Racially diverse cast to play Anglo-Saxons in BBC drama

[Mister M]

I remember reading not so long ago a terrible case of  a black actress being badly bullied and trolled for playing the role of Juliet in Shakespeare's play.

West End theatre company blasts racial abuse directed at Black actor starring alongside Tom Holland in Romeo & Juliet | The Independent

 

Really disgusting, and you can just sense that many of the idiots who trolled this actress, would've had no interest in going to see Romeo and Juliet, but who were quick to stick their noses in.

Some while ago there was thread on here about an able bodied actor who got a job playing a disabled part. I thought that was possibly unfair because there will be lots of disabled actors who would've liked to have played that part....Then I did a bit of reading about the casting of different people for roles not having that 'protected characteristic'. There were all kinds of reasons, some of which have to do with the play, and challenging stereotypes etc, very interesting.

But it is a shame when something to do with the arts is only discussed when it presses the 'political correctness' button

[Norbert]

8 minutes ago, Mister M said:

But it is a shame when something to do with the arts is only discussed when it presses the 'political correctness' button

 

Indeed, there was another thread on here about a play in London concerning race, that was having a black only showing, it triggered lots of uptighty-rightys who had no intention of seeing the play anyway, enough material for a conference...

[The_DADDY]

42 minutes ago, Norbert said:

 

Indeed, there was another thread on here about a play in London concerning race, that was having a black only showing, it triggered lots of uptighty-rightys who had no intention of seeing the play anyway, enough material for a conference...

My bold 

That's a weird way to look at it. 

[peak4]

I don't follow all the actors mentioned in the article, but it looks like there is a British black guy playing a fictional character, and a  British mixed race bloke playing an actual historical role.
The article seems to be making a thing about the latter being of Trinidadian descent, which is partly true; "I was born in the East End of London and am of mixed heritage. My Mum is white British and my Dad is from Trinidad in the Caribbean and is mixed Black, Brazilian and Chinese so I’m kind of from all over. "

Oddly, those folk in a search for authenticity, or similar, don't seem to making much of a Danish actor playing William The Conqueror.
The Danes surely would be closer to Harold's prior battle(s) than the one at Hastings.
Juliet Stevenson seems to be playing the part of a Norman.
I wonder if article this could be due to perceived skin colour, rather than any notion of authenticity or racial diversity?

The Prof quoted, David Abulafia, does seem to have written a number of articles for The Spectator, Telegraph etc, and I think appears on GB News; maybe he has a specific agenda regarding culture wars.
Do a search on him yourselves, but here's a start

White private schoolboys ‘are disadvantaged group due to culture war’ Cambridge academic claims  Indy.

BBC Bias: David Abulafia on GB News   Youtube History Reclaimed  seems a bit anti BBC, National Trust and others.
We can never surrender to the woke witch hunt against our island story The Mail

 

[melthebell]

Did they not have black people in England back then?

[despritdan]

They'll be colouring in some of the faces on the Bayeux Tapestry next to make it look like half the people depicted there were black.

[melthebell]

6 minutes ago, despritdan said:

They'll be colouring in some of the faces on the Bayeux Tapestry next to make it look like half the people depicted there were black.

Wouldn't there have been any?

[redruby]

1 hour ago, melthebell said:

Wouldn't there have been any?

See my previous post about this.  There is some archeological evidence to show there were some black people in England in historical times.  
But it’s I think it’s pushing it to say they were commonplace. 
Even now ‘82% of people in England and Wales are white, and 18% belong to a black, Asian, mixed or other ethnic group (2021 Census data).’ https://www.ethnicity-facts-figures.service.gov.uk/#:~:text=Government data about the UK's,a variety of ethnic backgrounds.  
I think it’s fine to represent but not over represent.

[Guest]

It's not real it's acting and the people playing the parts are acting, wether as an historic figure or a fictional figure, they are portraying the characters has they or the director interpret it.

I try not to watch the BBC anyway, the Turkish detective is excellent, no idea where the actors are from

Edited July 9 by Guest
Spelt BBC incorrectly

[redruby]

21 minutes ago, Uggy said:

It's not real it's acting and the people playing the parts are acting, wether as an historic figure or a fictional figure, they are portraying the characters has they or the director interpret it.

I try not to watch the BBC anyway, the Turkish detective is excellent, no idea where the actors are from

I get your point but by that measure we would have, say middle aged or older playing children and teenagers wouldn’t we?  I’m sure it has been done but it isn’t the norm and people would find it odd generally and the drama less credible.