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| re: Question re: Once On This Island revival - a white Daniel? | |
| Posted by: LikeABladeOfCorn 04:33 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
| In reply to: Question re: Once On This Island revival - a white Daniel? - Chazwaza 03:15 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
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| Hi Chazwaza! I don't think you're "way off base." My take on this particular version is that The Story of TiMoune within this production of Once On This Island was meant to be told to a girl in a hurricane relief area with whoever was available to tell it. TiMoune and Daniel were the only actors for whom skin color was important as they are the only people on stage who play a single character of a single color; the remaining islanders all play either gods (for whom skin tone is not relevant) or people from both sides of the island. To help the little girl understand, those two actors needed to look different, but no one else was bound by color to specific roles. I say all of this to say that I think his casting was a very deliberate choice by Michael Arden and team, as was nearly everything about what I consider to be a peerless revival of Once on this Island. If it didn't work for you, I hope the rest of the show did! |
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| re: Question re: Once On This Island revival - a white Daniel? | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 04:55 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Question re: Once On This Island revival - a white Daniel? - LikeABladeOfCorn 04:33 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
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| Yes, the rest of the show largely worked beautifully for me, with a few minor quibbles. But I don't think it was very clear that their intention was that the only two whose race played a role were Daniel and TiMoune. The production seemed to take place on a Puerto-Rico-like island that has been struct by a disastrous hurricane and in need of relief... in the pre-show (which was my least favorite part by far, I can't stand watching actors have to come up with "organic" interactions in front of a confused audience killing time till the show starts, and I didn't understand the logic of why they broke the 4th wall) they are all speaking in Caribbean accents, and throughout the show. So why should we not assume they are black and are meant to be black and are playing black characters in the Story of TiMoune as they say they are? And also, making it look like Daniel is white is a confusion and simplification of the issue and conflict because it isn't white vs black, it's black vs black. |
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