Shakespeare and Race Resource

Shakespeare and Race Resource

During Shakespearean times, the roles William Shakespeare wrote were played by white men and performed for a typically white audience. Nowadays, Shakespearean plays are being modernized as companies put on productions that utilize color-conscious casting. Color-conscious casting specifically takes into consideration an actor’s skin color and ethnicity. And you can go further to include consideration of an actor’s gender, shape, mobility, etc.

Through this resource students will be able to:
• Explore what it means to have BIPOC actors perform Shakespeare.
• Analyze and perform Shakespearean texts as they look at the stories through a color-conscious lens.
• Critically think about how we can adapt Shakespeare to reflect today’s society.

With this resource, students will be able to take ownership of the text and use Shakespeare to tell the stories they want to tell.