# Pennsylvania college cancels play after author objects to white actors **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 21, 2015, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138 "2015-11-21T01:03:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/181 "2015-11-24T15:39:11Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Well, that IS why he had himself frozen… 😃 > > But the point is, it ALREADY matters, to the casting directors and producers who seem to think not casting minorities is NBD, and the audiences who only seem to notice when the opposite happens. Reality check. At the level of colleges (and High Schoold) the opposite is the norm, is not noticed at all. Generally at the college level every effort is made to cast minorities in minority parts when the talent exists. But you do go with the bench you have. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/182 "2015-11-24T16:29:43Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > It does sound like Suh’s _agent_ might be at fault here more than anyone, but you are blaming Suh. _shrug_ In the end, I don’t place much importance on the cause of the lack of communication because the people who suffered are clearly innocent of it. Suh or his agent bear at least some culpability for causing the situation and thus Suh has a responsibility to find a reasonable way out. He chose to act unreasonably and be intransigent. That’s ultimately the problem here. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/183 "2015-11-24T19:11:18Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Suh’s agent confirmed that he was too busy to work with Clarion. …cite for this? ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/184 "2015-11-24T19:16:24Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …cite for this? > [@](#): > > Michel said that she had asked several times to confer with Suh, but was told he was unavailable. She said, “I believe that a dialogue early on, it would have come clear what his priorities were, that I wasn’t seeing things the way he was. I don’t disagree with his right to feel the way he does about his work. I just wish I had known, so that either we could have had a meeting of the minds or I wouldn’t have invested my time and my students in this venture.” **Blickers said that Suh was wrapped up in other productions and family issues and didn’t have the time to visit Clarion or consult with them.** Blickers is Suh’s agent. [http://www.hesherman.com/2015/11/13/erasing-race-on-stage-at-clarion-university/](http://www.hesherman.com/2015/11/13/erasing-race-on-stage-at-clarion-university/) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/185 "2015-11-24T19:30:26Z")
Did that come from Blickers, or is it a continuation of the school’s side? Because it would appear to be the latter. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/186 "2015-11-24T19:51:35Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Did that come from Blickers, or is it a continuation of the school’s side? Because it would appear to be the latter. It says “Blickers said” not “Michel said that Blickers said”. It doesn’t make sense either that Michel would be the source in context. The first line of the paragraph was: > [@](#): > > Michel said that she had asked several times to confer with Suh, but was told he was unavailable. I don’t see why the author would have two statements from the same person saying essentially the same thing in the same paragraph. The phrasing also follows the author’s pattern of attributing information. For example, see this paragraph: > [@](#): > > Michel says that it is her understanding that the contract was in force as soon as the university signed it and sent a $500 payment, and that since the check was cashed, all was in place. Blickers says that the contract was never received and that while the $500 check was cashed (and is now being returned), the contract was never signed by the playwright, and therefore the contract was not in force. Suh asserts that the first time he realized the play was going into production was via a posting of rehearsal photos on Facebook. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/187 "2015-11-24T19:55:24Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Blickers is Suh’s agent. > > [» Erasing Race On Stage At Clarion University Howard Sherman](http://www.hesherman.com/2015/11/13/erasing-race-on-stage-at-clarion-university/) …what is it, exactly, do you think an agent is paid to do? If I hire an agent, its because I’m busy with other productions and family issues. You deal with the agent. If something gets red flagged the agent brings it to the writer. But you don’t go directly to the writer. You negotiate with the agent. And that didn’t happen here. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/188 "2015-11-24T19:55:51Z")
Again, that says that both Blickers and Suh raised the issue of casting. Maybe there was no detailed discussion at the time, but Michel clearly should have known that it was a concern. Yet she proceeded full steam, assuming she could do whatever she wanted in the end. She should have put the majority of work on hold–pushing the planned production to a later term, if necessary–until she had permission. > [@](#): > > Beth Blickers, Suh’s agent, commented that…she had inquired about the racial casting early on, and was told it was too early to know… > [@Lloyd Suh](#): > > I didn’t hear anything again until late May, when…I asked specifically whether they would be able to honor the general ethnicity of the characters. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/189 "2015-11-24T20:04:34Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …what is it, exactly, do you think an agent is paid to do? If I hire an agent, its because I’m busy with other productions and family issues. You deal with the agent. If something gets red flagged the agent brings it to the writer. But you don’t go directly to the writer. You negotiate with the agent. And that didn’t happen here. It did happen. Clarion did negotiate with the agent, signed a contract, and paid the author. At no point did Suh or his Agent say that Clarion could not do the play with white people. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/190 "2015-11-24T20:08:05Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Again, that says that both Blickers and Suh raised the issue of casting. Maybe there was no detailed discussion at the time, but Michel clearly should have known that it was a concern. Yet she proceeded full steam, assuming she could do whatever she wanted in the end. She should have put the majority of work on hold–pushing the planned production to a later term, if necessary–until she had permission. Michel says: > [@](#): > > It’s not unusual in college productions to change the gender of a character to offer opportunities to the students that are available.” Asked whether approval for such changes are sought from playwrights or their representatives, she said, “I don’t deal with the contracts. The department chair and the student association deal with the contracts. But should it seem like we’re doing something that’s against the contract, we would definitely address it. I always check with my superiors if I think that’s going to be an issue.” The superior she was referring to was department chair Bob Levy, who declined via e-mail to be interviewed for this piece. > > She continued, “We’ve never done it in a play where we thought race was an important issue of the script, or the gender was an important issue of the script. Sometimes the director might address the issue in the program of why it was done. While I hesitate to connect myself to Michael Oatman [director of The Mountaintop at Kent State where a white actor was cast as Martin Luther King], it would be similar in that it’s an academic exercise of, ‘what if?’ which is what we do in acting.” > > As for the issue of race in Jesus in India, Michel said, “I don’t feel like it was the focus of the play. I feel like the focus teenagers coming of age and maturing, and that’s what spoke to me about the script and led me to think this would be a wonderful opportunity for the students in my program.” > [@](#): > > “I believe that a dialogue early on, it would have come clear what his priorities were, that I wasn’t seeing things the way he was. I don’t disagree with his right to feel the way he does about his work. I just wish I had known, so that either we could have had a meeting of the minds or I wouldn’t have invested my time and my students in this venture.” Your characterization of her is totally inaccurate. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/191 "2015-11-24T20:10:00Z")
> [@treis](#): > > It did happen. Clarion did negotiate with the agent, signed a contract, and paid the author. At no point did Suh or his Agent say that Clarion could not do the play with white people. OK… so why is the play off now? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/192 "2015-11-24T20:11:49Z")
… ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/193 "2015-11-24T20:34:58Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > OK… so why is the play off now? Because Suh’s an asshole. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/194 "2015-11-24T20:37:22Z")
> [@treis](#): > > It did happen. Clarion did negotiate with the agent, signed a contract, and paid the author. At no point did Suh or his Agent say that Clarion could not do the play with white people. …from your cite: > [@](#): > > However, that was not the case with this specific agreement, which was never fully executed and therefore not in force. They signed a contract but did not return the contract. They did not have permission to perform the play. Also from your cite: > [@](#): > > Beth Blickers, Suh’s agent, commented that while she had inquired about the racial casting early on, and was told it was too early to know, but there was considerable communication about the new score. > > “I think the music change is the key factor,” said Blickers. “That’s the thing they understood. The issue about ethnicity, they were reasonably oblivious to. They acknowledged that I asked and they belatedly said it wasn’t cast yet and then they forgot.” They were asked about ethnicity: but they forgot to reply. The only people to blame for this situation are Clarion and Michel. It is unfortunate that they are choosing to double down on their [mistakes](http://www.hesherman.com/2015/11/16/clarion-call-of-racial-spin-by-university-fails-students-and-theatre/) by continuing to blame someone else for their own sloppy work. Here is the view of Dramatists Guild of America: [http://www.dramatistsguild.com/media/PDFs/DGResponsetoCastingIssues11.18.2015.pdf](http://www.dramatistsguild.com/media/PDFs/DGResponsetoCastingIssues11.18.2015.pdf) > [@](#): > > But when a play is still under copyright, directors must > seek permission if they are going to make changes to the play, including > casting a character outside his or her obvious race, gender or implicit > characteristics. To do so without meaningful consultation with the writer is > both a moral and a legal breach. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/195 "2015-11-24T20:44:14Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …from your cite: > > They signed a contract but did not return the contract. They did not have permission to perform the play. As I’m sure you’ve read, Clarion claims they sent back the signed copy and the language in the contract, according to the cite, was ambiguous. Again, this ultimately is irrelevant. For one, the contract almost certainly had language to justify Suh’s intervention into casting. Beyond that, the issue is that Suh didn’t communicate his demands until just before the show was to go on. Contract technicalities aren’t relevant. > [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > They were asked about ethnicity: but they forgot to reply. Did you not read what you quoted? Blickers said that Michel did respond to the query. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/196 "2015-11-24T20:46:19Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Because Suh’s an asshole. Duh. …if we are going to sink to the gutter, it would be more accurate to say “Because Michel is an asshole. Duh.” Because Michel both failed to read the contract, return the contract, follow up on the contract, consult properly with the agent, let down the students who worked hard on the play and has mis-represented the situation to the press. Michel both disrespected the writers legal and ethical rights and just avoided making his school the target of what would have been a lawsuit they would have lost. And Clarion is now known as the college that doesn’t respect writers. With their recent passive aggressive reaction to Suh’s decision don’t be surprised if more writers refuse to let Clarion perform their plays there. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/197 "2015-11-24T20:48:51Z")
> [@treis](#): > > Contract technicalities aren’t relevant. Well, at least not when the “technicalities” contradict your preferred interpretation of events, right? ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/198 "2015-11-24T20:54:41Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …if we are going to sink to the gutter, it would be more accurate to say “Because Michel is an asshole. Duh.” Because Michel both failed to read the contract, return the contract, follow up on the contract, consult properly with the agent, let down the students who worked hard on the play and has mis-represented the situation to the press. You have read the cite? Specifically the part where Michel says: > [@](#): > > I don’t deal with the contracts. The department chair and the student association deal with the contracts. So the contract not being executed correctly isn’t her fault. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/199 "2015-11-24T20:57:45Z")
> [@treis](#): > > As I’m sure you’ve read, Clarion claims they sent back the signed copy and the language in the contract, according to the cite, was ambiguous. …cite for this please. The word “ambiguous” is not used in your cite. Also: "Michel says that it is her understanding that the contract was in force as soon as the university signed it and sent a $500 payment, and that since the check was cashed, all was in place. " Nothing there about the contract being returned. > [@](#): > > Again, this ultimately is irrelevant. For one, the contract almost certainly had language to justify Suh’s intervention into casting. Beyond that, the issue is that Suh didn’t communicate his demands until just before the show was to go on. Contract technicalities aren’t relevant. The contract is irrelevant? Seriously? To echo an earlier poster…OK… so why is the play off now? The contract is the point. Before Suh responded, the first thing he did was check to see if a contract had been received. If it had: he would have enforced the clauses in that contract to make adjustments to the play. But as a contract had not been returned…well, you know the rest. > [@](#): > > Did you not read what you quoted? Blickers said that Michel did respond to the query. I read it. Clearly you haven’t. The initial response was it was “told it was too early to know.” There was no follow up response. And when asked why there was no follow up the response was “we forgot.” ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2015, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138/200 "2015-11-24T20:58:27Z")
Well, I expect Clarion is going to revise their procedures now, so that the person who “deals with contracts” at least talks to the person who commits school resources to productions. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pennsylvania-college-cancels-play-after-author-objects-to-white-actors/738138.md?page=11)