NON-TRADITIONAL CASTING:
A broad term for the concept of casting actors in roles that defy “traditional” racial, gender, and ability boundaries and encompasses four specific approaches to casting: Colour-blind Casting, Conceptual Casting, Cross-Cultural Casting, and Societal Casting. This concept was first introduced at the Actor’s Equity sponsored First National Symposium on Non-Traditional Casting in New York City in 1986. For more, please see Bennetts, Catanese, Davis, Newman, Sears.
THE NON-TRADITIONAL CASTING PROJECT
Since renamed the “Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts”, The Non-Traditional Casting Project was an organization founded by Actor’s Equity in 1986 with the goal of advocating for a fully diverse and equitable theatre industry through changes in casting practices. For more, see Catanese, Newman, Salomon.
COLOUR-BLIND CASTING:
See definition here.
CONCEPTUAL CASTING:
A casting strategy where an individual is intentionally cast in a role so that their race, gender, or ability can strengthen or change the meaning within the play.
CROSS-CULTURAL CASTING:
When casting is used to transport the world of the play into a different cultural context.
SOCIETAL CASTING:
When marginalized individuals are cast in societal roles to reflect a diverse society onstage.
Sources and Further Reading:
Bennetts, Leslie. “Taking Fresh Look at Casting.” The New York Times, 19 Nov. 1986, www.nytimes.com/1986/11/19/theater/taking-fresh-look-at-casting.html.
Catanese, Brandi Wilkins. The Problem of the Color[blind]: Racial Transgression and the Politics of Black Performance. University of Michigan Press, 2012, pp. 1-31, https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/10.3998/mpub.368267.
Davis, Clinton Turner. “Non-Traditional Casting (an Open Letter).” African American Review, vol. 31, no. 4, 1997, pp. 591–94, https://doi.org/10.2307/3042324.
Newman, Harry. “Holding Back: The Theatre’s Resistance to Non-Traditional Casting.” TDR, vol. 33, no. 3, 1989, pp. 22–36. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1145985.
Pao, Angela Chia-yi. “Introduction.” No Safe Spaces: Re-Casting Race, Ethnicity, and Nationality in American Theater. University of Michigan Press, 2010, pp. 1-22, https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/10.3998/mpub.1729062.
Salomon, Andrew. “NTCP Changes Name, Cause the Same.” Backstage, 25 Mar. 2013, www.backstage.com/magazine/article/ntcp-changes-name-cause-30183/.
Sears, Djanet. “Play Equity and the Blindspots.” SpiderWebShow, 16 Feb. 2016, www.spiderwebshow.ca/play-equity-and-the-blindspots/.