SOUTHERN COMFORT at The Public

Very happy to see that they are actively seeking transgender actors. The BSC production featured non-trans actors in the leading (trans) roles.

At the Hir Symposium at Playwrights Horizon, it was interesting to hear Taylor Mac mention the challenge of casting trans actors. I linked to it in the Hir forum. It was how the lack of roles in general leads many trans people who might be interested in becoming actors to not really follow through on getting a lot of training, which leads to a lack of stage experience, so when the roles do come up, there aren't as many people available to audition who are stage-ready (I'm sure I'm mangling part of that, go listen to Mac say it better)... was just an interesting balance to hear, given how people always mentioning wanting to see more trans actors cast, etc.

RippedMan said: "I think that can be said for a lot of minorities. As an actor I often see the same casting notices going out time and time again because they can't find a certain minority.

I would not say it happens "a lot." There are minority groups that are grossly underrepresented in the arts, and the trans community is one of them. In both productions (CAP21 and BSC) of this show, all the trans roles have been played by non-trans actors. That would not happen in a play where the majority of the characters are meant to be black, Asian, east Asian, etc. And while trans actors have faced a lot of discrimination that, I'm sure, has led some to leave the business, to say that there aren't enough qualified trans actors to fill out a handful of trans roles is a covering statement, at best.

I have loved this documentary for years. It's on Hulu and I highly recommend watching it.