| re: work by any combo of "nonwhite, nonstraight, non cisgender males" is valid also |
| Last Edit: Delvino 07:28 pm EDT 03/17/22 |
| Posted by: Delvino 07:25 pm EDT 03/17/22 |
| In reply to: work by any combo of "nonwhite, nonstraight, non cisgender males" is valid also - Chazwaza 04:48 pm EDT 03/17/22 |
|
I read this thoughtful post twice before returning to comment and suspect that you’ve clearly articulated a point of view many share - including artists of color - but are trepidatious about voicing. A female African - American playwright friend frames this strained effort at retroactive revision as misapplied white guilt tinged with virtue signaling: watching savvy theater professionals become apologists for the white privilege-determined canon. She argues that we learn far more through productions that hold a prism up to the era of the text creation. This is obviously not about inclusive casting or interpretive creatives but about honoring the originals’ integrity; as a result audiences witness both theater and cultural history, what prior generations got wrong, but without issuing externally - and subjectively - applied corrections.
No rigid rules for these new interpretations will solve the conundrum in creating theatrical revival that satisfies everyone (the last Porgy and Bess comes to mind; remember that heated debate?) but collaborative artists may find that only new work ideally serves a singular artistic vision representing the moment. Yet we need revivals as much as we need to re-experience texts that would not be written today. Hopefully, we’ll find a balance.
Your post is a keeper, Chazwaza. |
|
reply to
this message
|
