weren't enough experienced East Asian actors like Chubb and Gonet but again why aren't there? Because when Gonet and Chubb were starting out there weren't the opportunities for East Asian actors to be in the roles were Gonet and Chubb made their name and speaking to one actress on Twitter she was one of 5 East Asian actors that graduated from Drama School in the 1980s. 

Racism isn't immediate name calling or discrimination, for me, it is about generations being held back and their lack of achievement being justification for why they shouldn't be given rights and shouldn't be treated as equals. 

Just to add I have compared this The Good Person of Szechwan as I saw a puppet-based production with an all-white cast in Wimbledon (which was great) but stated that I had never seen a Chinese production of this play. I found out that only on two occasions has it been done with East Asian (not a full cast) and that Brect wanted Annamay Wong for it in 1950 but the powers that be stopped him.

Brecht was a political artist and was, to some extent, writing about China. We could argue about his entitlement to do so, as a cultural outsider. In complete contrast, Barker plays with ideas, emotions and behaviours in rigorously decontextualised constructions. Authenticity in Barker can only be to the text and to his imagination; there is no representation of any real world.

I have conflicted views on the issue of the Print Room casting.

If we insist that the cast should all be Chinese actors, does that therefore mean we can only produce Jesus Christ Superstar with an entirely Hebrew/Israeli cast (with a couple of Italians to play Pilate and the Romans)? That Medea and any Greek tragedy must be performed by only those of Mediterranean origin?

Ironically, there are numerous productions of Aladdin going on up and down the country at the moment, but nobody is protesting that these casts on the whole do not feature Chinese performers.

Also, did I miss a meeting? Since when did 'yellow face' get redefined? Like 'black face', it has always meant using make up techniques to transform Caucasian features into those of another ethnicity, in a stereotypical and offensive way. It now means White actors playing Chinese characters because some people say it does?

I'm also a bit suspicious of Andrew Keates' histrionic response to this. The cynic in me can't help wondering if one motivation for his outrage is his forthcoming production "Chinglish" in March which is cast with Asian actors and will undoubtedly benefit from some of this publicity.

Having said that, the Print Room dropped a real clanger equating English with White. Unbelievable that nobody checked that statement and advised them that that would be digging them further into a hole.

My main concern is that we're heading towards a situation where due to activism from minority groups who rightly feel under represented in the Arts, we have strident voices insisting that actors can and should only play parts that equate to their own personal experiences or cultural or gender backgrounds. So only gay actors can play gay parts, only trans actors trans parts, etc.

I think more should be done across the board to increase diversity across the spectrum in the theatre, but it's difficult to do this when drama schools are increasingly the preserves of the white middle classes, and minority ethnicities are under represented. Piling in on one unfortunate show and pillorying them is not entirely helpful.

I mean someone else said that some people's motivations (and soundbites) might not be entirely altruistically motivated...

I think at this point though I'm less annoyed by the Print Room's casting than I am their response, because yes the whole White = English thing was not shall we say the most productive response to the criticism.

Going back to the more general point, the opera (and while we're at it ballet) raises and interesting question.

The diversity in ballet and opera is, again, about culture and access for the minorities. I was never taken to a ballet or opera but alternatively, I was never told you can't be a ballet dancer or you can't be an opera singer but I would have had no idea how to make that start.

The issue ultimately is money and knowledge. I work for a Music and Drama examinations board and the majority of the students are from private schools, by doing these exams they have an advantage over state school pupils who may not even do GCSE Music and Drama. That means knowledge of what you need to do to get into Guildhall, RADA, Central etc as well as the experience needed.

There are of course BME ballerinas and opera singers but are they based in the UK? Do they want to come here to work? Again there is no obligation to cast anybody so why go to the effort of seeking out a BME singer when it is clear that the audience, on the whole, isn't calling out diversity.

I think it interesting that the protesters against the Print Room think east Asian casting is fine for a play set in China, but not white. I asked my next door neighbour who is Chinese what he thought. He said he was not bothered who was cast, but if he did have a problem with someone else playing a Chinese person, it would probably be most likely with someone from Japan (recent history still be very sensitive).

Equity's response to the Print Room statement

www.equity.org.uk/news-and-events/equity-news/equity-statement-on-print-room-production/

I am assuming entry pass was something I had seen online, it's plus was and remains that it was cheaper than going to the cinema but the dance was teachers. For me, at any level of education, the access to professional or even good amateur productions were non-existent.

I've just been at my work Christmas party (but I ran away to hide in the NT) so apologise for any drunken rant in advance but access is key and whilst theatres are doing a great job at offering concessions to a loy of people I don't think the state education system has the time, money (outside of London, in particular) and resources to take students to theatre and awaken an interest or even contempt for the stage.