Diversifying the Stage

It's hard to speak without bias about diversity in theatre while being involved in production of a "Legally Blonde: The Musical" here at GBN. Although frequently disregarded, theatrical productions are frequently devoid of diversity in their casting or play heavily to stereotypes. The archetypal performance follows the story of someone young, white, and frequently male, while certain parts are specifically tailored to other races. Though more recent productions have attempted to cast race-blind, most productions still use race as a dominant factor in casting. Perhaps this is a direct reflection of our inability to move beyond race and gender as a society—are racial stereotypes on stage too obvious to ignore?

In her blog on theatre, Lyn Gardner discusses the dilemma of diversity on the stage. Although she focuses her discussion on performances in Britain, Gardner brings up the valid point that theatre is an art form often designed by the elite for the elite. While "elite" does not necessarily imply white and/or male, it certainly contributes to the relative lack of diversity of stage. In order to move past the current homogeneity of modern performance, Gardner argues that theatre as an art form must be re-crafted.

While changing how we view performance may fix the issue, perhaps this is not a "theatrical" issue per se. Instead, strict adherence to stereotypes on the stage could be a reflection of our inability to look past these stereotypes throughout society as a whole. When seeing a performance, audience members are inherently judgmental. They enter a completely difficult world for the two hours a performance, and the only information they have is based on appearance and dialogue. Therefore, the crucial role of appearance as a judgmental factor is only emphasized on stage.

In "Legally Blonde: The Musical," a lack of diversity among lead characters could not be more obvious. Hopefully everything works out for the best!