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Friday, April 23, 2021
PRISCILLA Producers Respond to Casting Controversy – 'We Believe We Have Cast the Very Best Performers to Portray all the Parts'
www.broadwayworld.com: It was recently announced that the UK tour of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert would be resuming in June 2021. However, the casting of the tour has caused backlash after a cis male was cast in the role of Bernadette after the production held an open casting call for trans performers. Miles Western, Nick Hayes and Edwin Ray are set to star in the musical.
My god, if you absolutely have to cast a cis actor in a role meant to be played by a trans character, at least cast a cisgender person of that gender. Casting a man to play a trans woman is an awful choice. I refuse to believe that there is not a single trans woman out there that is capable of playing the part as defined, and if the producers or casting directors are not willing to put in the work to find a capable trans actor for the role, perhaps they should not be putting up a show about a trans woman. Casting a cis man as a trans woman further perpetuates the idea that trans women are just 'men in a dress,' which also helps feed into harmful stereotypes about trans women being predatory men trying to get into the women's bathroom. Broadway needs to stop laughing at the 'man in a dress' and find a funnier joke.
This is a very difficult topic to navigate, and in my opinion the theater here made the wrong choice. I find myself lamenting on the nuance of the topic because, in my opinion, there should be nothing wrong with a trans person playing a cis role, so why is the other way around so toxic? The difference is oppression. In a perfect utopia with no history of discrimination and true equal representation for everyone, I guess anyone could play any role regardless of identity. The fact is, however, even if we attain a level of acceptance that is truly ideal in our society, the history still remains and in that sense the damage is already done. I also do not want trans people to be boxed into these trans roles, which honestly seems to be where we are at now. Either way, a cis man will never be able to portray the full trans experience, and in that sense the theater made the wrong choice in picking its talent. Talking to cis people I am well aware that there are parts of the trans experience that no matter how much they understand, they will never feel and truly get, and only a trans actor would be able to act on these experience and perform the role to its fullest. Lastly, we cannot ignore that this trans-understudy-for-a-trans-role scenario is unfortunately becoming a trend. Even if the theater is trying to be as accepting as possible (which they aren’t), it is undeniable they are only adding onto this trend while it is on the rise. Overall, this was not only a terrible choice but also made in a terrible time as well.
2 comments:
My god, if you absolutely have to cast a cis actor in a role meant to be played by a trans character, at least cast a cisgender person of that gender. Casting a man to play a trans woman is an awful choice. I refuse to believe that there is not a single trans woman out there that is capable of playing the part as defined, and if the producers or casting directors are not willing to put in the work to find a capable trans actor for the role, perhaps they should not be putting up a show about a trans woman. Casting a cis man as a trans woman further perpetuates the idea that trans women are just 'men in a dress,' which also helps feed into harmful stereotypes about trans women being predatory men trying to get into the women's bathroom. Broadway needs to stop laughing at the 'man in a dress' and find a funnier joke.
This is a very difficult topic to navigate, and in my opinion the theater here made the wrong choice. I find myself lamenting on the nuance of the topic because, in my opinion, there should be nothing wrong with a trans person playing a cis role, so why is the other way around so toxic? The difference is oppression. In a perfect utopia with no history of discrimination and true equal representation for everyone, I guess anyone could play any role regardless of identity. The fact is, however, even if we attain a level of acceptance that is truly ideal in our society, the history still remains and in that sense the damage is already done. I also do not want trans people to be boxed into these trans roles, which honestly seems to be where we are at now. Either way, a cis man will never be able to portray the full trans experience, and in that sense the theater made the wrong choice in picking its talent. Talking to cis people I am well aware that there are parts of the trans experience that no matter how much they understand, they will never feel and truly get, and only a trans actor would be able to act on these experience and perform the role to its fullest. Lastly, we cannot ignore that this trans-understudy-for-a-trans-role scenario is unfortunately becoming a trend. Even if the theater is trying to be as accepting as possible (which they aren’t), it is undeniable they are only adding onto this trend while it is on the rise. Overall, this was not only a terrible choice but also made in a terrible time as well.
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