Condemning Yale Group, Members of HRDC Discourage ‘Colorblind’ Casting

Members of the board of the Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club, which sponsors and organizes most theatrical events on campus, condemned the Yale Dramatic Association’s initial decision earlier this month to cast a white woman in the role of a black man for the Yale undergraduate group’s fall mainstage performance.

Though the HRDC does not hold an official position on the controversial practice of “colorblind” casting, or casting a role without taking into consideration the actor’s identity, the student theater organization does not engage in the practice, according to Aislinn E. Brophy ’17, HRDC’s president.

Silliman, a residential college at Yale By Megan M. Ross

“We definitely would not want what happened at Yale to happen here,” she said.

After campus outcry, the Yale drama association held auditions to recast the show, the Yale Daily News reported. The group's board wrote in a statement on its website that its initial action was a "missed opportunity for a black actor to take on an exciting and challenging role was felt all the more deeply.”

“We recognize the pain that this situation has caused and that this new decision may come too late for some and may hurt others," the group wrote. “Still, we hope that reopening auditions will give the Yale community another opportunity to bring new and varied voices to the stage.”

Other HRDC board members did not shy away from echoing Brophy’s disapproval of the initial controversial casting decision at Yale, though they emphasized the opinions they expressed were their own, and not that of their organization.

“The way American theater is right now, there is a noticeable lack of opportunities for people of color,” Eliza B. Mantz ’18, an HRDC board member, said. “To take opportunities—the few that they have—away from people of color like that is absolutely unacceptable.”

“The goal of colorblind casting is to be more inclusive, but I think what happened at Yale was a misconstruance of that concept,” Mantz added.

The HRDC, in contrast, informally encourages directors to adopt what the group calls a “color-conscious” casting policy that encourages them to think about the complexities of race and how it can inform theater performances, Brophy said.

She added that this policy—which is not an official stance of HRDC—encourages more diversity within the casts of HRDC’s productions, while colorblind casting could potentially lead to roles intended for actors of color going to white actors, as was the case at Yale.

“You can cast anybody in [a traditionally white role],” Brophy said, saying that by casting a white person in a minority role, “you’re refusing the narrative diversity for the project.”

Mantz said the board is largely on the same page as Brophy in terms of seeking to protect minority roles within HRDC.

Madison E. Deming ’18, another HRDC board member, added that “whatever the community can do to not suppress the voices of marginalized groups, and make sure that everyone is being heard, is what we need to do.”

The Yale controversy aside, this year’s HRDC board has took steps to encourage more diversity in the performing arts at Harvard.

Noting that HRDC faces its own issues with diversity reflective of those in the larger theater world, Brophy said this year’s board is making a conscious and concerted effort to ensure that “the voices of students of all identities [can] be heard and seen on stage.”

For example, she noted that this semester’s Visiting Director’s Project on the Loeb mainstage will be directed by Jacqui Parker, a woman of color.

“We sat down and decided that we really wanted to see a director of color, since we hadn’t had one in recent memory,” Brophy said. “So what our board is doing is not just encouraging diversity on the stage, but backstage as well.”