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dear-indies · 5 years

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can you please suggest actors / actresses only that are half black and half white as well as fully black actors with a darker complexion between ages 20-60 that have period roles? thanks!

Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Belle, Black Mirror) Black South African / English.

Angel Coulby (Merlin) Afro-Guyanese, possibly East Indian / English.

Natalie Gumede (Jekyll & Hyde) Zimbabwean / English.

Melanie Liburd (Dracula, Double Play) Kittian and Nevisian / English.

Shalom Brune-Franklin (Cursed) Mauritian / English.

Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Spartacus, Texas Rising) Ghanaian / English.

Natalie Simpson (Outlander, Les Miserables) Nigerian / Unspecified White.

Jasmin Savoy Brown (Will) African-American / European.

Amanda Brugel (The Handmaid’s Tale)African-American / English.

Lucien Laviscount (Still Star-Crossed) Afro-Antiguan / English.

Kingsley Ben-Adir (King Arthur: Legend of the Sword) Moroccan / English.

Alex Sawyer (Macbeth, The White Princess, Harlots) Ghanaian / English, Finnish.

Elliot Knight (Sinbad) Nigerian / English.

Howard Charles (The Musketeers) Afro-Jamaican / English.

O-T Fagbenle (The Handmaid’s Tale) Yoruba Nigerian / British.

Joey Ansah (Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands) Ghanaian / English.

Corbin Bleu (Witches in the Woods) Afro-Jamaican / Italian.

and here are some dark-skinned / darker-skinned actors with period roles!

Yetide Badaki (American Gods) Nigerian.

Danai Gurira (The Walking Dead, Black Panther) Zimbabwean.

Lupita Nyong'o (Black Panther) Luo Kenyan.

Florence Kasumba (Black Panther) Ugandan.

Shaunette Renée Wilson (Black Panther) Afro-Guyanese.

Barbara Eve Harris (Harlots) Afro-Tobagonian.

Cynthia Erivo (Harriet) Nigerian.

Mouna Traoré (Murdoch Mysteries) Cameroonian.

DeWanda Wise (Underground) African-American.

Saycon Sengblloh (Double Play) African-American / Liberian.

Estella Daniels (Sinbad) Sierra Leonean.

Stephanie Levi John (The Spanish Princess) Afro-Caribbean.

Ebonee Noel (Still Star Crossed) Afro-Guyanese.

Lashana Lynch (Still Star-Crossed) Afro-Jamaican.

Tamara Lawrance (The Long Song) Afro-Jamaican.

Joy Richardson (The Long Song, Mrs Wilson) Black British.

Yrsa Daley-Ward (World on Fire) Afro-Jamaican / Nigerian.

Susan Wokoma (Year of the Rabbit) Nigerian.

Wunmi Mosaku (Macbeth, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, I Am Slave) Yoruba Nigerian.

Simona Brown (Roots, The Little Drummer Girl) Afro-Jamaican.

Adaku Ononogbo (Cursed) Nigerian, Trinidadian and/or Tobagonian.

Gary Carr (Bolden, Downtown Abbey) Yoruba Nigerian.

Nonso Anozie (Cinderella, Game of Thrones, Conan the Barbarian) Nigerian.

Gershwyn Eustache Jnr (Britannia) Afro-Trinidadian or Afro-Tobagonian.

Babs Olusanmokun (Roots) Nigerian.

Derek Luke (Roots) Afro-Guyanese / African-American.

Malachi Kirby (Roots) Afro-Jamaican.

Mustafa Shakir(Double Play) African-American.

Demetrius Grosse (Westworld, Frontier) African-American.

David Gyasi (Trroy: Fall of a City, Carnival Row) Ghanaian.

Idris Elba (The Dark Tower, Thor: Ragnarok) Ghanaian / Sierra Leonean.

Danny Sapani (Harlots, Penny Dreadful, Black Panther) Ghanaian.

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Game of Thrones) Nigerian.

Lennie James (The Walking Dead, Fear The Walking Dead, Double Play) African-American.

Hakeem Kae-Kazim (Black Sails) Nigerian.

Gary Beadle (In the Heart of the Sea) Black British.

Isaach De Bankolé (Black Panther) Ivorian.

Ansu Kabia (World on Fire, Miss Scarlet and the Duke) Afro-Guyanese.

Bolded = has resources at time of posting. Some roles aren’t specifically period roles but could be portrayed as period roles! -C

#fc help #black fc #period fc #rph #rpc #period #Anonymous

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claudia1829things · 4 years

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"LITTLE DORRIT" (2008) Review

"LITTLE DORRIT" (2008) Review In my review of the 1998 miniseries, "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND", I had stated that I was never a real fan of Victorian author, Charles Dickens. But I was willing to give the author another chance with a second viewing of the miniseries. However, I have yet to watch "OUR MUTUAL FRIEND" for a second time. Instead, I turned my attention to another miniseries based on a Dickens novel - the 2008 production of "LITTLE DORRIT".

Based upon Dickens's 1855-1857 serialized novel, "LITTLE DORRIT" is basically the story of a young late Georgian Englishwoman named Amy Dorrit, who spends her days earning money for the Dorrit family and looking after her proud father William, who is a long term inmate of Marshalsea Prison for Debt in London. When her employer's son, Arthur Clennam returns from overseas to solve his family's mysterious legacy, Amy and her family's world is transformed for the better. And she discovers that her family's lives and those of the Clennan family are interlinked. Considering that "LITTLE DORRIT" is a Dickens tale, one is bound to encounter a good deal of subplots. Please bear with me. I might not remember all of them. I do recall the following: *Arthur Clennam is initially rejected by Pet Meagles, the daughter of a former business associate, due to her infatuation for artist Henry Gowan. *John Chivery, the son of the Marshalsea Prison warden, harbors unrequited love for Amy Dorrit. *A mysterious Englishwoman named Miss Wade, had been jilted by Henry Gowan in the past; and has now extended her hatred and resentment towards his wife, Pet Meagles and her family. She also notices their patronizing attitude toward their maid/ward, Harriet Beadle aka Tattycoram. *Amy's older sister, Fanny, becomes romantically involved with the step-son of wealthy businessman Mr. Merdle. *Mr. Merdle becomes the force behind a fraudulent speculation scheme that impacts the London financial world. *French criminal Rigaud/Blandois not only stumbles across the Clennam family secret regarding the Dorrit family, but is also recruited by Miss Wade to accompany Henry and Pet Gowran on their Italian honeymoon. If there is one thing I can say about "LITTLE DORRIT", it is a beautiful looking production. Four of the Emmy Awards that the miniseries won were in the technical categories. Production designer James Merifield, art director Paul Ghirardani, and set decorator Deborah Wilson all shared the Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction in a Miniseries or Movie (they shared the award with the art direction team for HBO's "GREY GARDENS"). And honestly? They deserved that award, thanks to their outstanding re-creation of both London and Italy in the 1820s. Owen McPolin, Alan Almond and Lukas Strebel, who won the Outstanding Cinematography Emmy; contributed to that re-creation of 1820s Europe with their sharp, colorful and beautiful photography. Costume designer Barbara Kidd and costume supervisor also won Emmy awards for the beautiful, gorgeous costumes created for this production. Not only did I find the costumes beautiful, but also a perfection re-creation of the mid-1820s fashions, as depicted in the images below:

I could go on and on about the many subplots featured in "LITTLE DORRIT". But honestly . . . I am too exhausted to do so. The only plots that interested me were the fortunes of both the Dorrit family and Arthur Clennam, Mrs. Clennam's secret about her husband's past, and Mr. Merdle's financial schemes. I thought that Emmy winning screenwriter Andrew Davies and directors Adam Smith, Dearbhla Walsh (also an Emmy winner for her direction of Episode One), and Diarmuid Lawrence did a very good job in handling these plot lines. Or tried his best. His adaptation of the rise and fall of the Dorrit family's fortunes was probably the best thing about "LITTLE DORRIT". This was especially effective in plot lines that revolved around Amy Dorrit's inability to adjust to her new status as the daughter of a wealthy man and especially, William Dorrit's inabilities to move past his memories of the Marshalsea Prison. The subplot regarding the Dorrit family's ties to the Merdle family also struck me as very effective. Fanny Dorrit's relationship with Merdle's stepson, Edmund Sparkler proved to be one of the funniest and more satisfying subplots in "LITTLE DORRIT". And the subplot regarding Mr. Merdle's financial schemes not only effected both the Dorrit family and Arthur Clennam's fortunes in an effective way, it also strongly reminded me of the circumstances that led to the international community's current economic situation. However, there were subplots that did not strike me as that effective. I wish I could solely blame Charles Dickens. But I cannot. Davies and the three directors have to take some of the blame for not making some improvements to these subplots, when they had the chance to do so. The subplot regarding the Meagles family, their servant "Tattycoram" and Miss Wade struck me as a disaster. I found it poorly handled, especially the narrative regarding the fate of "Tattycoram". In the end, nothing really came from Miss Wade's resentment of Henry Cowan, the Meagles and especially her relationship with "Tattycoram". I am also a little confused at the financial connection between the Clennam and Dorrit families. Could someone explain why an affair between Arthur's father and some dancer would lead to a possible inheritance for Amy Dorrit? Many critics have tried to explain Dickens' creation of the French villain Monsieur Rigaud. No explanation can erase my dislike of the character or its addition to the subplots involving the Clennam/Dorrit connection and the Gowans' honeymoon. I realize that Rigaud was Charles Dickens' creation. But it seemed a pity that Davies and the three directors did nothing to improve the use of Rigaud . . . or eliminate the character altogether. Aside from killing Jeremiah Flintwinch's twin brother, intimidating other characters and blackmailing Mrs. Clennam, he really did nothing as a villain. If there is one thing I have no complaints regarding "LITTLE DORRIT", it is the excellent performances found in the production. I honestly have no complaints about the performances in the miniseries. I can even say this about those characters, whose portrayals by the writers that I found troubling. And yes, I am referring to Andy Serkis and Freema Agyeman's performances as Rigoud and "Tattycoram". Both gave excellent performances, even if I did not care how Dickens, Davies or the directors handled their characters. Emma Pierson, an actress I have never heard of, gave a superb and very entertaining peformance as Fanny Dorrit, Amy's ambitious and rather blunt older sister. I would have say that Pierson's performance struck me as the funniest in the miniseries. I was amazed at how intimidating Eddie Marsan looked at the rent collector, Mr. Pancks. Yet, Marsan went beyond his superficial appearance to portray one of the most compassionate, yet energetic characters in the production. I was also impressed by Russell Tovey's portrayal of the love-sick John Chivery, who harbored unrequited love for Amy Dorrit. Tovey managed to give a very intense performance, without going over-the-top. And I found that quite an accomplishment. However, there are a handful of performances that really impressed me. Two of them came from the leads Claire Foy and Matthew McFadyen. On paper, the characters of Amy Dorrit and Arthur Clennam struck me as boring and one-dimensional. They were simply too goody two-shoes. But somehow, both Foy and McFadyen managed to inject a great deal of fire into their roles, making them not only interesting, but allowing me to care for them a great deal. Another outstanding performance came from Judy Parfitt, who portrayed Arthur's guilt-ridden and cold mother, Mrs. Clennam. But instead of portraying the character as a one-note monstrous mother, Parfitt conveyed a good deal of Mrs. Clennam's guilt regarding her husband's will and inner emotional struggles over the memories of her marriage and what Arthur really meant to her. Another outstanding performance came from Tom Courtenay, who portrayed the vain and insecure William Dorrit. In fact, I would have to say that he gave the most complex and probably the best performance in the entire production. Courtenay managed to create contempt I felt toward his character with skillful acting, yet at the same time, he made William Dorrit so pathetic and sympathetic. I am amazed that he did not receive a nomination or acting award for his performance. I now come back to that earlier question. Did "LITTLE DORRIT" improve my opinion of Charles Dickens as a writer? Not really. Although I cannot deny that it is a beautiful looking production. Some of the subplots not only struck me as interesting, but also relevant to today's economic situation. And the miniseries featured some outstanding performances from a cast led by Claire Foy and Matthew McFayden. But some of the other subplots, which originated in Dickens' novel struck me as either troubling or unimpressive. So . . . I am not quite a fan of his. Not yet. But despite its flaws, I am a fan of this 2008 adaptation of his 1855-1857 novel.

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ghostfriendly5 · 5 years

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(photo is Freema Agyeman, who played Harriet in the BBC drama)

Harriet Beadle, AKA Tattycoram was an ‘orphan’ (unwanted illegitimate child left at the orphanage) in Little Dorrit, by Dickens. Her adoptive parents treated her like something between a child, a servant and a pet, giving her a name like a root vegetable, when she had the soul of a pirate queen.

As a Fallen Hero, no longer Sidestep, she is the Farm’s Prodigal Daughter. In this new life she will not be sidelined or silenced; she will take control of her story, whether that means smashing up her past self’s exhibit or monologuing out her rage at every chance she gets.

In Little Dorrit, Harriet ran off with an abusive older (strongly implied) girlfriend, eventually having to crawl back to her family for a lecture on duty and Victorian values. Possibly Julia Ortega will prove a better partner one day? Her parents also had a notable dimwitted blonde ingénue of a daughter, Petunia, whose romantic future in particular they were infinitely more concerned with than hers.

(Photo is Georgia King, played Petunia in BBC drama)

This is Harriet’s Puppet, Pet. As a Fallen Hero, Harriet, now literally lives out her trauma-broken romantic desires through her ‘other self’, although the average Victorian parents would certainly have had a few problems with Dr Mortum...but that does not, of course, matter now. Harriet has suffered incalculably more in her new life than her old, but she knows she is strong and free, where she belongs.

#little dorrit #fallen hero: rebirth #choice of games #hosted games #tattycoram #freema agyeman #georgia king #photos #profile #sidestep #ortega #dr mortum #dickens #sidestep sheet

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extremeababdarnwheel · 6 years

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Udofia Named Aetna Fellow at Hartford Stage; “Sweeney Todd” cast at CT Rep; “Cyrano” Sets Sales Record at Goodspeed

Playwright Mfoniso Udofia will be in residence at Hartford Stage, Liz Larsen and Terrence Mann will head the cast of "Sweeney Todd" at CT Rep, and other theater news from Connecticut and elsewhere.

Mfoniso Udofia is the latest playwright who’s been named as an Aetna New Voices Fellow at Hartford Stage. The fellowship is a one-year residency for “important playwrights of diversity and color to develop work and become involved in the ongoing life of Greater Hartford.”

Earlier this year, Udofia was the mentor for Hartford Stage’s annual Write On playwriting competition for high school students. She is best known for her nine-part cycle of plays about the Ufot family of Nigeria immigrants, including “Sojourners” and “Her Portmanteau.” (The playwright herself is a first-generation American with Nigerian parents.) Udofia held a similar residency this past theater season at the Playwright’s Center in Minneapolis.

The previous Aetna New Voices Fellows have been Jorge Ignacio Cortinas, Luis Alfaro, Daniel Beaty, Quiara Alegriá Hudes, Hana Sharif, Will Power, Marcus Gardley, Matthew Lopez, Janine Nabers, Kimber Lee, Christina Anderson and Kaneza Schaal — quite an impressive group, working in a range of theatrical styles. Some of these fellows have had their works produced at Hartford Stage, including Beaty’s “Resurrection” and “Breath and Imagination,” Hudes’ “Water by the Spoonful” Lopez’s “The Whipping Man,” “Somewhere” and “Reverberation.”

The Scorecard

Swing your razor wide! Connecticut Repertory Theatre has announced the cast for “Sweeney Todd: A Musical Thriller in Concert,” which opens the theater’s Nutmeg Summer Series at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre on the UConn campus in Storrs, June 21 through July 1.

Nutmeg Series Artistic Director Terrence Mann, fresh from starring in “Jerry Springer The Opera” off Broadway, will play the title role of the demon barber of Fleet Street.

Liz Larsen, who has played Carole King’s mother Genie for four years in “Beautiful” on Broadway and was heard earlier this month in the Hartford Symphony Orchestra “Love on Broadway” concert, will be Nellie Lovett. Andréa Burns (Broadway’s “On Your Feet”) is Beggar Woman, Ed Dixon (the recent Broadway revivals of “Anything Goes” and “Sunday in the Park with George”) is Judge Turpin, Lu DeJesus is Beadle Bamford, Hugh Entrekin is Anthony Hope, Kenneth Galm is Tobias Ragg, Nicholas Gonzalez plays both Pirelli and Daniel O’Higgins and Emilie Kouatchou is Johanna Barker. The ensemble consists of Ryan Albinus, Alex Campbell, Cydney Clark, Olivia Fenton, Lauryn Hobbs, Kelley McCarty, Charlie Patterson, Gregory Rodriguez, and Brandon Wolfe. You’ll recognize the names of a few current or recent UConn acting students in there. Alex Campbell is a current UConn MFA acting student who played Rosalind in “As You Like It” last month.

Mann and Larsen were both in a previous CT Rep concert-style musical, “Les Miserables” in 2015. Nutmeg Summer Series details are at crt.uconn.edu.

“Cyrano” Sets Sales Record

“Cyrano,” the new musical based on Edmond Rostand’s late-19th century romantic swashbuckler “Cyrano de Bergerac,” set a new box office record at Goodspeed Musicals. Tickets went on sale to the general public May 21, and a Goodspeed spokesperson says “We sold the most in one day for any show in our 55 year history — nearly double the old record!”

“Cyrano” stars Peter Dinklage and Haley Bennett, and features music by three members of the band The National: Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner and Matt Berninger. The musical is directed by Erica Schmidt, who also wrote its book.

“Cyrano” runs Aug. 3 through Sept. 2 at the Norma Terris Theatre in Chester, where the Goodspeed workshops new musicals. Sales are brisk, but apparently there are still tickets to be had. Details at 860-873-8668, goodspeed.org.

Back in Black

The Shubert in New Haven has added a couple of one-nighters to its fall schedule: “Sister’s Back to School Catechism: The Holy Ghost and Other Terrifying Tales” Oct. 13 and comedian Lewis Black’s “The Joke’s on US” tour Nov. 11.

“Back to School” is part of the “Late Nite Catechism” series of comic lectures by a stern nun. New Haven’s Long Wharf Theatre has hosted many editions of the series, but not this one.

Black, the venerable TV comedy-news monologist, is also a prolific playwright who studied at the Yale School of Drama and has had many of his works staged at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. He’s brought his one-man comedy concerts to Connecticut many times.

Details at 203-562-5666, shubert.com.

Ramping Up in Ridgefield

Summer and fall attractions at the Ridgefield Playhouse include an outdoor 90-minute Shakespeare on the Green production of “Hamlet” July 22 and a slew of concerts by Broadway theater stars: Cynthia Erivo Sept. 16, Ed Asner in Ed Weinberger’s one-man play “A Man and His Prostate” Sept. 30, Tony Danza’s solo act “Standards & Stories” Oct. 27, Bebe Neuwirth’s “Stories and Song with Piano” Nov. 10 and Ben Vereen in “Steppin’ Out for the Holidays” Dec. 2. There are also two vocal quartet shows tailor-made for “Jersey Boys” fans: “Under the Streetlamp,” which features former members of the Four Seasons musical’s Broadway cast, Oct. 5, and “The Jersey Tenors,” a pop-operatic thing, Sept. 22.

The playhouse also screens the National Theatre Live series and other filmed-theater events. Next up are “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” June 15, “Bandstand: The Broadway Musical on Screen” June 25.

Obie CT

The Obie Awards, for distinguished work off Broadway, were presented May 21 in New York. Among the many honorees was Amy Herzog’s drama “Mary Jane,” which premiered at Yale Rep last year before moving to Broadway with the same director (Anne Kauffman) but a different cast. “Mary Jane” earned awards for Herzog, Kauffman and its New York star Carrie Coon.

Composer Stephen Trask, who grew up in New London and went to Wesleyan University, performed the song “Wig in a Box” to mark the 20th anniversary of the original off Broadway production of the musical “Hedwig and the Angry Inch.” Trask was living in New Haven at the time of “Hedwig”’s initial success.

In Case You’ve Forgotten…

The Steve Martin and Martin Short special “An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life” debuted May 25 on Netflix. The theater concert played The Bushnell in February, a few months after the special was filmed at an earlier tour stop in Greenville, S.C. Watch it for Short’s nudie rock musical parody “Step-Brother to Jesus.”

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