What is the relationship between who you are and who you can be on stage? In the middle of the play, the two playwrights stage an argument about whether or not Kevin, a white actor, can play a non-white character - Thomas Shadrach James (1859-1946), a Mauritius-born educator and activist of Tamil descent.
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The issue is contentious because of the long history of cruel misrepresentations of people of colour by white performers. Today, so-called ‘blackface’ is not acceptable, and people of colour expect to tell their own stories on stage. That was an important motivation for Bright World in the first place – so what happens when you have a mismatch between the identities of the actors, and the characters they are supposed to portray?
As you watch the scene and the interviews, think about the following questions:
What are the different positions that Andrea and Elise take in the argument? Do you agree with how they resolve it?
Why was it important to include this scene?