There were no claims of cultural appropriation when Denzel Washington played Macbeth, a play about a white Scottish nobleman written by a white Englishman.
Would minority actors really be better off if they were precluded from any Shakespeare roles other than Othello?
There were no claims of cultural appropriation when Denzel Washington played Macbeth, a play about a white Scottish nobleman written by a white Englishman.
Would minority actors really be better off if they were precluded from any Shakespeare roles other than Othello?
Of course not, although you could argue that Macbeth is a fantasy figure. The real question is when historical figures are played by someone who clearly looks nothing like them, like the recent Anne Boleyn portrayal by Jodie Turner-Smith, who has deep black skin.
Interestingly, an onstage version of the life of Martin Luther King in 2015 was cast with alternating lead actors, one white, one black. Needless to say, the usual suspects went wild about it. Interesting idea, however.
I have no problem with Turner-Smith playing Anne Boleyn. Colour is not necessarily a barrier to the reality of a performance. Age and gender would be. I get the historical accuracy argument, too. The question is whether one can suspend disbelief. WeтАЩre talking about drama here, historical fiction, not fact, and liberties are taken as a matter of course. If we can just settle on what acting is about, not on diversity points, weтАЩll be better off.
"you could argue that Macbeth is a fantasy figure" but you could not argue that Scottish nobility portrayed in play are all white men and women and that significant questions of alliance and loyalty would have arisen had any of them had other ethnicity
There were no claims of cultural appropriation when Denzel Washington played Macbeth, a play about a white Scottish nobleman written by a white Englishman.
Would minority actors really be better off if they were precluded from any Shakespeare roles other than Othello?
Of course not, although you could argue that Macbeth is a fantasy figure. The real question is when historical figures are played by someone who clearly looks nothing like them, like the recent Anne Boleyn portrayal by Jodie Turner-Smith, who has deep black skin.
Interestingly, an onstage version of the life of Martin Luther King in 2015 was cast with alternating lead actors, one white, one black. Needless to say, the usual suspects went wild about it. Interesting idea, however.
Fidel Castro was the Cuban born son of a Spanish immigrant and thus can be accurately portrayed physically by any white man, including Falco.
I have no problem with Turner-Smith playing Anne Boleyn. Colour is not necessarily a barrier to the reality of a performance. Age and gender would be. I get the historical accuracy argument, too. The question is whether one can suspend disbelief. WeтАЩre talking about drama here, historical fiction, not fact, and liberties are taken as a matter of course. If we can just settle on what acting is about, not on diversity points, weтАЩll be better off.
"you could argue that Macbeth is a fantasy figure" but you could not argue that Scottish nobility portrayed in play are all white men and women and that significant questions of alliance and loyalty would have arisen had any of them had other ethnicity
See my comment above ЁЯСЖ