Erin Quill Bizarrely Obsessed With

[Kelly2]

Came across this today and found it deeply odd. Erin Quill wrote a blog post recently intended to be a "take down" of what she perceives as "brown face" being used in the current revival of Edwin Drood. She feels the casting, makeup, and really entire content of the roles is inherently racist and is pretty adamant about there being no other way to interpret the show without being wrong or a racist.

Here's the link to the blog and a few of her more colorful tweets about it: http://fairyprincessdiaries.com/2013/01/30/doing-it-a-bit-too-brown-old-chap/comment-page-1/

"Erin Quill ?@Equill
Oh yes, I wrote a blog and now all the offended Caucasians are going to 'school' me on a Musical. Which is, ahem, my field of expertise"

"Erin Quill ?@Equill
People will 'walk a country mile' to not hear a message that interferes with their right to buy an automatic weapon or wear racist makeup"

Personally, I find her Twitter comments to be more racist than anything in the show itself. I elaborated on my thoughts, you're welcome to read them if you care, but I was more wondering if anyone else shared her reaction?

[Kelly2]

This has now made its way to Jezebel. Here we go.

http://jezebel.com/5980419/many-major-theaters-believe-in-color-blind-casting-except-when-it-comes-to-people-of-color

[Kad]

Edwin Drood is a really bad choice to pick on for this subject, considering the entire show's conceit.

[bjh2114]

She's a freaking moron.

[dramamama611]

And since they are from a fictional land, how are we suppose to cast this?

(And BTW, who the hell is Erin Quill and why does anyone care what she says? Should I know the answer to this?)

[ghostlight2]

Are you freaking kidding me? The subtitle of her blog is "A Guide for Fag Hags & the Boyz that Love Them" and she's whining about the offensiveness of "brownface"?

I'm done with her right there - but I did read the blog, anyway. Seems impossible to believe she's ever seen the show if she doesn't know the difference b/w Janet and Victor (the NON-Ceylonese Music Hall players) and Helena and Neville (the Ceylonese characters they play). When this was pointed out to her in comments, somehow it doesn't matter.

What a ridiculous thing to get upset about - especially 3 months after the fact. Your blog was quite well written and reasoned, but there seems little point in arguing with someone so willing to look for offense.

[bjh2114]

She was the freaking original understudy for Christmas Eve in Avenue Q on Broadway. She has not worked a professional theatre gig in NY since she left that show in 2005 or 2006 or whenever it was. Clearly her opinions count for a lot when her ONE stage credit is all about playing a stereotype based on race. Ridiculous.

[Kelly2]

Eric Sciotto, Andy Karl's understudy, had this to say about it:

"Eric Sciotto ?@E_DaddySciotto
They're white British actors in a troupe in 1895 PLAYING CHARACTERS. They're not supposed to be correct."

[TalkinLoud]

It's a tough one. She certainly has a point, but at the same time you can use the "Well it's a show within a show" thing as an excuse. Is that excuse a cop out? Maybe.

[dramamama611]

But by the conceit of the show, they are actors of a different time period playing characters from a fictional country. In the time period the show is set, only white actors would have been used!

[ghostlight2]

How is that an excuse? They are English Music hall players. They would not have been ethnic.

[HenryTDobson]

This is the stupidest thing I've ever read. I hate that it's getting attention because that's exactly what she wants.

[tobiasragg]

It's not a cop out excuse at all -- it's a directorial justification. It's someone who needs an excuse to rail against something.

Also if we're talking about her blog, I agree with ghostlight here. "Fag Hags and the Boyz who Love Them"? I'm sure I'm not alone in the opinion that the term fag hag and the implication that I would love her just because I'm her token gay is just as offensive as the brilliant performances being given by Karl and Mueller.

[LizzieCurry]

The Jezebel piece is worth reading if only for its greater message (I haven't seen Drood so I can't comment, really).

[D2]

That blog is just ridiculous -- an idiotic point made by someone seeking attention (and getting it.) It seems that racism has now "jumped the shark."

(BTW: Ceylon is not a fictional country. It was the name of what is now Sri Lanka.)

[HenryTDobson]

But what I really don't understand is why this is coming up now. The show has been running for months, and will close next month. Why is this all of a sudden a hot topic?

These people need to get over themselves. Leave the show alone!

[dramamama611]

Yes, I realize that, but I am (pretty) certain that I read something about Drood, which went to great length discussing this point.

I'll see if I can find it....

[Reginald Tresilian]

One of her points did give me pause: had they been from Jamaica, say, rather than Ceylon, would the characters appear in blackface? If so, would we be more bothered?

[JoeKv99]

It's also quite amusing to see her call Drood "a moneymaker within a moneymaker."

[ratherbewhaling]

I think it's telling that the top comments on the Jezebel are are disregarding the play and just talking about movies

[Kelly2]

"One of her points did give me pause: had they been from Jamaica, say, rather than Ceylon, would the characters appear in blackface? If so, would we be more bothered?"

I'm sure their being from Ceylon was an intentional choice and it's a false equivalency to say "oh, what if it was this or that" because it isn't. Also, they are not stated in the show as being natively Ceylonese. Many people interpret them as being British ex-pats who grew up in Ceylon.

[Jon]

I thought it indicated somewhere in the script that the characters are of mixed (British and Ceylonese) heritage.

Is it now verboten to have a "white" actor play Ali Hakim in Oklahoma? What about Sitting Bull in Annie Get Your Gun?

[ghostlight2]

Drood does refer to Neville thus:

"Landless, (as you are and known),
Your blood is hot but less than pure!
Less, I'm sure, than we, your history would indicate
The past of some half-caste runs through your veins
Your crudeness thus explains"

but I don't think it's specified what heritage Drood presumes him to be.

[Kelly2]

Also, to me, the whole blog basically comes down to: "This show was written about a specific type of theatre in a specific time period, I find that time period racist, so if they do the show in an accurate way, as written, they're assholes."

And I don't agree with that.

[Owen22]

I actually can argue the point the "The Scottsboro Boys" would have been in some ways more powerful if white men had actually put on black face and portrayed the roles. This, like the conceit of the music hall, was traditional. Not traditionally found racist like the Southern racism of blackface, but its the same.

Now, I have this weird feeling some of you who are defending the brownface used in Drood are taken a little aback by my desired staging for "Scottsboro Boys".

And quit arguing where they are from...its obviously a "brown-skinned" land. The use Asian Indian accents for gods sake. Please, stop letting your love for the show make you stupid.

[Kelly2]

"And quit arguing where they are from...its obviously a "brown-skinned" land. The use Asian Indian accents for gods sake. Please, stop letting your love for the show make you stupid."

Hey rude person. Have you ever actually studied Dickens or the original novel or the many, many productions of this show over time? No one is being stupid. There are MANY interpretations of their characters and they have been played many different ways. For example, the BBC miniseries does use actors of Indian descent. Then again, that is a direct adaptation of the book, so it lacks the frame that the musical has.

Jessie Mueller and Andy Karl are playing Janet Conover and Victor Grinstead, who are written as Caucasian members of the theatre troupe who play Neville and Helena in their production of The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Disagree with the writing all you want, but the reality is their casting is perfectly appropriate for the show as it was written.