Much like colorblind casting, we are seeing a rise in gender-blind casting as
well. However, it still has its problems.
If we take a look at the
recent Broadway revival of
Once on this Island, the characters of Asaka and Papa Ge were
nontraditionally cast. However, when the Tony award season came around
Alex Newell lost the chance for a nomination. Alex, as a gender
nonconforming person, did not want to be nominated as
best actor or actress in a musical. I love that Alex decided this,
however, the chance for much-deserved recognition and praise was lost.
Is there a way to fix this, or is it better to leave well enough alone
(people still say this right?)? At what point does
the conservation of tradition prohibit progression? Should more theatre
be created with a softer lens on gender?
For some fun: I would like for you pick a play, musical, or movie and
recast it gender neutrally. Or tell me some roles you have always wanted
to play, but traditionally would not get the opportunity. I personally
would love to play Sara in
Ragtime, Cassie in A Chorus Line, and Cathy in The Last Five Years.
Added questions:
How were you taught to perform gender? How do you use the performance of gender to your
advantage?###
Reading my colleagues' posts this week something Victory wrote stood out to me. In particular how she would love to play Simba in the The Lion King, and how since she could not become a cartoon she would have to try for the musical. My first thought was that my friend Tsidi Leloka, is the woman who originated the role of Rafiki on Broadway so maybe it's not as silly as Victoria thinks. But the mention of animation stood in my mind as I read other people's blogs about the possibility of achieving gender neutrality on stage. I liked that Herny's thoughts are sounding more like gender conscious than gender neutral I wonder if at some point "Gender Neutral" will go the way of "Color Blind". It makes me mindful of how animation is leading the way in understanding identity and introspection. I've observed an ever growing representation of populations in animation in the past 2 years, as so much animation is on streaming services it doesn't need to be beholden to sponsors. The reboot of Voltron Changed a character who was originally male to female. Though she started the show disguising herself as a boy. The Dragon Prince is set in world where heterosexual and homosexual couples are equally common among all the races (it's a fantasy world) and in all social classes. And the Reboot of She-Ra has a delightful non-Binary character who is a theatre kid from hell. What I love about the representation in all these animated creations is that the people who populate them are just there. There are no talks about "Everyone is the same inside" or foil type characters who need to learn acceptance. The differences in the way people are, who they love or how they identify are just a fact and no-one in the worlds of the shows sees anything unusual about any given difference. Ok this turned in to more of a love letter to animation than a response to peoples' posts. Sorry y'all.
ReplyDeleteFor this week's post, I enjoyed reading Victoria's blog. Writing that she has never considered a role to be gender neutral is keen because most are not written that way. And it is something that writers could expand on. I think to normalize gender-neutrality, we need more characters that are non-binary. Playing roles that aren't the gender you identify with is such an interesting experience that helps broaden our understanding of other people and the world.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated Tiffany's blog and the inclusions of OPS Fest's decision making on how actors can approach their roles in Shakespearean productions, from a gender perspective. Patricularly the example about how an actor can choose to play the character as a different gender than written if they themselves identify as that gender. That seems like a really logical place to begin discussions on playing across gender respectfully.
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