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Just finished the first proper run-through of #Harriet by @HildaMParedes at #MuziektheaterTransparant, and boy, this piece is going to hit the audience hard.
The realisation that #HarrietTubman died only just over a century ago, and her words are now being sung by an African American woman — the magnificent Claron McFadden — from a town (Rochester) that Harriet passed through on her missions, gives me goosebumps.
I don’t want to give away too much of @JeanLacornerie’s staging, but there are many moments that give me chills. One moment is where Harriet is ‘crowned’ in an intimate ritual that celebrates the hair that saved her from death when an overseer hit her head with a metal weight.
Here is why Cynthia Erivo, in particular, should not play Harriet Tubman.
TL; DR: There’s a troubling pattern of Cynthia repeatedly, deliberately, selectively *choosing* to not give respect to African-American heritage – the heritage of Harriet Tubman.
#HarrietDeservesBetter
TL; DR: There’s a troubling pattern of Cynthia repeatedly, deliberately, selectively *choosing* to not give respect to African-American heritage – the heritage of Harriet Tubman.
#HarrietDeservesBetter
Note: There’s an argument to be made against Africans/non-DOS Brits playing important African-American figures – & vice versa. Performance & perspective, where & how we take up space, larger economic & cultural issues at play.
Others have unpacked that; this thread won’t.
Others have unpacked that; this thread won’t.
This thread is about why Cynthia Erivo should not play Harriet Tubman, “the Moses of her people” & a sacred African-American ancestor. It goes beyond Cynthia’s birthplace, accent, heritage & even her association with an ethnic bigot.
It rests on a pattern of behavior & choices.
It rests on a pattern of behavior & choices.
The framing of @paularogo's @Essence piece on Cynthia Erivo is…interesting.
This response will be a long thread bc it's impt that:
◾️we step back to analyze the larger narrative that's being created ◾️Essence is aware that we're aware of deliberate editorial decisions.
This response will be a long thread bc it's impt that:
◾️we step back to analyze the larger narrative that's being created ◾️Essence is aware that we're aware of deliberate editorial decisions.
And to expand on point about potential context: She might've even looked into the data or done a quick tally herself of prestige dramas (particularly historic fiction) to see what the breakdown is of non-African American Blacks portraying African-Americans over the last 10 yrs
…And the market parallels of Euro & Aussie actors taking advantage of US opportunity.
She might've even looked into the existing research to contextualize Cynthia's allusion to lack of opportunity for Black Brit women…
She might've even looked into the existing research to contextualize Cynthia's allusion to lack of opportunity for Black Brit women…
