Casting practice in the performing arts

Color-blind casting is the practice of casting without considering the actor's ethnicity or race. Alternative terms and similar practices include non-traditional casting, integrated casting, or blind casting, which can involve casting without consideration of skin color, body shape, sex or gender.[citation needed] A representative of the Actors' Equity Association has disputed the use of "color blind casting", preferring "non-traditional casting". Non-traditional casting "is defined as the casting of ethnic minority actors in roles where race, ethnicity, or gender is not germane". Race-reversed casting is one form of non-traditional casting.

Examples

The Non-Traditional Casting Project

The Non-Traditional Casting Project was founded in 1986 to examine problems of racial discrimination in theatre, film and television. The Actors' Equity Association is a co-founder.

Debate and "color-consciousness"

In the theatre community, there is significant debate over the concept of color-blind casting vs "color-conscious casting".

In 1996, Pulitzer-winning playwright August Wilson used his Princeton University address on black culture in the United States "The Ground on Which I Stand" to attack the notion of color-blind casting.

"Colorblind casting is an aberrant idea that has never had any validity other than as a tool of Cultural Imperialists who view American culture, rooted in the icons of European culture, as beyond reproach in its perfection... We do not need colorblind casting; we need theatres." - August Wilson

In 2017, Associate Editor of American Theatre magazine Diep Tran declared "color-conscious" to be a preferable term. "Color-conscious means we're aware of the historic discrimination in the entertainment industry... and we're also aware of what it means to put a body of color onstage.". The idea promotes intentionality and race-conscious affirmative action to avoid racially homogeneous casts, and has been supported widely across the theatre community.

In 2018, the Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law published the article "There's No Business Like Show Business: Abandoning Color-Blind Casting and Embracing Color-Conscious Casting in American Theatre". The article discussed the implications for US employment law and mooted that color-blind casting has not produced its intended result. "Race is still a determining factor in American society, and it is counterintuitive to argue that problems related to race can be fixed by ignoring race altogether". The Broad Online calls a color-blind casting "a superficial solution to a deeper problem."

Popular shows that employ color-conscious casting include: Hamilton: An American Musical, the BBC's Les Misérables, and the film Mary Queen of Scots (in which the black actor Adrian Lester plays a 16th-century ambassador). In 2017, director Michael Streeter made a color-conscious casting decision for his production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? - believing "the decision would add depth to the play". Edward Albee's estate denied permission for the production, stating the casting "would fundamentally change the meaning and message of the play".