| re: So, Encores erased the fat character in Tap Dance Kid. Have other major productions? Has Encores done this before? | |
| Last Edit: Singapore/Fling 06:32 pm EST 02/07/22 | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 06:30 pm EST 02/07/22 | |
| In reply to: re: So, Encores erased the fat character in Tap Dance Kid. Have other major productions? Has Encores done this before? - Chazwaza 05:53 pm EST 02/07/22 | |
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| There are a lot of argument threads to ponder here, and until we know more about why Encores! made the changes they made and how they reached that decision, the only one I can speak to is the thread of dramaturgs from diverse communities: In a nutshell, yes. When we bring people into our stories that are from different communities or lived experiences than our own, we should also be bringing in collaborators who can speak to and from how those cultures are being put on stage. Each process will determine for itself how it implements those perspectives and what role the dramaturgs and consultants ultimately play in the final product. But it is becoming standard practice to do this, and it helps when we get into situations like the hypothetical that has been forwarded here, that the production changed a character to be skinny because they were afraid that the language or representation was problematic. Rather than try to solve that, in this hypothetical, they simply erased it, which is its own problematic behavior. In the ideal situation, the goal isn’t “not to offend anyone”, it’s to create an authentic, multi-layered character who isn’t the butt of a joke or whose identity isn’t being used as a signifier. Hopefully this work would actually prevent the scenario you propose, where the character is an ideal, not a person. If producers and creative use those dramaturgs and consultants to hide behind after they disregard their inputs, that’s on them. But the more likely scenario is that everyone on the team learns more about what people and stories they’re bringing to life. It may sound radical now, but the idea of intimacy consultants was radical only a few years ago, and we’ve seen what happens when a show doesn’t do this dramaturgical work: case in point, the “jagged little pill” debacle, where that show positioned itself with the very audience it was making the show for. 🤦🏻♂️ |
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