Tag Archives: London theater diversity

West End: Left-Handed Diversity

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The vast majority of the UK population, as elsewhere, is right-handed. All else being equal, i.e., no difference in acting ability between left-handers and others, we would assume that left-handed performers on the West End will make up a minority of actors in most cases unless the shows specifically require the talents of such performers (Waiting for Lefty, maybe?).

Thus, when left-handers emerge on stage way above their population levels (around 3% for this subset vs. 31.7% of all West End musical actors (2019)), theatergoers can be forgiven for thinking that the selection process is skewed. As talent is presumably evenly dispersed among the population, these groups are clearly being chosen above the remaining 97% of actors for other reasons. Any idea what that could be?

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London Theater: Diversity vs. Quality

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  • London Theater: Diversity vs. Quality

Quentin Letts, a critic with the London-based Daily Mail, has caused a stir with comments on an actor in a recent Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) production. In a review of The Fantastic Follies of Mrs Rich, he remarked,

“There is no way he is a honking Hooray of the sort that has infested the muddier reaches of England’s shires for centuries. He is too cool, too mature, not chinless or daft or funny enough.

“Was [the actor] cast because he is black? If so, the RSC’s clunking approach to politically correct casting has again weakened its stage product.

“I suppose its managers are under pressure from the Arts Council to tick inclusiveness boxes, but at some point they are going to have to decide if their core business is drama or social engineering.”

That set off a barrage of criticism in the UK press, which almost universally branded Letts a bigot for suggesting that the actor may have been cast for reasons other than his talent. The RSC slammed his “blatantly racist attitude” and insisted that the actor’s race had nothing to do with their decision to hire him for this part, citing his many stage and television appearances as proof, I assume, of his acting ability.

I haven’t seen the show, which I understand is quite good, and the actor for all I know is very fine. But I understand completely where Letts is coming from. Continue reading →

Diversity again

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Diversity again. Over the past week, Actors’ Equity has released a survey of diversity in US theater, while the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which votes on the Oscars, has sent out a record-setting number of invitations for membership that include a notably large proportion of women and non-whites. I’ll reserve comment on the latter other than observing that many of the invitees would not appear remotely qualified by the objective standard of their film industry credentials, which will ultimately raise questions over the organization’s credibility. I’m more interested in theater.

I live in a country where diversity (as defined in the US) is not a big concern. With rare exception, casts in local productions here are 100% Japanese (note: not “Asian”), even in musicals – The King and I and Miss Saigon come to mind – where some need for ethnic diversity is built into the show. So I’m probably not overly sensitive to the issue.

Nevertheless, I seem to be missing something in the Actors’ Equity survey. Continue reading →