ABSTRACT
The aim of my book, Nine questions every actor of color should consider when tokenism is not enough, is to confront and analyze the systemic racism that confronts actors of color through interviews of leading Chicago theater performers. The understanding that actors of color have been and continue to be expected, by default, to neutralize their identities reflects the systemic racism of our theater, film, and television worlds. Actors of color have always had to question themselves and their culture: what do we give up by fitting into the racist, Eurocentric conception of who an actor is and the way an actor works? How many times are actors of color able to bring themselves to a role, and what part of our identity can we really bring to that role? Was it the neutralized, non-specific identity required of a Eurocentric theater, or was it our honest selves, informed by our identities and experiences?
