MEMBERS OF A production of An Octoroon have said it is “unacceptable” that two white cast members were nominated for the Irish Times Theatre Awards while none of the people of colour on the cast received nods. 

The Abbey Theatre staged the production of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ An Octoroon in April 2022. 

Eight of the 10 cast members were people of colour. 

In a statement this evening, members of the production’s creative team said the play was a “groundbreaking moment”, being Ireland’s first mainstage production with “a majority non-white cast, the first black director on The Abbey stage, and a text which unabashedly tackles race and racism, both in its historic and contemporary guises”. 

The play “demanded a lot of the people of colour making and performing it, asking them to stage moments of great violence and reenact offensive and damaging stereotypes, in order to emphasise the enduring toxicity of those caricatures to the (majority white) audience,” the statement said. 

The nominees for the Irish Times Theatre Awards were published last Saturday. 

The two white cast members received nominations.

Rory Nolan was nominated for best supporting actor and Maeve O’Mahony was nominated for best supporting actress for their roles in An Octoroon. 

The statement by the creative team members this evening said that although the cast was made up of a majority of people of colour (eight of 10 cast members), “a decision was made to only recognise the two white actors for nominations among all the individuals in the cast and creative team”. 

“We believe this is unacceptable,” they said. 

“It is worth noting that all 16 acting nominations are white, which does not represent today’s Ireland and the increasing diversity we see on our stages.”

A Statement from Members of the An Octoroon Creative Team in response to @irishtimes #IrishTimesTheatreAwards nominations.

Please read our full statement here. pic.twitter.com/pL8GEC0KCq

— Black and Irish (@Black_andirish) February 10, 2023

The statement goes on to say: “We do not minimise the achievements of the white cast members or undermine their deserving performances, but we are disappointed by the lack of recognition for the extraordinary work of the actors from the global majority.

“It is a painful irony given that the play depicts the exploitation of people of colour in the face of structural racism.” 

The statement was signed by six members of the creative team. 

The Abbey Theatre also released a statement this evening on the matter. 

A comment on #AnOctoroon and the Irish Times Theatre awards nominations pic.twitter.com/Mql3UDoHhO

— Abbey Theatre (@AbbeyTheatre) February 10, 2023

It said that it last year brought together “a superb company of artists” to present An Octoroon. 

“This play examines the complex subject of race, representation, stereotypes and unconscious bias. Our beautiful production was critically celebrated across the media with a host of four and five star reviews,” the statement said. 

“Following the announcement of the Irish Times Theatre Awards nominations, there have been discussions within the industry around omissions in general and race representation and bias in particular,” it said. 

“These conversations highlight the fact that we as an industry need to work harder to ensure more diversity and better representation in all critical platforms and panels moving forward.”

The Abbey Theatre said it “is, and will continue to be, completely committed to this conversation through our programme and our wider engagement”.

The Irish Times Theatre Awards has been contacted by The Journal for comment. 

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