The inmates are running the asylum

Page 5

I have always been suspicious of political correctness-the imposition of a set of beliefs, supposedly correct (though the water tends to get a bit muddy there) for the betterment of society. Some have even described its more radical form as the new fascism.

I guess you could say it falls under the category of "seemed like a good idea at the time." You put that together with the naive enthusiasm of youth and strange things can happen in the name of that political correctness.

In a popular western university, such a thing has happened. This university shall remain nameless to protect the confused. In this far-off university existed a theatre department. And in that theatre department existed a theatre professor. He was teaching a Fine Arts class in acting, and one of his responsibilities was to assist in deciding the following year's theatre season, to give the students some practical acting experience.

As is often the situation in most acting classes, three-quarters of the student body were female, necessitating the programming of a play largely consisting of female characters.

So, as this professor had often lamented, this meant repeated productions of plays like Les Belles Soeurs over the years. It seems few plays cater specifically to such unique female casting situations. With this being said, the professor was understandably reluctant to program yet another production of Lysistrata. So he came up with a brilliant idea.

One of his personal favorites was a little play called The Rez Sisters by Tomson Highway.

Granted, all the characters are Native, but seven of the eight roles were female. Curious as to the reception of the idea, he pitched it to his theatre committee. Concerned about the political implications of such a production, but intrigued by the idea, they suggested the professor investigate the possibility. That he did.

He called what could be called the leading Native representative in the university to bounce the idea off of him. While this man of Aboriginal descent had some personal concerns about the play-he felt it glorified bingo, which he considered to be just another form of on-reserve gambling-he told the professor to go ahead. He gave the professor his blessing.

Next on the list was the man himself, Tomson Highway, author of the play. Via e-mail, Tomson gave more then his blessing, he congratulated the professor for daring to go against common practice.

Several months before, Highway had written an article for a journal railing against artistic directors reluctant to produce The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move To Kapuskasing because they were afraid they might not be able to find enough Native actors to fill all the roles. Highway believes non-traditional casting should work both ways and White people should have the option of playing Native people. The professor was encouraged.

The only concern Highway expressed was when he was informed that the professor had consulted a Native person at the university, that had no substantial background in theatre, about the political viability of such a production. Angrily, Highway responded with something to the effect of if you were going to produce Fiddler On The Roof, would you consult your local Jew? A good and logical point the professor found hard to defend.

So, armed with a thumb's up from the author, he approached his students and told them the wonderful news. He expected some positive response from his calculated and daring programming decision.

Many of the students were dismayed. Reluctant. Some were downright uncomfortable with the idea. And in the end, several persuasive individuals refused to audition for the play.

After several weeks of discussion, the production was shut down a year before it was scheduled to go up because the students did not feel comfortable performing in an all-Caucasian production of The Rez Sisters. Instead, they asked the professor if they could do Les Belles Soeurs instead.

Now this is the iron of the situation: Most Native actors I know, and after 15 years in Native theatre and film I know a lot, live for the opportunity to play non-Natives. I've lost track of the amount of times a Native friend has excitedly told me "I've got a part in a play/movie, and guess what? I'm not playing an Indian!"

They want to be hired for their talent, not their ethnicity. I guess that's a one-way street.

Perhaps the most tragic of all, these poor students should have realized that in these politically correct times, this was probably the only time in their amateur and professional careers that they would get the opportunity to portray a First Nations person on stage. A university production for educational and training reasons was conceivably their only shot at playing the 'skin' game. And they turned it down. They were uncomfortable with culturally-appropriating those Aboriginal characters.

This puzzled the professor.

"You don't want to appropriate Native women, yet you are comfortable appropriating working class French Canadian women?" the Professor asked, searching for understanding. "Yes, but there are no French Canadians in [this western city], and there are lots of Native people here," was the answer.

In the end, neither The Rez Sisters nor Les Belles Soeurs was produced. The final result was the programming of The Secret Rapture by David Hare, which has four female roles, and two male.

I have not read this particular play but I have been assured by a reliable source that there are no Native characters in the play. So there should be no problem.