>> "The book is not colorblind"
But one could make the same argument about Les Miz: it takes place in a specific time to specific people, and as far as I know, there werent that many black citoyens in France during the revolution. Some perhaps, but I doubt those were the ones Hugo was writing about.
And yet we'll see that as a "universal experience", when COLOR PURPLE somehow isnt? Yes, it's a show about race and racism, but wouldn the very act of colour-blind casting underscore that concept?
Seriously, I've never quite understood the argument presented here. An all-black DOLLY is okay, an all-black GUYS AND DOLLS is okay, but an all-anything-but-black FENCES wouldnt be? Are the songs in AINT MISBEHAVIN' so un-universal that one couldnt fathom the idea of colour-blind casting that puppy?
When I taught theatre design at a small college down this way, one of the professors caused a mild uproar when he told one of his acting students, a black girl, that she could of course prepare her graduation monologue as Blanche in STREETCAR "but you should ever plan on being cast in it". Frankly, I dont know why not: STREETCAR isnt exactly a white-only show. In fact, I think a black version of it would be fascinating as well as insightful. And yet I see the same kind of "hands off" attitude when I look at something like COLOR PURPLE and think, Y'know, you *could* cast a white or Asian actress in some of those roles, and the story would still work. So what's the real issue here?
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