E-Thesis 1261 views
The advantages and disadvantages and practices of Non-Traditional Casting / DAVINDER SINGH
Swansea University Author: DAVINDER SINGH
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DOI (Published version): 10.23889/SUthesis.63327
Abstract
This study made me question if positive discrimination / affirmative action in the arts is something to be encouraged. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Me2 campaigns which feature within the research brought to much wider attention long simmering questions of exclusion, inequality and discrimination...
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Swansea, Wales, UK
2023
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| Institution: | Swansea University |
| Degree level: | Master of Philosophy |
| Degree name: | M.Phil |
| Supervisor: | Britton, David. |
| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa63327 |
| Abstract: |
This study made me question if positive discrimination / affirmative action in the arts is something to be encouraged. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) and Me2 campaigns which feature within the research brought to much wider attention long simmering questions of exclusion, inequality and discrimination in casting decisions for stage and screen.Calls for action, short of legal sanctions from legislative and parliamentary bodies, trades unions, industry groups, high profile professional luminaries rank and file members and the general public has resulted in a definable change in the profile of casting for screen output (including advertisements) over the past 24 months. These changes have brought criticism of the practice with accusations of tampering with historical facts to suit a political agenda, which as a consequence impacts upon the believability of the narrative being pursuedErica Whyman Acting Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) talks of ‘colour conscious casting’, as being the way forward for more accurate representation in the arts. In the past accessing actors of the correct ‘profile’ to fill roles was a challenge but that excuse seems less valid as the range of actors available to choose from increases – even though the actual roles available to them are not increasing at the same pace.As a writer of theatre scripts I am intrigued by the ‘remodelling’ of scripts to increase diversity for the sake of better representation. I cite examples in the following study. This, I feel, is a contentious act which disregards authorial intent especially when carried through without the permission/involvement of the writer in crafting suitable changes to better integrate the changes being introduced.Later I will tackle the preference of August Wilson for racially relevant casting but beyond my study’s purview is the growing interest in the issue of the correct gender, as opposed to ‘gender blind’, casting which is being championed by the successful director and producer Russell T. Davies. I feel this area of action, if developed as widely as the BLM concerns about race/colour casting will bring very large changes to the process of casting as a whole. It cannot be denied that changes in gender and race will alter the drama dynamics – how different would ‘Queen Lear’ or ‘White Othello’ have been. One would possibly wonder ‘wither acting’ as a craft if actor casting is constrained by the actor’s gender, race, age etc. Fortunately audio drama is able to mostly navigate around these potential problems.I confess to some frustration at the shoe-horning of ‘appropriate actors’ into roles to satisfy fads. I end up asking if literature is so bereft of talented writers that the creation of new, era relevant and properly representative scripts is beyond human ingenuity? |
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| Item Description: |
Due to Embargo and/or Third Party Copyright restrictions, this thesis is not available via this service. |
| Keywords: |
Actors, Casting, Theatre Production, Producers, Directors |
| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |