FRUSTRATED! WHERE'S THE COLOUR-BLIND CASTING IN THIS BLOODY COUNTRY!!!

As someone from an amateur theatre background, having done a certificate course earlier out of curiosity, I've been quite lucky in the sense that community theatres that I audition at still look at me and let me audition. But before my first gig, it took me a year of solidly auditioning for literally anywhere in Sydney, to land a very very small role, but amongst a very cool bunch of people. I tend to land the more "cultural"/ensemble roles. As much as that can seem frustrating, I know some friends who are of Anglo descent and not getting any more work than me. I recall calling a director up regarding "open" auditions asking for a timeslot, and they asked for my full name..when I did,they told me I'm wasting my time to audition because it's not a role for an Asian, but if by chance I was "that really great Asian girl who appeared in this other play they went to recently", I would be given a decent go. To this day I'm not sure where the logic lies. Maybe there was no logic. :) But one good thing about being of a minority group is if you landed a gig with them and someone liked you, they'll remember you with a fair amount of ease :D It's not all bad I suppose. But to work towards a more colour-blind culture when it comes to theatre, maybe we need many more directors, playwrights etc. who are colour blind, and also more of ethnic origin! And I don't know if it's starting to happen more, but I've recently been to a few auditions where the director is Asian (or not), and have been casting colour-blindly. They tend to be new Aussie works (which is always exciting!), where culture is not written into the text. Those are projects I'd love to be more involved in. But it's not always realistic to expect other people to give us the work...we should workshop and create works too :D If currently we dont have a colour blind casting process, we have to use the current confines to influence the industry - that is, showcase great works that make us more visible! Create a support base (which this forum is great for) to keep us going! It probably sounds like I'm completely looney, but it's my way of keeping sane in an industry where it is sometimes about factors which are beyond your control. Happy acting :D