COUNTER-CASTING:

The practice of casting bodies in roles that they would not have played “traditionally” in an attempt to change the story that is being told and provide a different take on the same story by challenging the audience’s expectations. In her 2020 book, Shakespearean Futures: Casting the Bodies of Tomorrow on Shakespeare’s Stages Today, scholar Amy Cook notes that counter-casting “can be subtle or radical, but it is always political” (13). Cook suggests that counter-casting should be used in an attempt to expand our perceptions and widen our understanding of how individuals navigate the world. For more, please see Cook.