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| My favorite Shakespeare versions |
It was reported today that a "top Shakespearean actress says black people are not interested in theatre (Shakespeare most specifically) as it is part of white culture". It is not in their (our) DNA she said. Well, Shakespeare may not be in my DNA, as in I may not be a descendant, but I have always been interested in and intrigued by Shakespeare, especially since it can be interpreted in many ways and transposed into many cultures. Yet, Janet Suzman, says black people are just not interested. She's seriously misinformed. Now I don't think this woman is racist at all. She's just reporting what she sees, where she has worked, that there haven't been many blacks in the audience. I propose a different issue. Perhaps the ticket prices are out of line... cost prohibitive for many, especially the black working class. Perhaps, and most likely, she is only seeing the upper-upper class in theatre audiences, and only a very few of those people are black... But, she is letting her eyes override her good sense.
She needs to get out more.
These people and others would disagree with her:
http://www.african-americanshakes.org/education/
http://shakespeareinamericanlife.org/identity/africanamerican/perspectives.cfm
http://www.shakespeareinamericanlife.org/transcripts/hall2.cfm
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PK7WRR2_70s
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