Actress urges students to break race barriers

Actress, writer and director Susana Tubert spoke to about a dozen students and faculty members Monday about typecasting problems in the world of the performing arts. Tubert, a native Argentinian, addressed the topic by describing her own experiences as a Hispanic actress and then related it to discrimination within the University's performing arts community. "Theater has always been the barometer of society," she said. Tubert urged University students to make an effort to break down the racial barriers found even at the University level in theater. "The concept of transcending a label or stereotype still frightens many people," she said. Tubert offered suggestions for elimating typecasting. She recommended "color blind casting -- any role at any given point will be given to the best actor regardless of color." "It is a system based on intrinsic human values," Tubert said. Another suggestion was to cast minorities in traditionally white leading roles. Tubert also cautioned against attempting to pass as a member of a different racial group. "I don't want to keep measuring our success by our ability to pass for the other," she said. Although the Hispanic population of the United States is growing five times faster than any other population, 90 percent of the casting is for white actors, Tubert said. Tubert described being caught in "casting limbo" -- actors being overlooked because directors feel they are too white to play Hispanics and too Mediterranean-looking to play the part of a white character. Tubert said that after realizing that the only way she would be able to get work would be to lie about her heritage, she decided to change things. She worked with Community Theater and produced two successful plays for the Don Quixote Children's Experimental Theater Group. At this point she realized that she was a Latin American, not just an Argentinian, Tubert said. "I think that it is really important that she pointed out the problem," said Laura Hammons, administrative assistant for Student Performing Arts. "It is bigger than the theater."

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