Shakespeare is at the heart of the British theatrical tradition, but the contribution of Ira Aldridge and the Shakespearean performers of African, African-Caribbean, south Asian and east Asian heritage who came after him is not widely known. Telling the story for the first time of how Shakespearean theatre in Britain was integrated from the 1960s to the 21st century, this is a timely and important account of that contribution. Drawing extensively on empirical evidence from the British Black and Asian Shakespeare Performance Database and featuring interviews with nearly forty performers and directors, the book chronicles important productions that led to ground-breaking castings of Black and Asian actors in substantial Shakespearean roles including:
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Zakes Mokae (Cry Freedom) as one of three black witches in William Gaskill’s 1966 production of Macbeth at the Royal Court Theatre.
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Norman Beaton as Angelo in Michael Rudman’s 1981 production of Measure for Measure at the National Theatre – the first majority Black Shakespearean cast at the theatre.
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Josette Simon as Isabella in Measure for Measure at the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1987.
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Adrian Lester in the title role of Nicholas Hytner’s 2003 production of Henry V.
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Iqbal Khan on his 2012 production of Much Ado About Nothing – the first production with an all south Asian cast at the Royal Shakespeare Company.
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Alfred Enoch and Rakie Ayola as Edgar and Goneril in Talawa Theatre Company’s 2016 production of King Lear
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Paapa Essiedu as Hamlet in Simon Godwin’s 2016 production for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
With first-hand accounts from key performers including Joseph Marcell, Adrian Lester, Josette Simon, Lolita Chakrabarti, Noma Dumezweni, Rakie Ayola, David Yip, Ray Fearon, Paterson Joseph, Alfred Enoch, Rudolph Walker and many more, this book is an invaluable history of Black and Asian Shakespeareans that highlights the gains these actors have made and the challenges still faced in pursuing a career in classical theatre.
By:
Dr Jami Rogers
Imprint: The Arden Shakespeare
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 234mm,
Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9781350112926
ISBN 10: 1350112925
Pages: 256
Publication Date: 16 June 2022
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Note on interviews Abbreviations List of illustrations List of tables Acknowledgements Introduction: Forgotten Shakespeareans, 1825–1965 Shakespearean pioneers, 1866–1947 Shakespearean pioneers, 1950–1965 Chapter One: “Difficult to justify this casting without sounding racist”: breakthroughs and stereotypes, 1966–1972 Royal Court – Macbeth – 1966 Mermaid Theatre – The Tempest – 1970 The Black Macbeth – Roundhouse Theatre, London – 1972 “Difficult to justify this casting without sounding racist” Chapter Two: “Why weren’t we auditioned?”: the “black canon” and the battle for Othello “Why weren’t we auditioned?” Reclaiming Othello Chapter Three: From “suitable roles” to leads, 1980–1987 “Black roles” at the RSC Macbeth – Young Vic, 1984 Leading roles, 1984 Rosaline – RSC, 1984 “Othello was an Arab” – RSC, 1985 Emergence of a new “black canon” RSC 1986 “They’re nurturing you” Antony – Contact Theatre, 1987 Isabella – RSC, 1987 Julius Caesar – Bristol Old Vic, 1987 Chapter Four: Owning Shakespeare – Temba, Talawa and Tara Arts, 1988–1994 Romeo and Juliet – Temba, 1988 Antony and Cleopatra – Talawa, 1991 Troilus and Cressida – Tara Arts, 1993 King Lear – Talawa, 1994 Chapter Five: Cracking the glass ceiling, 1988–1996 “You can’t have a West Indian actor playing a Welsh poet …” Troilus … But West Indian opera singers can speak the verse? Young lovers Rosalind. Portia. The Shakespearean glass ceiling, 1988–1996. “Are we saying we’re white people?”. “That wouldn’t have happened here”. Birmingham Repertory Theatre, 1993–1996. Chapter Six: “Monarchs to Behold”: 1997–2003. “I belong here”. Othello, National Theatre, 1997. Women of colour: pushing against the glass ceiling, 1998-1999. RSC, 1999. Troilus and Cressida, National Theatre, 1999 Identity and colour-blind casting Adrian Lester, Hamlet, 2000 David Oyelowo, Henry VI, 2000 Mu-Lan Romeo and Juliet, 2001 Adrian Lester, Henry V, 2003 The peak of progress? Chapter Seven: Progress Postponed, 2004–2011. “There’s a few more parts we could play, you know”. Tragic heroes and the Shakespearean glass ceiling, 2004–2011. Cross-cultural casting. “I think I need you to do an accent”. Maids and prostitutes, stereotyping Lucetta and Bianca. A new dawn. Chapter Eight: Shakespeare from Multiculturalism to Brexit, 2012-2018. Julius Caesar and Much Ado About Nothing, RSC, 2012. Othello. Joseph Marcell – King Lear, Shakespeare’s Globe, 2013. Shakespeare’s histories, 2013–2015. Paapa Essiedu – Hamlet, RSC, 2016. “It was a lack of faith”. Black Theatre Live’s Hamlet and Talawa’s King Lear, 2016. Alfred Enoch – Edgar, King Lear, Talawa, 2016. Women of colour in Shakespeare, 2016–2018. Josette Simon – Cleopatra, RSC, 2017 “They never asked me” Sheila Atim – Emilia, Othello, Shakespeare’s Globe, 2018 Troilus and Cressida – RSC, 2018. Coda – 2019…and beyond? References Index
Jami Rogers trained at LAMDA and has an MA and a PhD from the University of Birmingham, UK. Her career has spanned television and education, including eight years at PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre in Boston, MA. She has taught classical acting at ArtsEd and Shakespeare at the University of Warwick, where she is an Honorary Fellow. She researches and writes about racial and gender inequality in Britain’s live and recorded arts.
Reviews for British Black and Asian Shakespeareans: Integrating Shakespeare, 1966–2018
A vital read for anyone interested in the gains made by, not just some of Britain's greatest actors of colour, but by some of Britain's greatest actors. * David Oyelowo OBE * This is a book that I have eagerly awaited, both as a playgoer and as a cultural historian. Jami Rogers's engrossing account of Black and Asian Shakespeareans from Ira Aldridge to Josette Simon is a fascinating and timely contribution to Shakespeare studies, providing a much needed survey of the resistance that British actors of colour have long faced, as well as the inroads they have made in making Shakespeare truly representative. * James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare * Celebrating the contributions of actors of African-Caribbean and Asian heritage in the Shakespeare industry, this invaluable book contributes to decolonising the theatre and recuperating the experiences of practitioners of colour. - Adele Lee, Associate Professor, Department of Writing, Literature and Publishing, Emerson College
