{"id":4979,"date":"2025-02-09T15:31:37","date_gmt":"2025-02-09T15:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=4979"},"modified":"2025-08-14T08:56:32","modified_gmt":"2025-08-14T08:56:32","slug":"opinion-rscs-inclusive-casting-mission-determined-to-prove-a-villain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewitnessexeter.co.uk\/?p=4979","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: The Globe’s Inclusive Casting Mission \u2013 are they \u2018determined to prove a villain\u2019?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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For years, the Globe has pushed for a theatre that champions equity, diversity, justice, and inclusion. With groundbreaking decisions to diversify gender and race when casting their productions, the theatre has been at the forefront of change. Yet, in Elle While’s summer 2024 production of Richard III<\/em>, their diverse casting sparked controversy, with accusations of marginalising the disabled community. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michelle Terry’s casting as Richard III sparked a fierce debate in the world of theatre. As an able-bodied actor, Terry’s portrayal of one of history’s most iconic disabled figures has divided audiences and critics alike. In an era increasingly attuned to the importance of accurate representation, Terry’s casting has prompted a closer examination of whether the role should be reserved for disabled actors or if it\u2019s another opportunity for theatre to challenge preconceived notions about disability.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richard III has long been considered an iconic disabled figure in English history. For many years, the extent of his disability was widely debated, but the discovery of his skeleton in 2012 proved that he had scoliosis<\/a>. Whilst confirming his disability, reconstructions of his spine from CT scans prove that his physical disfigurement would have been slight<\/a>, potentially resulting in a shorter-than-usual torso and a right shoulder that was a little higher than the left \u2013 the latter easily concealed by his armour. Descriptions of Richard having a hunched-back or withered arms are entirely false<\/a>, leaving one to wonder whether such accusations have been subject to exaggeration to exacerbate Richard\u2019s reputation as a loathsome villain.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Disabled Artists Alliance published an open letter, signed by more than 100 people, calling for an \u201cimmediate recast<\/a>\u201d of Richard, claiming that this iconic role \u201cbelongs to us.<\/a>\u201d The letter argues that, through Richard, Shakespeare \u201cdocuments the socialised effect of an attitudinally disabling society,<\/a>\u201d arguing that it is this experience of maltreatment that embitters Richard and causes him to become so tyrannical. Further to this, the Alliance states that \u201chis disabled identity is imbued and integral to all corners of the script<\/a>,\u201d referencing Richard\u2019s claims that he is \u201cDeformed, unfinished, sent before my time into this breathing world, scarce half made up.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a statement published by The Globe, Terry apologised for \u201cany pain or harm that has been caused by the decision for [her] to play Richard III.<\/a>\u201d She acknowledged that Richard III is a renowned disabled figure and how her casting was perceived to be \u201ca missed opportunity for a disabled artist to play a disabled character on a major UK stage, but it will come around again.<\/a>\u201d There is considerable potential in casting an actor with a disability to play Richard, as their lived experience can shape the audience’s understanding of how the prejudice they face on account of their disability contributes to the creation of a villain. Indeed, acting is an opportunity to portray many lived experiences, but does that mean it should be limited to such?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disability is not the only over-arching theme of this historical play; it is richly entrenched with tyranny, political despotism, and misogyny \u2013 all things captured by While\u2019s Richard III. <\/em>In Terry\u2019s statement, she claims that by removing Richard\u2019s disability, she was allowed to experiment with these themes, and \u201cright now, [the Globe] feels that this is something important to explore.<\/a>\u201d Her portrayal of Richard nods heavily towards Donald Trump<\/a>, who was, at the time of production, campaigning for the US presidential election. With her Trump-esque gesticulations, unkempt mop of blonde hair, and wanton misogyny, Terry created a recognisably distasteful man at the centre of all this political despotism.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, in years before Terry\u2019s casting, many able-bodied men have performed the role of Richard, with little-to-no backlash on account of their ableism<\/a>. Ralph Fiennes, Kenneth Branagh, and Benedict Cumberbatch have all been acclaimed for their performances of Richard III.<\/em> In an interview, Terry claimed that \u201cthe misogyny has far outweighed the disability discourse<\/a>\u201d, noting the irony of the director\u2019s attempt to highlight misogyny with this production.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where other literary adaptations, such as the cinematic recreations of Ian Fleming\u2019s James Bond, <\/em>have stripped their narrative of racism and misogyny to become more palatable to modern audiences, disability has remained an essential aspect of their villains<\/a>. The BBC\u2019s dramatisation of Shakespeare\u2019s historical plays, The Hollow Crown,<\/em> went so far as to distastefully disfigure Cumberbatch\u2019s body in an over-the-top attempt to render the character of Richard III repulsive. Might it not be considered refreshing that Elle While\u2019s Richard III <\/em>has managed to remove the physical disfigurement of an abhorred man and still made him successfully distasteful? Terry, in her statement, asks, \u201cDoes the conflation of evil with disability in the play offer us an opportunity to expose bias, or does it compound it?<\/a>\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The illiteracy surrounding ableism and disability justice remains prevalent some 400 years later. Left unchecked, negative biases continue to shape daily interactions, fostering inequality and injustice in our society. The conflation of evil with disability in modern media is not a useful one \u2013 While\u2019s decision to cast an able-bodied actor as Richard can be viewed as an act of alliance towards the disabled community, misconstrued though it may have been. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Zhanserik Temirtashev <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Image: Shakespeare\u2019s Globe Theatre, London<\/a>, Neil Howard, 2016 \/\/ CC BY-NC 2.0<\/a> <\/p>\n

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