At the end of the article the quote from the black actress I think eloquently summed up what feels weird about it.
It’s a weird argument to make here, though, because this isn’t a white actor vs. black actor question at all. The library isn’t choosing between one or the other. There’s only one actor, no matter what characters are being played. If they were responding by saying “Actually we want to hire a black actor to play these characters,” I’d get it, and agree with that, but they aren’t. They’re just choosing to not have black figures represented at the performance at all, which seems… worse, somehow? I don’t know.
Here’s the issue everyone is dancing around. When the white lady plays a historical black character, is she going to imitate black speech? There’s a whole heaping mound of historical issues there that I’ll be disappointed if I have to explain to you.
Have you ever been to a historical reenactment? People dress in period costume, and typically talk like they are the people they are portraying.
The whole story isn’t worth dedicating brain cells too, but you asked to hear from someone who disagrees.
It’s an interesting question, but whose responsibility are you proposing it is to find another actress? Who’s paying that actress? Is the library going to pay twice as much, or is the existing actress expected to work the same amount of time for half the money to accommodate this second actress?
It’s a weird argument to make here, though, because this isn’t a white actor vs. black actor question at all. The library isn’t choosing between one or the other. There’s only one actor, no matter what characters are being played. If they were responding by saying “Actually we want to hire a black actor to play these characters,” I’d get it, and agree with that, but they aren’t. They’re just choosing to not have black figures represented at the performance at all, which seems… worse, somehow? I don’t know.
Here’s the issue everyone is dancing around. When the white lady plays a historical black character, is she going to imitate black speech? There’s a whole heaping mound of historical issues there that I’ll be disappointed if I have to explain to you.
Have you ever been to a historical reenactment? People dress in period costume, and typically talk like they are the people they are portraying.
The whole story isn’t worth dedicating brain cells too, but you asked to hear from someone who disagrees.
I understand your perspective, but you’ve denied the existence of a choice where there is one. Does it have to be a one-person show? Of course not.
It’s an interesting question, but whose responsibility are you proposing it is to find another actress? Who’s paying that actress? Is the library going to pay twice as much, or is the existing actress expected to work the same amount of time for half the money to accommodate this second actress?