Live theatre hailed for embracing diversity
From ‘Hamilton’ to Stratford, onstage roles don’t have to follow ‘any sort of stereotype’
Sarah Afful sees no barriers to the roles she can inhabit.
Afful is in her fifth season at the Stratford Festival in featured roles as Lady Macduff in Macbeth and Ann Deever in All My Sons. This summer, she will portray Fanny Wilton in the psychological drama John Gabriel Borkman.
“I’ve been able to play love interests, family members, masculine parts, superfeminine, sexual parts. I’ve been able to do everything,” said Afful, whose parents are from Ghana.
“I’ve been able to do it with my own perspective and come at it with my own voice and not have to adhere to any sort of stereotype.”
But while the range of opportunities on stage have been limitless, getting onscreen work has presented its share of stumbling blocks for the black Canadian actress.
“I remember being told I was too heavy and (was) brought in for the black American stereotypes,” said the Vancouver-raised Afful, who pursued film and TV work in her teen years.
“Here I am as this African Canadian girl and trying to find my own identity — whatever that meant at that time — and just being confused, and trying to fill these positions that I just wasn’t right for. I wasn’t super skinny and I wasn’t super American: I just was who I was.
“It works for me now — it didn’t then.”
2016 has seen a stark contrast between stage and film in recognizing racially and ethnically diverse talents.
While the #OscarsSoWhite campaign highlighted the lack of diversity among acting nominees, the recent Tony Awards proved to be a historic moment for performers of colour.
For the first time, all four winners in the musical acting categories were black.
Three of the honoured actors star in the musical juggernaut Hamilton, which has been hailed for its awardwinning hip-hop score by creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and colourblind casting of historically white figures.
Some observers are cautiously optimistic that the success of Hamilton will inspire more diversity going forward. In Canada, some say there’s already a strong tradition of diversity on stage.
Alexis Gordon, who is of Jamaican and European heritage and stars in A Little Night Music at Stratford, can recall being inspired by diversity in theatre a decade ago.
She was a 16-year-old camper at the Shakespeare School in Stratford when the award-winning Djanet Sears play Harlem Duet with Karen Robinson left a lasting impression on her.
“I saw an all-black cast and I saw people who looked like me . . . and (I thought): ‘Oh my gosh. This is so empowering,’ ” said the London, Ont., stage actress.
“That was the biggest influence on (me thinking): ‘I can do this.’ ”
But not everyone has embraced the notion of colour-blind or non-traditional casting.
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has lashed back on Twitter against criticism of the casting of black actress Noma Dumezweni as Hermione in the upcoming production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London.
And a census conducted by the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association last year — the first one the organization ever commissioned — suggested there’s room for improvement.
About 56 per cent of its approximately 5,800 members responded, and among those, about 30 per cent identified as diverse, be it racially, ethnoculturally, by ability or sexual identity, said executive director Arden Ryshpan.
Afful said she thinks 2016 is an “exceptional year” in theatre, but said the true test will involve the diversity of roles and stories seen moving forward.
“In the long run, it’s the consistency that we’re looking for. It’s the consistency of this change.
“Every culture should be involved in telling the story of our history, and the desires of our future and the reflections of who we are today. That’s everyone’s job. To see it all is the hope. So the consistency year after year of seeing a mix of stories highlighted is the goal.”