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Arts feature

Shakespeare's Wars of the Roses is being staged without a single black actor. So what?

Ethnic and gender quotas are fast becoming the norm in the performing arts - but they shouldn’t be

5 September 2015

9:00 AM

5 September 2015

9:00 AM

Shakespeare’s ‘Wars of the Roses’ will have no ethnic minority actors in the cast when the shows (two Henry VI plays and Richard III) open at the Rose Theatre, Kingston upon Thames, later this month. A sprinkling of so-called BME (black and minority ethnic) actors in Shakespeare has been the norm for ages now.

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‘Wars of the Roses’ is at the Rose Theatre, Kingston upon Thames, 16 September to 31 October.

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