1. Purpose: My group’s umbrella topic focuses on race. My group will be discussing race and diversity in the media and in populated areas. I decided to question what effect the lack of diversity has had on theatre. With the world’s eyes on the actors on stage, the theatre has a large influence on its audience. The media and populated areas, such as cities, also have that power of influence. Growing up my childhood consisted of the theatre. I have a connection to the stage and off the stage. In my time working with my school’s theatre, I have seen a lack of diversity. I have experience and an interest in theatre. In my time of exploring the theatre culture, I did not come across much diversity. Two years ago I listened to the musical Hamilton: …show more content…
How will Hamilton: The American Musical affect diversity in theatre? How many different racial minorities are represented differently? What is being done to solve this issue? The key issues I will be researching are stereotyping, representation, the opportunity of racial minorities within the theatre community. I would also like to discuss the impact of this representation on future actors. 3. Methods of Research Lazarus, Joan. "On the Verge of Change: New Directions in Secondary Theatre Education." Applied Theatre Research 3.2 (July 2015): 149-161. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1386/atr.3.2.149_1. Fleming, Josephine, et al. "Reimagining the Wheel: The Implications of Cultural Diversity for Mainstream Theatre Programming in Australia." Theatre Research International 39.2 (July 2014): 133-148. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1017/S0307883314000054. Varma, Rahul, et al. "Change the World, One Play at a Time: Teesri Duniya Theatre and the Aesthetics of Social Action." Canadian Theatre Review 125 (Winter 2006): 69-74. EBSCOhost, …show more content…
The authors discuss the impact of access, power, and equity. Their data was collected in Mississauga territory. They wish to make their readers aware of the issue in the Canadian Theatre Review. The authors are campaigning for action, “A number of the commentaries consider the need for marginalized people to be the contributors, performers, and creators of their own representations on stage. Equity in theatre is not simply an acknowledgment of oppression; it is a rectification of misrepresentation.” (Burton and Newman
Butler, Judith. "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory." Theatre Journal 40.4 (1988): 519-31. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. 11 May 2011.
African American representation in the film industry has always been a topic for discussion. Whether talking about character types and roles, the actors being cast or not cast, and the lack of diversity in front of and behind the camera. ‘The contemporary status of race in mainstream American culture is intimately bound to the process of representation within and through the mass media.’ (Rocchio, 2000, p. 4). Any role that was to be played by an African American kept in with the dominant stereotypes of the time of production; incompetent, child like, hyper-sexualised or criminal.
Varma, Rahul. “State of Denial: Cultural Diversity as a Resource for Alternative Globalization.” Canadian Theatre Review, Vol. 157. January 2014. Web.
Canadian identity has always been difficult to define. This definition is essential in order to evaluate theatre in Canada. French Canadians appear to have no difficulty in establishing their own identity, both on and off the stage, as they share a distinct tradition. We, as English-Canadians, have continued to define ourselves by reference to what we are not, American, rather than in terms of our own national history and tradition. For English Canadians, this tradition comes not from the nation but instead from community and region. Because English-Canada has such a great cultural diversity, nationality and relevance to our outstanding values and attitudes must define the Anglophone Canadian identity, both on and off the stage.
It’s September, the kids are back in school, and it’s time for another new season of television. Another round of must see Felicity, Friends, and Frasier, with a side of ER and some Nash Bridges for dessert. Loads and loads of Caucasian males and females making us laugh, and cry. What you do not see are Black, Hispanic, or other minorities making us laugh, and cry. In this day and age, where everyone gets a fair shot at doing what they really love, the same can not be said for minorities in the film industry. More and more minorities are being turn away in favor of Caucasian actors. It’s not only actors that are feeling the pinch, its also writers, directors, producers, and network execs.
In today’s society, pre-existing assumptions and stereotypes of other ethnicities and individuals play a large part in the way we see others. This social construct of stereotypes has placed restrictions on many people’s lives which ultimately limits them from achieving certain goals. In this sense, stereotypes misrepresent and restrict people of colour to gain casting within the Hollywood film industry. The issue of how casting actors to certain roles and how these actors are forced to submit and represent these false stereotypes is one worthy of discussion. White Chicks (2004), directed by Keenan Wayans, illustrates this issue through the performance of Latrell, performed by Terry Crews, and his performance of the hyper-sexualised “buck” will be a prime example in this essay to discuss the racial politics and stereotypes in Hollywood casting.
Lee, Josephine D.. Performing Asian America race and ethnicity on the contemporary stage. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997. Print.
Over the course of approximately one-hundred years there has been a discernible metamorphosis within the realm of African-American cinema. African-Americans have overcome the heavy weight of oppression in forms such as of politics, citizenship and most importantly equal human rights. One of the most evident forms that were withheld from African-Americans came in the structure of the performing arts; specifically film. The common population did not allow blacks to drink from the same water fountain let alone share the same television waves or stage. But over time the strength of the expectant black actors and actresses overwhelmed the majority force to stop blacks from appearing on film. For the longest time the performing arts were the only way for African-Americans to express the deep pain that the white population placed in front of them. Singing, dancing and acting took many African-Americans to a place that no oppressor could reach; considering the exploitation of their character during the 1930's-1960's acting' was an essential technique to African American survival.
The article I chose this week is about how lack of diversity there are in roles in films made in the United States. The article stated that between the years 2007 and 2014, women only made up 30 percent of all speaking roles. Another article was released recently stating that that there are 700 popular films and represent inequality. This article looked at gender, race, and ethnicity. The top movies are only white, straight, young, and male. Out of the top 100 movies 73.1 percent of all speakers were white, 19 characters were lesbian/gay/bisexual, 19.9 percent of the characters were 40 to 64 years old, and women directed 1.9 percent of the movies. Films produced in 2014, not a single woman was starred over the age 45. These statistics pointed out how directors are prejudice when making decision about their characters. The article specified that art may be a mirror of life, but is often a misleading one in mainstream American cinema. Even though women are about half of the population they remain a persistent minority on screen.
American Theatre: History, Context, Form. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ, 2011. Print. Scott, Freda L. "Black Drama and the Harlem Renaissance."
Racial and ethnic diversity on television is not something that I have ever really noticed as a problem, but sitting down, and paying very close attention to the people, their roles in the show, I was able to see that there was a lack of diversity on TV. I chose a random TV channel, one that I probably would not watch, and studied the characters in the show and in the commercials for over two hours, I realized that I had never paid that much attention to the people in the show. I noticed after I was done that the largest group of people in the show and on the commercials, were white people, although there was some diversity, maybe one or two people of a different nationality, gender, or race, that overall the lack of diversity was minimal compared
In society, we commonly find that the majority of representation in the media is dedicated to Caucasian demographic. Particularly in entertainment, we generally hardly ever see a person of color who is playing a complex leading character with depth and emotional development. We are often sassy friends, working staff, or just not shown at all. Allow me to now describe to you my passions and pleasures. What I have always wanted in life is to be an advocate of music. Specifically I want to be a choral music educator, but I also have a passion for musical theatre. Although I never plan to pursue a career in that area, I am very involved in it at my school as I’ve played many leading characters both musical and straight play. I’ve played roles that
Theatre has heavily evolved over the past 100 years, particularly Musical Theatre- a subgenre of theatre in which the storyline is conveyed relying on songs and lyrics rather than dialogue. From its origination in Athens, musical theatre has spread across the world and is a popular form of entertainment today. This essay will discuss the evolution and change of musical theatre from 1980-2016, primarily focusing on Broadway (New York) and the West End (London). It will consider in depth, the time periods of: The 1980s: “Brit Hits”- the influence of European mega musicals, the 1990s: “The downfall of musicals”- what failed and what redeemed, and the 2000s/2010s: “The Resurgence of musicals”- including the rise of pop and movie musicals. Concluding
Applied Theatre work includes Theatre-in-Education, Community and Team-building, Conflict Resolution, and Political theatre, to name just a few of its uses. However, Christopher Balme states that “Grotowski define acting as a communicative process with spectators and not just as a production problem of the actor” (Balme, 2008: 25). Applied Theatre practices may adopt the following “theatrical transactions that involve participants in different participative relationships” such as Theatre for a community, Theatre with a community and Theatre by a community Prentki & Preston (2009: 10). Whereas, applied theatre one of its most major powers is that it gives voice to the voiceless and it is a theatre for, by, and with the people. However, Applied Theatre practitioners are devising educational and entertaining performances bringing personal stories to life and build
Theatre-In-Education The theatre education industry/movement has seen some rapid changes since its initial developments and establishment in the 1960’s. However its origins mainly lie in the early years of the last century. It was the initial establishment of companies such as Bertha Waddell’s in Scotland and Esme Church’s in the north of England that thoroughly established the main roots of TIE.