Black actresses - "White up"

Diversity event to see black actress white up as Queen.

Exclusive - Theatre Royal, Stratford East is to stage a controversial revival of Jean Genet's The Blacks - in which a black actress will be 'whited up' to play the Queen - to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery and a major conference discussing diversity within the arts.

The production, which has been remixed to create a hip hop version of the 1958 play, is also being staged to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Ghanian independence from the British Empire - Genet's initial impetus to write the piece.

The run will culminate in a day-long conference organised by Equity and Stratford East to discuss issues surrounding diversity in the performing arts. Excalibah, who will appear in and co-direct the show with Ultz, told The Stage that the pair had worked to update Genet's verse to slam poetry and hip hop inorder to give the piece greater relevance for modern audiences.

"With it being 50 years since Ghanaian independence - which was Genet's initial inspiration for writing the piece - and 200 since the abolition of theslave trade, it is perfect timing" he said.

The production will feature a company of 13 black actors, five of whom will play the Queen, her footman, an ambassador, a judge and a missionary. These performers will be 'whited-up' and positioned in a royal box watching the play within a play.

According to a spokesperson for the show, the actress playing the Queen will be made 'as close a facsimile of Queen Elizabeth II as we can manage. We'll be flipping stereotypes on their head,' added Excalibah, 'and that's exactly what Genet's play does. It plays around with the ideas of black and white.'

The Blacks runs at Theatre Royal, Stratford East from October 12 to November 10.

For more information follow the link: http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/17571/diversity-event-to-see-black-actress-white·

TICKETS: £10 & £18 (concs £7 & £12)Days:
Tues - Sat Times: 7.30pm Extra show: 2pm, Wed 31st Oct

To book on online, click http://www.theatreroyallondon.com/shows.php\?display=upcoming

www.ethnicshowcase.com - UK Community Talent Agents

The Nig**r word - Is RAP music to blame?

You'd think after the Shilpa Shetty affair, people going into the Big Brother house would know better than to draw for racial comments but one of the current bunch of idiots housemates obviously missed that memo. Last night, Emily (the posh airhead one who thinks of Pete Doherty as her ideal man which speaks volumes in itself) decided to call Charley a n**ger.
Here's extracts from the official Channel 4 statement:

"Contestant Emily Parr was removed from the Big Brother House in the early hours of this morning after using a racially offensive word to a fellow housemate. Emily was with Charley and Nicky in the garden of the Big Brother House at approximately 8.30pm last night when she was heard to say "Are you pushing it out you ni**er?" to Charley.

Emily immediately made clear that she had not intended to offend and that the comment had been meant as a joke. In discussing what she had said, Charley and Nicky agreed that they were not personally offended, although both did express shock at the language she had used. In the ensuing discussion, Emily acknowledged that she should have been more careful with her words. The comment was not screened as part of the 'as live' streaming on E4 and was immediately reported up to senior production staff at Brighter Pictures, the Endemol UK subsidiary that produces the show. In consultation with senior executives at Channel 4 the decision was taken to remove Emily from the House on the grounds that she had broken the rules governing contestant behaviour.

The House Rules given to all contestants clearly state:

Big Brother will intervene and take appropriate action if housemates behave in a way that Big Brother considers is unacceptable. Unacceptable behaviour includes: behaving in a way that could cause serious offence to either their fellow housemates or members of the viewing public including serious offence based on the grounds of race. Housemates who act in a way that is seriously unacceptable will be evicted.

Emily was called to the Diary Room at approximately 03.30am to be informed of the decision and was removed from the House immediately without further contact with other contestants. The remaining housemates were informed of Big Brother's decision at approximately 9.30am. Emily was one of two housemates nominated for eviction this week and as a result the latest eviction vote has been suspended. Angela Jain, who heads the Big Brother commissioning team at Channel 4, said: "I think people watching the show tonight will agree that Emily spoke carelessly rather than maliciously - certainly Charley and Nicky, the two housemates most directly involved in the conversation with her,seem to accept that she did. She understands why her involvement in Big Brother has had to come an end and she very much regrets what she said."

"In the wake of Celebrity Big Brother we must consider the potential offence to viewers regardless of Emily's intentions and her housemates' response. The word ni**er is clearly racially offensive and there was no justification for its use. We have removed Emily from the house to once again make it clear to all housemates and the viewers at home that such behaviour won't be tolerated."

I know the debate has been raging on for a while now about Hip Hop glorifying the use of the N word amongst others but this is the first high profile incident in the UK and I'm sure that somewhere along the line, someone will try and use Hip Hop as a scapegoat. In this case, I want to hear your thoughts - is HipHop to blame here? Has Emily thought that she can use that word because she hears it being thrown about in music?

Content above has been quoted from the BBC 1xtra website on a higly topical debate.
What are your views on this?

Remi O
Ethnicshowcase.com - UK Talent Agency