According to a report from the Global Times on April 8, the new London West End stage play "Romeo and Juliet" starring "Dutch Brother" Tom Holland recently announced the cast list. African-American actress Francesca Améuda Ri Firth's portrayal of Juliet has caused quite a bit of controversy online. The Jamie Lloyd Company, the producer of the stage play, said, "It is very regrettable that members of the cast and crew have been racially abused." The producer of
said in a statement, "This behavior must stop. We are working with A group of amazing artists working together. We insist they can create their work freely without facing online harassment and we will continue to support and protect everyone on the cast at all costs.”
Tom Holland will be cast as a black actress. Francesca Ameuda Rivers stars in the new version of the stage play "Romeo and Juliet" (Source: 1905 Movie Network)
It is reported that the new version of the stage play "Romeo and Juliet" will be held from May 23 to August 3 Played in London and sold out. The stage play, directed by Jamie Lloyd, will see Ameuda Rivers make her West End debut and Holland will return to the stage where he performed as a child in the musical Out of My World. Rivers has previously starred in the BBC drama Bad Education and three short films, and has stage experience at venues including the Globe Theater and Hammersmith Lyric Theatre.
reported that a survey was conducted in 2021 with the theme "Race Between the Lines: Racially Racial Incidents Actors Experienced during Auditions, Castings, or on Sets in the UK". The results showed that 64% of the respondents experienced 55% of respondents have experienced racial discrimination or racist stereotypes in the workplace. In March this year, Jeremy Harris's two "Blackout" performances in London's West End were criticized by British Prime Minister Sunak's office for giving priority to African-American audiences. "Restricting the audience's race will be divisive."
It is worth mentioning that the use of African-American actresses in the new version of the stage play "Romeo and Juliet" is not the first time that the protagonist in the Western entertainment industry has been designated as "non-white."
According to previous reports from Global Network and other media, the 2009 animated film "The Frog and the Princess" changed the princess in the ancient fairy tale to have dark skin; in 2023, Disney's live-action film "The Little Mermaid" chose black female singer Harry... Bailey comes to play the female lead. As soon as the news came out, although many netizens expressed support and applauded the casting of The Little Mermaid, some netizens questioned Hollywood's "speculative and politically correct" business operations, saying that "such a crude replacement of characters in traditional white stories" Black people are not diverse, and it is not true respect for the black pioneers who have fought for equal rights all their lives."
Jimu News Comprehensive Global Network, Global Times, The Paper, 1905 Movie Network
(Source: Jimu News)
