If only hunchbacks can play Richard III, why stop there?

The last Richard III I saw starred the now-disgraced actor Kevin Spacey in the lead role at the Old Vic. He was superb, and I’m glad I caught it because the chances of a repeat are probably zilch. Spacey was fatally tainted when accused by Star Trek actor Anthony Rapp of making sexual advances on him at a party in 1986 when he was 14 – allegations Spacey denies.

But there is also the fact that Spacey is able-bodied. Apparently, given that Richard had a hunched back, or at least a curvature caused by scoliosis, it now seems that only actors with that exact same condition ought to play him.

That, at least, is the logic of recent remarks by Gregory Doran, the outgoing director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, whose own late husband Antony Sher performed one of the most memorable Richards in history at Stratford in 1984 – but who, as Doran himself said, would not be castable today.

“It’s the Othello syndrome, isn’t it?” said Doran. “That moment when white actors stopped thinking of Othello in their repertoire, because it was not acceptable to have blackface any more, at least until the level playing field is achieved. It’s the same with disabled actors and Richard.”

In theatreland’s zest for representation, it seems no dramatic instruction can be taken too literally. It will be interesting to see what happens to the quality when only actors with the precise physical attributes and health conditions – perhaps even mental health conditions – of the characters they play are cast in great roles. And why stop at Richard’s spine? Shouldn’t they also recruit an actor with psychopathic sensibilities, and perhaps a bundle of additional mental illnesses so as not to offend those concerned with representing “neurodiverse” people?

Of course, it’s mad rubbish that actors must match the look, sexuality, medical history or whatever other identity of the characters they play. We know it, and so do the wokemaddened theatrical maestros and directors pursuing this agenda. How else to explain the highly enjoyable “colourblind” casting of Netflix’s Bridgerton or the BBC’s David Copperfield? If it’s fine to cast actors of colour as white historical figures then clearly perfect replication isn’t necessary.

And then there’s the widespread casting of non-Jews in Jewish roles, which even includes actors on record making anti-Semitic comments, such as Gary Oldman (who apologised for his 2014 comments). Oldman starred in Mank, a 2020 film about Orson Welles’s Jewish screenwriter Herman J Mankiewicz, with nary a whisper of uproar. Helen Mirren is to play Golda Meir in Guy Nattiv’s upcoming drama about the Israeli PM. But Mirren has my blessing: if she’s the best actress for the part, then she ought to play it. The same should be true of Richard, Mank and every other role – even Othello.