The Shakespearean Glass Ceiling: the State of Colorblind Casting in Contemporary British Theatre

Abstract

This article examines Shakespearean colourblind casting from a variety of angles, interrogating the 'glass ceiling' that remains prevalent in contemporary British theatre. By offering a brief survey of early examples of the practice of colourblind casting in Shakespearean roles, it seeks to establish casting patterns in the ensuing decades: typically, patterns of very few black, Asian or mixed-race actors and even fewer playing lead roles, instead being cast as members of warring factions or as supernumeraries. This analysis is informed by an attempt to quantify available data that includes major companies and regional theatres, examining 225 productions over a time span of 30 years. Research is drawn from archival materials held at the RSC and National Theatres, as well as local production companies, offering an insight into the ratios of white to ethnic minority actors in productions, the types of roles and the casting of understudy parts within contemporary Shakespearean theatre. The article also considers the perpetually contentious nature of the practice of colourblind casting through the lens of the socio-political events (such as the murder of Stephen Lawrence) that have coincided with specific moments in British theatre history. In doing so, it seeks to challenge commonly-held assumptions regarding the 'inclusive' state of contemporary productions of Shakespeare's plays, instead revealing their perpetuation of the dominant stereotype of Shakespeare as the preserve of the white cultural elite, as well as their assimilation of the practices of the wider entertainment industry, in which non-white actors are significantly underrepresented.

Resistance and Resignation: Responses to Typecasting in British Acting

“…This understanding of typecasting has been explored by various scholars in theatre and television studies, as a subset of broader casting practices that structure these cultural industries. These authors have largely explored the exclusions that result from routine casting decisions, whether relating to the lack of black actors in Shakespeare (Rogers, 2013), controversies over the casting of East Asians in The Orphan of Zhao (Rogers and Thorpe, 2014), the stereotypes faced by British Chinese actors (Knox, 2013), or the barriers driving black British television actors to seek work in America (Knox, forthcoming).…”

Interracial romances and colorblindness in Shondaland’s Bridgerton

“…These practices were adapted for television production in Britain and the United States (Geraghty, 2021). Previous literature has condemned the colorblind casting technique in theater (Banks, 2013;Hopkins, 2018;Rogers, 2013) and television productions (Geraghty, 2021;Warner, 2015). Rogers (2013) identified the colorblind casting "glass ceiling" effect, where people/actors of colors, while more integrated into the cast, were still not achieving and performing in major lead roles in the ways that colorblind casting should have encouraged.…”

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

“…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.…”

“…Stuart Hall has illustrated how representations of race, ethnicity, class and gender are important -constituting 'an essential part of the process by which meaning is produced and exchanged between members of a culture' (1997 p.15). Jami Rogers (2013) contends that despite an ostensible acceptance of so-called 'colour-blind' casting practices, where an actor's race is not taken into account in casting processes, there is a 'glass ceiling' for actors of colour (p.407), who are rarely cast in leading classical theatre roles. She cites actor Nathaniel Martello-White, who wrote that he and his black actor friends were frequently asked to audition for roles in which they played 'the drug dealer, or the guy done good from a broken home' (Rogers 2013, p.410), to illustrate how pervasive, negative stereotypes of black culture permeate contemporary casting practices and limit opportunities for actors of colour.…”