Role Distribution, Show Selection and Audition Pools

[lillibet]

This subject came up tonight at Steering Committee and there just wasn't time to explore it past the immediate issue at hand, but it seemed like there was more discussion to be had and perhaps more voices to be solicited, so I thought I'd go ahead and post about it. You don't have to be part of Theatre@First to have an opinion. I'm going to start with a poll, so I can get an overview, but I do encourage you to comment, because I realize this may have a lot of nuances and complexity for many people that won't be captured in my options.

[Poll #1498617]

Comments

[dpolicar]

(nods) Makes sense. And sure, a proposal for a show with a mixed-gender cast achieved by cross-casting (like 12AJ) is, for demographic purposes, equivalent to a proposal for a show with a mixed-gender cast achieved by other means. But cross-casting isn't just a demographic action, to my mind; I did it for 12AJ in part because the show lends itself to that.

[desireearmfeldt]

A proposal to direct a show with 12 men is different from a proposal to direct a show with 12 characters whose genders will be largely determined by the auditioning pool.

Either is a valid artistic choice, but they're different proposals, and I'd have strong reservations about supporting the former, that I wouldn't have about the latter.

That doesn't mean I'm dictating to the director how to cast the show, exactly. It does mean I'd like some indication of which casting schema it's going to be, so I can decide how I feel about the proposal.

[dpolicar]

Precisely right. As a director, I would feel obliged to provide that information, and you have every right to vote against the proposal based on that information. (Someone else might approve the all-male version and reject the mixed-gender version, perhaps out of a strong sense that shows should always be done the way they were initially staged, or something else, who knows?)