Dominique-René de Lerma, http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com, sends this link:
TIME Magazine
@lilyrothmanOctober 18, 2012
The Bruce Norris satire Clybourne
Park, a Chicago-set play inspired by A Raisin in the Sun, has garnered raves and
awards for productions in the U.S. (a Pulitzer and a Tony) and England (an
Olivier)—but a planned production in Berlin has been canceled. Norris
learned that one of the African-American characters in the play about race
relations and class would be portrayed by a white German actor in blackface. In
response, he withdrew permission for the Deutsches Theatre to do the show.
(MORE: TIME’s
review of Clybourne
Park)
In an open
letter to the members of the Dramatists Guild, a professional association
of playwrights, Norris explained his decision. Having seen a 2011 German
production of Clybourne Park in the city of Mainz, the author says that
he looked forward to the play moving to the “somewhat prestigious theatre
of good reputation” in Berlin—until he heard directly from the
actress Lara-Sophie Milagro, who is black and appeared in the Mainz production,
that her replacement in Berlin would be white. He contacted the management of
the Deutsches Theatre:
Yes, they confirmed, it is true, we have cast a white ensemble
member in this role, and we see no logical reason why we should cast an
“Afro-German.” (If you are familiar with my play at all, the
reasons are self-evident.) After much evasion, justification and rationalizing
of their reasons, they finally informed me that the color of the
actress’s skin would ultimately be irrelevant, since they intended to
“experiment with makeup.” At this point, I retracted the rights to
the production.
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