Seeing through color in casting

In the current issue of Stage Directions magazine, Iris Dorbian writes about the ever-present issue of colorblind and other “non-traditional” casting in theater. While we live in a 21st century world where an increasingly multicultural society is a reality, many theater companies still struggle with reflecting that reality on stage. . . and with a variety of consequences. On one end of the spectrum, theaters that only rarely cast non-white actors may be labeled as “gimmicky,” trying to capitalize on a pretense of equal opportunity. On the other, those that regularly feature multi-racial casts may be expected to explain themselves and their specific casting decisions to a public that in many ways still views African Americans, Latinos, Asians, etc on stage as some kind of ulterior political or moral statement, even if the theaters are simply choosing the best performer for the role.

Somewhere in this discussion of cast and color lurks an even more frustrating issue: white actors in roles designed for actors of other races. Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s may have been bad enough in 1961, but it is a practice that still occurs today.

Just this past March, Mu Performing Arts and Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) held a discussion about the issue of “yellow face” in theater in response to CTC’s production of Mulan Jr, which had cast white actors as Chinese characters. While CTC explained the trouble in hiring Asian actors to fill those roles—it was an unprecedented and prolific few months of Asian American theater in the Twin Cities, with three shows requiring heavily Asian casts going on more-or-less all at once—the topic does stir up a variety of questions:

• Is the apparent “shortage” of Asian American actors a result of a theater culture that does not encourage their talent, or perhaps a higher expectation of the level of talent an Asian American actor must possess in order to be deemed worthy for a role?


• In presenting a culturally specific story, what level of responsibility does the theater have in maintaining cultural relevance and sensitivity?


• Is it more “acceptable” for Asian characters to be portrayed by white actors in the theater world than, for example, an African American or Latino character would be? Why?


• What role does the audience play in the way that Asians are portrayed on stage?

At Mu, we pride ourselves in creating opportunities for Asian American actors that they may not have elsewhere. But we also look forward to a day when we have to compete with theaters built in the traditional Western canon for their talents, when we have to lose an actor to a rival company because he or she was chosen to play Hamlet.