The playwright who barred a planned production of one of his works at a western Pennsylvania university due the race of some of the student actors said his decision reflected his belief that "people of color are not simply replaceable."
Three of the five characters in Lloyd Suh's play "Jesus in India" are Indian, but on Clarion University's mostly white campus, two of those characters were to be played by white students and a third was to be portrayed by a mixed-race student.
Suh, of New York City, said in a statement late on Friday that he "could not allow the play to be performed by white actors in non-white roles before a public audience," the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
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"The practice of using white actors to portray non-white characters has deep roots in ugly racist traditions," he wrote. "It sends a message, intended or not, that is exclusionary at best, dehumanizing at worst."
A mostly white cast playing Indians would be especially ill-timed at "a moment on multiple college campuses where racial tensions are undeniable and extremely dangerous," he said.
According to Suh's theater company's website, "Jesus in India" is a "contemporary parable" about Jesus' "wayward" journey to the East with a friend. There, they encounter "a spiritual haven full of Maharajas, punk rock and some really good weed."
Clarion University president Karen Whitney said only a few dozen of the school's 5,368 students are Asian and none auditioned for the play. She said officials had no desire "to engage with" the playwright "as he has made his position on race to our theater students crystal clear.
