A playwright forbade Clarion University of Pennsylvania to produce his play Jesus in India because the roles of Indian characters would have been played by white and mixed-race students, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. When Lloyd Suh, the author, asked that three student actors be replaced by students of Asian descent, the university, whose enrollment is mostly white, said it did not have the option to recast. The student cast and crew were then informed on Wednesday, a week before the show’s opening, that they could not perform.
Mr. Suh, a Korean-American, contacted the university through his agent on Monday about his concern with the casting. An excerpt from his email to Marilouise (Mel) Michel, a theater professor who is the play’s director, was later shared with the newspaper:
“Your citing of ‘color-blind casting’ as an excuse for selecting white actors to portray non-white characters is a gross misunderstanding of the practice, and denies the savage inequities that exist in the field at large for non-white performers, both in professional and educational settings.
“I have received your further message detailing the poor statistics at Clarion in matters of racial diversity,” Mr. Suh continued. “I contend that by producing this play in this way, you are contributing to an environment of hostility towards people of color, and therefore perpetuating the lack of diversity at Clarion now and in the future.”
Mr. Suh first asked about the casting last spring, but production officials said they were unaware of his preferences. They felt that they could not recast on short notice, and they offered to explain before each production why no Indian actors had been cast and to provide space in the program for a statement by Mr. Suh. He declined the opportunity.
