Clarion University has to cancel play because... (1 Viewer)

[Tom Servo]

its actors were not Asian.

Student actors and the stage crew at Clarion University arrived Tuesday evening for one of the final rehearsals before next week’s campus opening of “Jesus in India” only to learn the off-Broadway production they had spent months on had been canceled.

The reason they were given was race: theirs.

Three of the five characters in the production are Indian, but on the mostly white state university campus, two of those characters were to be played by white student actors and a third was being portrayed by a mixed-race student.

Lloyd Suh, the playwright, told the university through his literary agent Monday that he was uncomfortable with any notion that he supported Caucasians portraying Indian characters in his play, said Bob Levy, chairman of the visual and performing arts department at Clarion.

“He felt they should be of Asian descent,” Mr. Levy said Wednesday.

The Korean-American playwright wanted the parts recast, Mr. Levy said, and ultimately pulled the university’s right to stage the production after being told that finding Asian replacements was not practical given the play was to open next Wednesday on a campus in rural northwestern Pennsylvania where Asian or Pacific Islander students account for 0.7 of 1 percent of the university’s 5,368 students.

 

[bigbottom]

What a ####.

 

[jon_mx]

Well can we at least fire the president over this?

 

[jhib]

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.

Racist.

 

[avoiding injuries]

We must be at the bottom now. I suppose this is one way to burst the tuition bubble. Make it so nobody wants to go.

 

[ClownCausedChaos2]

Meh. It's only Clarion. I partied there once. It was a ####hole.

 

[Tom Servo]

Meh. It's only Clarion. I partied there once. It was a ####hole.

I LIVE HERE!!!

 

[ClownCausedChaos2]

Meh. It's only Clarion. I partied there once. It was a ####hole.

I LIVE HERE!!!

I'm sure it was just the neighborhood I was in.

 

[Guest]

Ndamukong should have a talk with his brother.

 

[mr roboto]

So there's like 45-53 students on the whole campus who are the 'correct race?'

 

[The General]

Meh. It's only Clarion. I partied there once. It was a ####hole.

Probably all the honkeys. Hate those guys.

 

[timschochet]

I was in The King and I as a kid. They put tape on our eyelids to make us look oriental.

 

[ClownCausedChaos2]

Meh. It's only Clarion. I partied there once. It was a ####hole.

Probably all the honkeys. Hate those guys.

They kept smearing each others...nevermind, I don't want to get into it.

 

[Sinn Fein]

So there's like 45-53 students on the whole campus who are the 'correct race?'

Exactly. Surely a few of them could have gotten up to speed with the parts in a week.

Not sure what the issue is here.

#AsianLivesMatter

 

[Uwe Blab]

So there's like 45-53 students on the whole campus who are the 'correct race?'

Exactly. Surely a few of them could have gotten up to speed with the parts in a week.Not sure what the issue is here.

#AsianLivesMatter

But those students are too busy playing joke....always pee-peeing in me Coke.

 

[El Floppo]

Miss Saigon opened on Broadway a long time ago with a white dude playing the asian lead character. Created controversy back then too.

 

[mr roboto]

Miss Saigon opened on Broadway a long time ago with a white dude playing the asian lead character. Created controversy back then too.

You think maybe just maybe Broadway has access to a larger pool of acting talent than Clarion?

 

[Tom Servo]

So there's like 45-53 students on the whole campus who are the 'correct race?'

If it's that many. My office is literally down the road from campus and I drive through there almost daily. I can't honestly tell you if I've ever seen an Asian student.

 

[dickey moe]

Have we reached peak PC yet?

 

[El Floppo]

Miss Saigon opened on Broadway a long time ago with a white dude playing the asian lead character. Created controversy back then too.

You think maybe just maybe Broadway has access to a larger pool of acting talent than Clarion?

of course. I get this differences here.

just saying... people are acting like this kind of thing is new.

 

[jonessed]

Damn racists.

 

[jhib]

So a Korean American man can make believe words and actions of young Middle Eastern and Indian men and women, all speaking English of course with more than a little 20th/21st century mixed into the 1st century setting, but if a Caucasian pretends to be one of these characters, then it's offensive?

Drama people are just so weird.

 

[IC FBGCav]

Meh. It's only Clarion. I partied there once. It was a ####hole.

I partied there once too, ended up at a party where they really, really, really liked the Black Crows. Think it was a frat. A lot of people from my high school went to school there so I had a good time running into people I haven't seen a while.

 

[Arizona Ron]

good lord.

 

[parrot]

Something something Clarion Casting Call.

 

[HellToupee]

I was in The King and I as a kid. They put tape on our eyelids to make us look oriental.

Sure they did

 

[Parrothead]

imagine Roots with an all white cast..

 

[Officer Pete Malloy]

I was in The King and I as a kid. They put tape on our eyelids to make us look oriental.

I played Porgy in "Porgy and Bess". I shoved a couple of socks down the front of my pants.

 

[Joe Summer]

I hear Yul Brynner's corpse is available.

 

[glock]

Anyone see the "Founding Fathers" in the cast of the Broadway show, "Hamilton?"

 

[ClownCausedChaos2]

Meh. It's only Clarion. I partied there once. It was a ####hole.

I partied there once too, ended up at a party where they really, really, really liked the Black Crows. Think it was a frat. A lot of people from my high school went to school there so I had a good time running into people I haven't seen a while.

It was a ####hole, wasn't it?

 

[Joe Summer]

imagine Roots with an all white cast..

So, basically Phish?

 

[Brony]

I played a donkey in our 2nd grade play. I know I couldn't get away with that today.

 

[GroveDiesel]

I was in The King and I as a kid. They put tape on our eyelids to make us look oriental.

You know it's considered racist to use the term oriental when referring to people, right?

 

[Jayrod]

Maybe they could get Lou Diamond Phillips.

 

[Tom Servo]

Meh. It's only Clarion. I partied there once. It was a ####hole.

I partied there once too, ended up at a party where they really, really, really liked the Black Crows. Think it was a frat. A lot of people from my high school went to school there so I had a good time running into people I haven't seen a while.

It was a ####hole, wasn't it?

The frat house on 5th Avenue is a dump.

 

[IC FBGCav]

Meh. It's only Clarion. I partied there once. It was a ####hole.

I partied there once too, ended up at a party where they really, really, really liked the Black Crows. Think it was a frat. A lot of people from my high school went to school there so I had a good time running into people I haven't seen a while.

It was a ####hole, wasn't it?

The frat house on 5th Avenue is a dump.

It was in small basement, I think the guys were wrestlers. This was like in 1991 or 1992 but sure it was a ####hole.

 

[ClownCausedChaos2]

I was there around 2004? I was 25, my girlfriend was 19. One of her best friends from high school was at Clarion. My girlfriend wanted to take a road trip to visit her friend.

Her friend's house was a dump, every place she took us to party was disgusting and sweltering hot, dark, and drenched in blacklight.

I just decided to get ####-faced and follow them around in a generally mserable mood. This is probably why I don't remember many of the details of exactly where I was.

I do remember the drive-thru beer distributor, though. I bought 2 cases if Keystone Light. I had about 12 of the 60. I woke up the next morning and found that it was all gone. My girlfriend's friend's roommates (who were all the worst type of wannabe sorority girls you'd ever met) had drank it all. The leader of Sum Cum Pudgy was hungover and bawling her eyes out over some guy. I told her I wanted money for my beer. She said she would have to drive to an ATM. I told her I wanted to leave, so I'd take whatever money she had. She went upstairs and came back with the last five dollars she had. I took it.

My girlfriend #####ed at me the entire 4-hour drive home.

On second thought, maybe I don't hate Clarion. Maybe I hated my single experience there and the person I went with at the time.

 

[DocHolliday]

I was there around 2004? I was 25, my girlfriend was 19. One of her best friends from high school was at Clarion. My girlfriend wanted to take a road trip to visit her friend. Her friend's house was a dump, every place she took us to party was disgusting and sweltering hot, dark, and drenched in blacklight.

I just decided to get ####-faced and follow them around in a generally mserable mood. This is probably why I don't remember many of the details of exactly where I was.

I do remember the drive-thru beer distributor, though. I bought 2 cases if Keystone Light. I had about 12 of the 60. I woke up the next morning and found that it was all gone. My girlfriend's friend's roommates (who were all the worst type of wannabe sorority girls you'd ever met) had drank it all. The leader of Sum Cum Pudgy was hungover and bawling her eyes out over some guy. I told her I wanted money for my beer. She said she would have to drive to an ATM. I told her I wanted to leave, so I'd take whatever money she had. She went upstairs and came back with the last five dollars she had. I took it.

My girlfriend #####ed at me the entire 4-hour drive home.

On second thought, maybe I don't hate Clarion. Maybe I hated my single experience there and the person I went with at the time.[/quot

I grew up in western PA and partied at Clarion and most of the state schools in Pa. Clarion was pretty crummy but not the worst. That would be Edinboro.

 

[Rove!]

Have we reached peak PC yet?

Not even close

 

[GoFishTN]

Have we reached peak PC yet?

We're not arresting people for twitter posts... yet.

 

[IC FBGCav]

I was there around 2004? I was 25, my girlfriend was 19. One of her best friends from high school was at Clarion. My girlfriend wanted to take a road trip to visit her friend. Her friend's house was a dump, every place she took us to party was disgusting and sweltering hot, dark, and drenched in blacklight.

I just decided to get ####-faced and follow them around in a generally mserable mood. This is probably why I don't remember many of the details of exactly where I was.

I do remember the drive-thru beer distributor, though. I bought 2 cases if Keystone Light. I had about 12 of the 60. I woke up the next morning and found that it was all gone. My girlfriend's friend's roommates (who were all the worst type of wannabe sorority girls you'd ever met) had drank it all. The leader of Sum Cum Pudgy was hungover and bawling her eyes out over some guy. I told her I wanted money for my beer. She said she would have to drive to an ATM. I told her I wanted to leave, so I'd take whatever money she had. She went upstairs and came back with the last five dollars she had. I took it.

My girlfriend #####ed at me the entire 4-hour drive home.

On second thought, maybe I don't hate Clarion. Maybe I hated my single experience there and the person I went with at the time.[/quot

I grew up in western PA and partied at Clarion and most of the state schools in Pa. Clarion was pretty crummy but not the worst. That would be Edinboro.

I went to Gannon and never been to a party there. I ended up at girls apartment a few times but don't even recall seeing the campus there.

 

[5-ish Finkle]

Clarion is absolutely a ####hole, but then most of the second rate college towns in PA(or anywhere, really) are. Or at least they were, since I haven't been to any of them in years.

Slippery Rock/Grove City, Indiana, Shippensburg, Greenville, Waynesburg, and on and on. All little, gray 'burghs near slightly larger, gray 'burghs with nothing much happening outside the campuses.

 

[Tom Servo]

Clarion is absolutely a ####hole, but then most of the second rate college towns in PA(or anywhere, really) are. Or at least they were, since I haven't been to any of them in years.

Slippery Rock/Grove City, Indiana, Shippensburg, Greenville, Waynesburg, and on and on. All little, gray 'burghs near slightly larger, gray 'burghs with nothing much happening outside the campuses.

Excuse me?

 

[5-ish Finkle]

Excuse you.

I already stated I hadn't been there in years. If it's different now, then "Mazel tov, Grove City! You made it!!" On my last visit, other than the college it's biggest "claim to fame" was probably being the home of GJR. Yay?

 

[Sand]

I was in The King and I as a kid. They put tape on our eyelids to make us look oriental.

I've always wondered what the childhood trauma was that has shaped you into what you are now. Thanks for sharing. The first step in healing is discussing these things.

 

[IC FBGCav]

Clarion is absolutely a ####hole, but then most of the second rate college towns in PA(or anywhere, really) are. Or at least they were, since I haven't been to any of them in years.

Slippery Rock/Grove City, Indiana, Shippensburg, Greenville, Waynesburg, and on and on. All little, gray 'burghs near slightly larger, gray 'burghs with nothing much happening outside the campuses.

Slippery Rock was like my high schools 13th grade. A ton of people went there. Grove City is all about the outlet mall.