by Michelle Terry, artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe, called the dream of her casting as Richard III “disproportionate” and said much of the anger directed at her in recent months was misogynistic.
The Globe was met with widespread criticism when it was announced that Terry, an Olivier award-winning actor and writer, would play Shakespeare’s “deformed, unfinished” king in its summer production opening on Tuesday night.
Actors and disability groups said that a lead actor who is not physically disabled could not successfully perform the role, and that the decision violated the Globe’s ethos of diversity and inclusion.
“We’re interpreting a 400-year-old play,” said Terry in her first interview since the casting was announced. “[The response] it felt disproportionate to what drama can really do, in terms of being able to address the inequalities of society.”
The criticism followed a number of recent portrayals of Richard III by disabled actors, who were thought to have recreated a character who had scoliosis in real life.
Among those criticizing the Globe was Brittanie Pallett, an actress with a disability, who asked why the theater’s artistic director was “hiring themselves to lead when it’s not their casting or living experience”.
Ben Wilson, a blind actor, described it as a “crippling up” situation, and the Disabled Artists Alliance published an open letter, signed by more than 100 people and organizations in theater and the arts, calling for “immediate remodeling. “.
“Some discussion was expected, but none of us predicted this,” said Terry, pointing out that Bridgerton star Adjoa Andoh had played Richard III just a few months before, with little resistance.
“But even if you only do the high-profile productions of Richard III over the past 20 years, there have been many men who have played this role, including Ralph Fiennes, Kevin Spacey and Benedict Cumberbatch. And there’s nothing, nothing,” Terry told him.
“Disability is much more than the discourse of disability. There could be nuance to a very important discussion of disability justice – something we are engaged with as an organisation. But the level of hatred and anger towards me was dangerous. Bad things happen to people when this stuff gets out of hand.”
She said the irony is that “that misogyny is the prism through which we explore the play”.
Terry said his exaggerated Shakespearean production questioned the early modern belief that disability was an outward manifestation of inner evil, and instead explored Richard for what he was – a murderer and sexual predator.
“The moment we removed the references to ‘deformity’, it became a drama about a tyrant. When we were talking about the idea, we knew we were going into an election year where most democracies were going to the ballot box, including ours and the US,” she said. .
“The documents were coming out left, right and centre [about men who used their positions of power to abuse women and children]. We thought: which play speaks most directly to us now? It was so clear that it was Richard III.”
She emphasized the similarities between the play and life today, where people are “still swayed by the charisma of evil”. “Men like Richard are everywhere, and they always have positions of power. Even when the allegations and the evidence are so clear, they continue to get away with it.”
Terry said she believed strongly in Shakespeare’s “anti-literacy,” which gives every artist the right to play every part.
“I’m the curator of a canon of 37 plays, and part of the reason we’ve diversified so quickly is that that canon isn’t fixed,” she said. “Defensive character traits do not necessarily match the defensive traits of the actor. We are not the prefix that comes before our names – like female, trans, Black. I’d be worried about locking down any role in Shakespeare.”
She cited the example this year of Francesca Amewudah-Rivers being cast as Juliet – for which the actress received a barrage of racist abuse online. Similarly, Rada president David Harewood’s experience of playing Romeo in the 80s has led him to recently criticize those who said “you can’t play that role because you’re not disabled, or you can’t do that play because you are not really. from there”.
When asked if she would play a white Othello or a non-Jewish Sherlock, Terry said she would consider it if the questioning was “kind and necessary” enough.
“If the best artist comes to me and says ‘the only way I can expose anti-Black racism in Othello or anti-Semitism in Merchant of Venice is to do it this way’, it must be worth it to have a conversation. That means I no longer understand what it means to be an artist. It should be fine for art to be interesting, to inspire.”
Terry added that she made a “conscious decision” not to change her physicality for the role of Richard. “But the idea that our own actors’ union said that this role is not being played by a disabled artist … how do you know that? No one asked me or the director [Elle While] as we have identified. That would be illegal. But if we are now asking activists to publicize their characteristics, how then are we protecting them?”
Terry has been artistic director of the Globe since 2018, having worked with the RSC and the National Theatre. She said her position as an “actor-manager” meant she was contractually obliged to appear in some of her own productions, just like her male predecessors – including Mark Rylance. “That’s the job, that’s where I’m leading. I was hired to be an actor.”
She expressed her regret that the Richard III feud had overshadowed other World casting announcements, including Francesca Mills, an actress with achondroplasia, the Duchess of Malfi, and Nadia Nadarajah, a deaf actress, playing Cleopatra using British Sign Language. “This solution option exists in a much wider context of six years of progress.”
But despite her confidence in her performances, she said it would be “honest to say I’m not that scared” because of the level of scrutiny.
She hopes the play will encourage viewers to explore their power as citizens. “It’s a sign that we are very close to some of these fascist behaviors, but there is still time to change things.”
