Colorblind casting in single-sex Shakespeare

Abstract

After the so-called Sokal hoax, literary critics should beware of mathematical metaphors. But in this case, the principle I evoke colors my approach and response to colorblind and color-conscious casting: Is it true that the more precisely observers are aware of a character’s sex, the less precisely they are aware of the character’s race, and vice versa? In a production in which actors may share neither the race nor the sex of the characters they play, what happens? Do audiences notice neither cross-dressing nor what Ian Smith calls (translating the term from Eric Lott’s American context) “racial cross-dressing” (see Smith)? Both? Each at different times? Does it make a difference whether the black actor plays a lead or a supporting part? How, if at all, do the race and sex of the observer alter a particular performance and its reception?.