India 's Opinion On Indian Theatre

In the early 1990s, the Communication Law Centre and the Media Entertainment and Arts Allegiance aka Actors Equity (MEAAA), with some assistance from the Office of Multicultural Affairs began a campaign to address what they felt was poor record of achievement when it came to the proper portrayal of cultural diversity in popular television drama. This came after research into the representation of non-English speaking people in Australian television drama. At that time, it was estimated that less than 2% of available roles were given to performers of culturally diverse backgrounds and there were no continuing or recurring roles for indigenous performers (May, 2001). Australian TV networks are failing to represent the people who make up the majority of this country’s population; it being one of the most culturally diverse countries on the planet. One of the main excuses given by producers and directors when asked why they don’t cast ethnic/LGBTQIA actors is that there are no actors from those two communities who want the job. That is a lie. If you go to any Performing Arts schools or centres in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth or all of Australia, you will find actors of colour as well as LGBTQIA actors waiting for a chance to be cast in a good role, or any role available. Another excuse that is regularly given out is that they would not know what to do with such characters. They would not know how to properly

When people think of theatre they usually think of acting, directing, and maybe script writers. They would correct, all of those disciplines are part of theatre but there's more to theatre than just that; however, due to personal interests those specific disciplines will be exactly what this essay is about. What most people don't think of when they think of theatre is how much thought is put into it. The different type of methods, not just for acting but, for directing, and script writing as well. Everyone has a different method of running a show but this paper will discuss some of the legendary people that have influenced theatre the most.

Jesminder Bhamra, like the director, is British-Asian. Just like Director Chadha had refused to take traditional Punjabi dancing lessons and watch Bollywood films as a child, Jesminder unintentionally rebels when trying to integrate cultures. Jesminder’s traditional Sikh parents want her to be ‘good’ by completing university and marrying an Indian man. However, due to local

The Phantom of the Opera also issued a similar type of casting method when naming Norm Lewis as the first black actor to play the Phantom. However, the idea of “color blindness” is not a problem on stage so much as it is off stage. The biggest problem that many black playwrights and directors face is not that their work is not being produced, but that the pieces written about black communities by white men are often racist. “Because much of white privilege doesn’t have any interaction with blackness they have a tendency to congregate around pathology, and only focusing on particular things in the urban environment—high crime, single parenthood, things like that— and then they sort of tag that as being the black experience” (Nichloson). Properly representing a culture different than the playwright’s or producer’s without being racist is a very tedious and difficult task which is why it is very important to have diversity in a show’s production team. Black people are needed on the creative team of a show about a black community in order to “have a fuller perspective of what black is, what black story is, and what black voice is” (Nichloson). American theatre has its definite struggles with gender and racial injustices, but theatres in Britain are facing the same problems on an even greater

Theatre has evolved over the many years. As it has grown, it moved to include more diverse performers, crew, producers, and audiences. This is an exploration of the expansion of diverse theatre.

"A Philosophy of Theater « " East of Mina. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2011.

In my English 104 class, we are discussing the theme of exploring the margins. My group will study the representation of racial minorities in the modern world. I decided to go to the theatre to look into the lack of representation and the misrepresentation of race. Do people of other races feel like they have a limited amount of roles to choose from? Do people of other races feel as though they have to act and look more Caucasian to land classic roles? Does color-blind casting change the experience for the audience? How are many different racial minorities not stereotypically represented? What is being done to solve this issue? I will also discuss who is affected by this issue and what that may mean for them. I will argue the possible solutions to increase the representation in theatre. I will refer to the research I have done on the subject. I will reference Theatre Topics, the Canadian Theatre Review, Applied Theatre Research, and Theatre Research International. Stereotyping in theatre is a universal issue for all marginalized actors. This is an important topic to research if you are a part of the theatre community. To work toward a more equal and accurate representation of the world, the theatre community needs everyone to work together.

Asian-American theatre came about in the 1960s and 70s starting with four groups: East West Players in LA; Asian Theatre Workshop-later named Asian-American Company-in San Fran; Theatrical Ensemble of Asians-later named Northwest Asian-American Theatre- in Seattle; and Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in NYC.These companies provided necessary resources for Asian-Americans wanting to pursue any aspect of theatre for nearly four decades. Towards the end of the 1990s companies and theatre groups geared toward Asian-Americans climbed to about 40. In the beginning of Asian-American theatre, most people involved were of East Asian decent; however, near the 21st century, Southeast Asians and South Asians would join the Asian-American theatre movement.

On September 18, 2014, I attended a play in New Ohio Theatre called “ I like To Be Here: Jackson Heights Revisited.” When I attended this theatre in Greenwich Village in the borough of Manhattan, I was amazed by the reaction of the audience towards what they were seeing on the stage. I checked in 30 minutes early, and was given a program. In this program was information about the director, characters, designers and a schedule of when the next performance would be. Jackson Heights was the effect of a multiethnic environment involving multilingual people. Their piece of acting showcases the many voices that lived these neighborhoods in the borough of

“Black theatre, in the United States, dramatic movement encompassing plays written by, for, and about African Americans.” (Encyclopaedia Britannica) The first black theatre originated in the early 19th century. However, all those plays were written by white people. Although the play may consist of black characters; only white persons would play the parts. Between the ending of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century is when the black people were really allowed to act in plays. Instead of the black characters being play by white people, the black people were finally able to participate. “African American Theatre is a vibrant and unique entity enriched by ancient Egyptian rituals, West African folklore, and European theatrical

When I arrived in the U.S., I faced a cultural shock. Although I had grown up speaking English, I discovered that American English, colloquial expressions, idioms and literature were all different than what I grew up with. So I attended several acting programs to polish my instrument in the context of American acting as well as to learn about the literature, human struggles and stories that have shaped the history and development of American theater.

In the words of Gay McAuley, “for an activity to be regarded as a performance, it must involve the live presence of the performers and those witnessing it…” (McAuley, 2009, cited in Schechner, 2013, pp.38). This statement recognises the importance of both the actor and the audience for something to truly function as a performance. In addition, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones highlights the significance of the theatrical space and how it can influence an audience stating that “on entering a theatre of any kind, a spectator walks into a specific space, one that is designed to produce a certain reaction or series of responses” (Llewellyn-Jones, 2002, pp.3). The relationship between actor, audience and theatrical space is no less important today than it was at the time of theatre during the Spanish Golden Age and the creation of Commedia dell’arte in Italy. Despite being very close geographically with theatre thriving for both in the same era, sources that explore the social, cultural and historical context of these countries and the theatre styles will bring to light the similarities and differences. This essay will analyse the staging, the behaviour of the audience as well as the challenges the actors faced, and how this directly influenced the relationship between actor, audience and theatrical space.

As seen in most third transnational films from Asia countries, “popular cultural products criss-cross cultural borders everyday” therefore these cultures remain circulating in transnational cinema (Aquilia 2006). The power of transnational cinema could not be ignored as global screen reflects a transnational cultural exchange (Aquilia 2006). My clip shows that those sections of films we studied consisting crossover boundaries of actors and actresses, overseas settings and different cultures portrayed. Athique also argues that non-Indians and people with little Indian history background found enjoyment in the mixture of Bombay films (Athique 2008). Thus, transnational cinema in both ways depicted the cultural identity audiences can relate to, as well as transnational culture exchange among the globe.

The history of theatre in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries is one of the increasing commercialization of the art, accompanied by technological innovations, the introduction of serious critical review, expansion of the subject matters portrayed to include ordinary people, and an emphasis on more natural forms of acting. Theatre, which had been dominated by the church for centuries, and then by the tastes of monarchs for more than 200 years, became accessible to merchants, industrialists, and the less privileged and then the masses.

Academic and artistic interest in something is usually a sure sign that matters are unclear, conceptual boundaries are blurred and that old certainties are anything but that. There is also little doubt that the major challenges we face: the media revolution, globalization and migration, climate change, the erosion of public finances and services (to name just a few) – have all in some way a bearing on the public sphere, the realm where issues are debated and where citizens are free to enter and engage in discourse. As the public sphere is primarily a discursive arena located outside and between state bureaucracies on the one hand and economics and business on the other, it occupies a crucial role in the functioning of so-called free societies. The question to be explored here is what role theatre and performance in practice play in this realm and how performance and theatre theory can contribute to the debates.” (Balme