Theatre Australia

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

Tue, 2 May 2006, 01:52 pm
MichelleZ31 posts in thread
Just want to vent, so I apologise in advance. Ha, ha, ha, so much for Australia priding itself on being a multicultural society! HA! Where the hell is all the multi-cultural actors on our stages and screens then? I think I'm as good or on par, in regard to talent, with many actresses in their early 20s, but being of Asian appearance, I rarely get called in - and I'm a NIDA grad! (Not that that means a lot these days). I know this industry is primarily based on what you look like, but come on!!! Give us a chance to even audition for you, for christ's sakes! When are producers gonna open their eyes and realise that the Australian population is not entirely Anglo. Has anyone else experienced this frustration?! This sounds dramatic (but hey, we're actors!!), but I'm going to devote my life to changing this in the industry. I realise that even Asian actors in England and USA find it difficult to break into the industry, so I really hope to change this.

I'm sure I've said this

Fri, 7 July 2006, 09:41 am
I'm sure I've said this before ... Unfortunately, directors often already have an idea/image of the characters in mind before entering an audition. They've already read the script and agreed to produce the show, which means they've done at least a small amount of thinking about the way they want the production to look like. Playwrights who are self-directing have the biggest challenge of being unbiased when it comes to wanting the 'right' kind of look to their show, and friends who are directing other friend's work want to please that person. It's hard to walk into an audition in that sense, with a completely open mind. I'm sure there are a percentage of directors who want only what they envisage and nothing else. But I'm also equally sure that there are plenty of directors who are willing to take a chance on their idea of something/someone comes along who presents a much better idea/look/feel than they had imagined. For me - I know the right actor for the part when I see it. No preconceptions. The Prompt Copy Networking emerging theatre professionals www.thepromptcopy.com Sticky Apple Legs http://stickyapplelegs.artsblogs.com

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