Let’s be fair. When she arrived, Michelle Terry said as the Artistic Director of The Globe that she would not be directing. She was always going to be, ironically, an acting Artistic Director.
Some of us therefore thought the title was odd.
But then she began. There were productions which were the first at the level of iconic theatre which took responsibility for mirroring the current state of politics – gender and race. People were impressed and artists were hopeful – some were even quite giddy. BSL onstage and gender-blind casting. What could possibly go wrong?
In the end, just one thing.
The announcement of the summer season with Richard III was never going to be particularly noteworthy until the casting was announced. Up front and central – the acting Director.
What followed is, in hindsight, unsurprising. What makes it worse is the response.
But let me get to that eventually, and perhaps before I get there to suggest that what they were after was to firstly save money – cash in the theatre is at a premium so having a permanent staff member take up a role when you are already paying their wages could be a reason behind it? But no, they body swerved that excuse.
Perhaps there was something even more radical, given that Terry has steeped herself in radical ideas around casting. Maybe there is something we have yet to find out? After all, surely someone who has met the artists, worked with so many of them and been critically a friend and an ally would not trample upon their expectations and dreams as if they were a throwback to the 1950s?
Then came the statement around the furore behind their decisions. And so, with a little artistic licence, let me recast this and edit it to make a principal point. And my apologies if it offends. The point I am making is that it ought to, but with a different focus fuelled by the same anger.
Imagine if they had written this.
“I want to acknowledge any pain or harm that has been caused by the decision for me to play Othello and I hope to provide some context as to how that decision has been made. All programming and casting decisions across all seasons are made as consciously and rigorously as they possibly can be, and always in dialogue with members of our many communities. I will not alter my skin colour to explore it. I will not be playing Othello with a visible reference to being black, and we will frame this production in such a way as to make it very clear the lens through which this interpretation is being explored. This production does not equal a permanent revision of the play or the eternal erasure of the character’s ethnicity, or a rewriting of a historical figure. I acknowledge that for many, Othello is an iconic black figure. I understand that this feels like a missed opportunity for a black artist to play a black character on a major UK stage, but it will come around again. Our interpretation does not mean that we have forgotten race… the whole play is saturated with racism that we will address and unpack throughout the process. This production in no way wants to undermine the need for black characters, black stories to be told or to diminish the ambition for greater representation in our industry. That is precisely why we have programmed and will continue to programme as many ways as possible for these stories to be told and conversations to be held. We are aware that many of our exceptionally talented recent, current, and upcoming black artists have been overlooked in the public conversation. This moment, and the work that we all have to do, must not mean the ostracisation, erasure or invisibility of all the amazing artists that have been and continue to work tirelessly to make progress possible. This production of Othello is an interrogation of Othello’s abuse of power and pathological narcissism, why some of the characters in the play seem to support his path to tyranny in an age of impunity, and why we the audience seem so endlessly seduced by the charisma of evil.”
Outraged or comforted that at least they would not black up to play Othello? And how could a white actor manage to play such an ethnically precise character with the same authenticity as a black actor? But of course, we have moved significantly since anyone would suggest that an ethnically different actor would have the gall to play an iconic character. Can you imagine if BME actors had been told that their chance would “come around again”?
It’s a different focus of the same prejudice. So, if you would be angry at this, then use that anger positively to let The Globe know that what they have done is equally offensive. We reinvent ourselves by recasting our personal narratives, we recast our thinking when times move on, all they have to do is recast a bloody play. How hard can that be?
