The Acting Company-New York Theatre Workshop's NYC Production of "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter"
NEW YORK, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Arts organizations across the country protest The Acting Company-New York Theatre Workshop's casting of the role of Singer in the November/December New York production of The Heart is a Lonely Hunter.
If a hearing actor is cast in a Deaf-specific role, we are denying the human fundamentals that a Deaf actor would bring to the role. While this affects employment, the central issue is an artistic, human one that is much larger and goes far beyond employment concerns.
Bobbie Beth Scoggins, the President of the National Association of the Deaf (NAD), states: "The National Association of the Deaf (NAD) strongly believes in culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate casting of deaf roles for mainstream theatrical and related productions; such roles are best carried out by professional deaf performing artists."
"A hearing actor playing a Deaf character is tantamount to putting a white actor in blackface," says Linda Bove, noted deaf actress and Board Member of Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts.
If a Deaf actor is not allowed "to inhabit" a Deaf character -- create and develop that character, with all the substance, nuance and authenticity s/he brings of and from the lived experience of deafness and Deaf culture, we are denying a Deaf artist the opportunity to express this dimension of our common humanity. Further, The Acting Company and New York Theatre Workshop in this co-production are denying the audience the benefit of an authentic Deaf experience, and the artistry the Deaf actor brings.
"As an artistic director of a nationally recognized theatre, I well understand the issues involved in artistic choice. But, the decision The Acting Company and New York Theatre Workshop have made in this instance is artistically unsupportable and indefensible," explains Ed Waterstreet, the Artistic Director of Deaf West Theatre.
Michel Saint Denis, who designed The Juilliard School's Drama Division program, out of which The Acting Company was created, said, "The purpose of theatre is to illuminate the human spirit."
No hearing actor has the capacity and background to convey the experience of a Deaf person in a Deaf-specific role, as would a Deaf actor who is an equally good artist. Without a Deaf actor embodying this role, it is not possible to gain the full perspective of a Deaf person's experience in this hypothetical situation.
THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF THE DEAF (NAD) is the nation's premier civil rights organization of, by and for deaf and hard of hearing individuals in the United States of America. For more information: www.nad.org
ALLIANCE FOR INCLUSION IN THE ARTS is the nation's leading advocate for full diversity as a key to the vitality and dynamism of American theatre, film, and television. For more information: www.inclusioninthearts.org
DEAF WEST THEATRE is the nation's premier sign language theatre company. It was founded in 1991 and has produced over 40 plays and 4 musicals, won more than 80 theater awards, performed on Broadway, and has been nominated for a Tony Award. For more information: www.deafwest.org
SOURCE Alliance For Inclusion In The Arts
Alliance For Inclusion In The Arts
