Casting Matters: Colour Trouble in the RSC’s<i>The Orphan of Zhao</i>

Thorpe, Ashley

doi:10.1080/10486801.2014.946920

Cited by 7 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…After many rejections from a number of theatres that said it was 'too American' or 'too esoteric' or 'no one's going to come to see this Asian play' (Shen 2018), it was mounted at the newly opened Park Theatre in the Finsbury Park area of north London. The serendipity of The Orphan of Zhao controversy erupting at the Royal Shakespeare Company also undoubtedly played a part in raising awareness about the lack of east Asian representation on the British stage (see Thorpe 2014). The protests from the east Asian community that a Chinese classic was being performed by a predominantly white cast was a pivotal moment for British east Asians, but any breakthrough in American drama has yet to materialise.…”

Section: Breaking the Stereotypesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The American Theatrical Canon and the Struggle for Racial Equality in British Theatre

Rogers

2021

The Palgrave Handbook of Theatre and Race

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Section: Breaking the Stereotypesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The American Theatrical Canon and the Struggle for Racial Equality in British Theatre

Rogers

2021

The Palgrave Handbook of Theatre and Race

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“…The reluctance to acknowledge that the relationships between race and power were affecting Joye's ability to participate functionally in the project highlights tensions at the heart of the PU2 programme, which resonate with tensions in the acting industry at large (see e.g. Rogers 2013, Thorpe 2014, Chow 2014. The results of this reluctance to engage with resistance had significant consequences for the individual involved.…”

Section: 'Professionalism'mentioning

confidence: 99%

Playing to type: industry and invisible training in the National Youth Theatre’s ‘Playing Up 2’

Beswick¹

2018

Theatre, Dance and Performance Training

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Alongside its core actor and stage technician training activities, the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain runs a number of additional training programmes, targeting specific 'marginalised' groups. These are usually offered free of charge to participants. This article examines the 2009/10 iteration of the social inclusion actor training programme 'Playing Up 2' (subsequently suspended and reinstated as 'Playing Up'), drawing on a period of rehearsal observation and interviews I carried out during and after the final showcase performance The Block. This new writing project was set on a fictional London housing estate and the play included several stereotypical archetypes of inner-city, working class characters (the black drug dealer, the mentally ill young racist, the benefit claiming single mother). In this article, I begin by considering the politics of casting in The Block project; I then focus on how the notion of 'social inclusion' mediated participants' understanding of the relationship between their personal and professional identities. I demonstrate how asking young people to embody stereotypes closely related to their 'real' identities caused significant tensions within the training process -exacerbated by the 'socially excluded' label given to the Playing Up 2 participants. I reveal how the organisation of the programme and interactions with tutors operated as 'invisible' elements of the training process, reinforcing the ideas about 'industry' that students were exposed to in the curriculum.

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‘Almost, but Not Quite’: Reading debbie tucker green’s Dramaturgy inside British Playwriting Studies

Tyler

2020

Debbie Tucker Green

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Casting Matters: Colour Trouble in the RSC’sThe Orphan of Zhao

Cited by 7 publications

References 2 publications

The American Theatrical Canon and the Struggle for Racial Equality in British Theatre

The American Theatrical Canon and the Struggle for Racial Equality in British Theatre

Playing to type: industry and invisible training in the National Youth Theatre’s ‘Playing Up 2’

‘Almost, but Not Quite’: Reading debbie tucker green’s Dramaturgy inside British Playwriting Studies

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