Human language, human emotions: interview with the RSC’s Natalie Simpson

“What will the future hold when someone who hasn’t been brought up ‘correctly’ takes over?” by Kelly Kanayama  This is Part 2 of a two-part interview series with actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company. (Part 1 with King Lear‘s Clarence Smith is here.) I spoke to Natalie Simpson, who recently played Ophelia in Hamlet and is currently playing Cordelia in… Read More

Sustaining yourself as an actor of colour: interview with the RSC’s Clarence Smith

“Playing any Shakespeare character when you are black…always challenges the idea of what is acceptable” by Kelly Kanayama  This two-part interview series came about after the Royal Shakespeare Company offered us the chance to speak with their actors about their work. I started out by chatting to Clarence Smith, a veteran of stage, film and TV who plays… Read More

Even with “inclusive” Shakespeare, whiteness takes priority

by Kelly Kanayama  Gregory Doran, the artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, came under fire recently for a Times article entitled “Lack of diversity not a problem, says RSC boss”. The article stated that Doran “did not want the middle classes sidelined” and wanted to maintain “equal rights” for “those of us who are white… Read More

The Racial Pecking Order in British Theatre and TV

Structural Inequality In UK Theatre & TV by Daniel York I’ve been reading a book recently by the American sociologist David T. Wellman with the frankly terrifying title Portraits Of White Racism. I say terrifying because it conjures all kinds of images of Aryan skinhead fascists with big boots and arm-bands. I find myself hiding… Read More