Multicultural Shakespeare in Britain 1930-2010

Shakespeare is a mirror for British cultural identity, its anxieties and ambitions. Who performs Shakespeare, when and how, helps define who we are as a community and how, collectively, we see ourselves changing. The playing of Shakespeare by performers of African and Asian descent offers insights into the evolution of British society since World War II. Yet this remarkable narrative has scarcely been sketched. This project will deliver a critical history of multicultural Shakespearean performance in 20th-century Britain, documenting and surveying the work and opinions of artists from diverse ethnic backgrounds exploring Shakespeare today. It will reclaim the history of multi-ethnic Shakespeare in the UK, for the widest public, and map possibilities for broadening cultural access in the 21st century. The historical outline is clear. First, very infrequently, remarkable Black performers - Americans or West Indians visiting Britain, already successful in other areas of the arts - were invited to play Shakespeare's African characters. In 1930 Paul Robeson played Othello in London; in 1955 his fellow American Gordon Heath was the first Black Othello on television. The Trinidadian Edric Connor was the first Black actor at Stratford's Memorial Theatre, playing Gower in Pericles in 1957. These events were interconnected: Tony Richardson directed both the BBC Othello and Pericles, and he reconceived Gower as a singing role for Paul Robeson; unable to appear for political reasons, Robeson suggested Connor as his replacement. As immigration increased and the global anti-colonial movements spread, these appearances in Shakespeare became iconic. Robeson finally played Othello at Stratford (1959) in the wake of the Notting Hill riots; during the run he sponsored the first Notting Hill Carnival and the first Black British newspaper. In the 1960s multi-talented artists like Cy Grant, Cleo Laine and Errol John played Shakespeare, yet integrated opportunities were still slow to develop. Only in the 1980s, at a time of marked racial tension and urban unrest, did UK classical theatres develop inclusive casting policies.
The project aims to map this marginalised history and to put on record, through a series of interviews, the experiences and practical insights of Robeson's successors. From the mid-1980s Shakespeare had a key role in the work of Talawa Theatre, Temba and, within the British Asian community, Tara Arts, addressing questions of postcolonialism, social integration, and more recently fundamentalism. This study will analyse the results and consider the roles of key theatres. New demographics inspired innovative reassessments of Shakespeare in the regions. In London, Stratford East updated Lear as King of England (1988) and Comedy of Errors as a hip-hop musical (2003). The Young Vic pioneered non-traditional casting after a multi-racial Romeo and Juliet (1982) and hosted Peter Brook's Hamlet with Adrian Lester in 2001. The significance of the National Theatre's casting policies will be examined, from Olivier's 1964 Othello to Lester's 2003 Henry V. Attention will be given to Tim Supple's TV and stage productions (Twelfth Night, Channel 4, 2003; As You Like It, Leicester 2006) proposing a multiethnic, multilingual Shakespeare.
Some productions were accused of exoticism and sensationalism, e.g. the 1971 Black Macbeth). Hugh Quarshie argued that 'If a Black actor plays Othello does he not risk making stereotypes seem legitimate and true? Of all the parts in the canon perhaps Othello is the one which should most definitely not be played by a by a Black actor.' But for David Harewood, playing Othello was 'a grounding in black consciousness'. Engaging with these debates, we invite actors to reflect on their experiences. From Robeson's Othello to the RSC's 2010 Hamlet with Dharmesh Patel, directed by Tarell Alvin McCraney and beyond, Multicultural Shakespeare will evaluate the past and outline future possibilities.

Given the nature of its subject, the dissemination of this research beyond conventional academic circles is fundamental. The disturbances of Summer 2011 have drawn attention to the importance of establishing a sense of cultural identity within urban communities, and of ensuring that the continuing history of New British contributions to mainstream culture is not marginalized.
By providing study materials for use in workshops and projects, Multicultural Shakespeare will complement and support the work of theatres' education departments such as the RSC's and other theatre companies including Globe Education (with whom Howard has close links), helping young people across all communities to use the plays to make discoveries about themselves and the world they live in, improve their self confidence and attain more. By telling the stories of the theatrical pioneers and their contribution to this change, the project will draw public attention to the need for casting policies which create theatre ensembles representing the UK's racial diversity and will contribute to the ongoing national debate about diversity in the arts begun by Naseem Khan's seminal report for the Arts Council in 1976, 'The Arts Britain Ignores', and continued in Baroness Young's 'Whose Theatre?' (Arts Council 2006).
The involvement of a range of consultants from the BME community - especially in London and the Midlands - with direct and personal expertise in UK Caribbean history, and with experience of non-traditional casting and inclusion policies in theatre and broadcasting, will both privilege the experience of the communities they represent and ensure that the project's impact is appropriately targeted for maximum impact. They will serve as ambassadors within multi-cultural communities to foster collaborations, assisting in the gathering of primary research material and dissemination of outputs.
A key product of Multicultural Shakespeare will be a public programme of events reaching minority communities in a number of urban centres, focusing on Coventry, Birmingham and London. Building on the CAPITAL Centre's acknowledged expertise in performative teaching and learning, the Multicultural Shakespeare project has the potential for long-term societal impact through the reclamation of lost histories and by providing aspirational models for young people, both directly on those who attend the exhibitions or associated events but also indirectly via the printed and electronic resources which will be its long-term legacy. Multicultural Shakespeare directly extends Howard's experience on the Robeson Project, working with local organisations (n.b. the Bernie Grant Centre, Tottenham; Camden Black History Month) and with eminent members of Black communities both nationally (e.g. Baroness Lola Young) and internationally (e.g. Paul Robeson Jr; Alphonse Keasley of STAA). Collaborators and associates on the Robeson exhibition and the linked talks and performances have included the Royal Shakespeare Company, Bristol Old Vic, Liverpool Playhouse and Northern Stage - as well as Shakespeare's Globe, the Victoria and Albert Museum's Theatre Dept. and Black Heritage Programme, Harvest Heritage Arts and Media, Bristol, Warwick Arts Centre and BBC Radio (a 2011 documentary based on Howard's research reached over 350,000 listeners), all of whom have expressed support for Multicultural Shakespeare. These contacts will be built on and expanded to maximise the quality and impact of this larger programme of investigation and dissemination.
Multicultural Shakespeare will build on the Robeson Project's experience of creating digital materials --talks and debates and unique archive materials on Shakespeare, race and performance -- and making them freely available online (http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/capital/teaching_and_learning/projects/robeson/). The interviews, forming a major part of the research process, will be accessible free of charge on the University's webs