by Ben Spatz
I saw this play in which seven women (only two white) played homeless people. Afterwards I realized that I had totally not considered issues of appropriation during the play. If it had been white men playing homeless people, I would immediately have wondered what gave them the right to speak for the homeless--had they themselves ever been homeless? But with these nonwhite women doing the same, I just kind of assumed that they knew what they were talking about. And maybe they did. But it was dangerous of me to link these women to their characters more than I would have with white men. It's almost like I didn't realize they were actors. Afterwards I was surprised to hear them talking about the roles in the detached way that actors do. "Did you like the play?" they asked their friends. I was so shocked: You mean they're not actually homeless women? Not like I really believed that--But my normal separation of actor and character had skipped town. What a subtle little racism in myself--hard to catch.