‘Violent divide’ at Ballarat Lyric Theatre over casting for Kinky Boots production

An amateur Ballarat theatre company has been forced to defend casting a role in a musical without regard to ethnicity, race, or gender after accusations of “whitewashing”.

The Ballarat Lyric Theatre in Mount Pleasant was accused of “whitewashing” following its casting announcement for a production of Kinky Boots.

An amateur theatre company in regional Victoria has responded to claims of “whitewashing” after it cast a white actor in a role typically played by a black man.

The volunteer-run Ballarat Lyric Theatre recently announced the cast for its run of musical Kinky Boots beginning in February next year.

But the casting of Ballarat performer Matthew Bandy for the character of Lola, a fictional drag queen who helps a shoe factory owner save his business, has caused, in one social media user’s words, the “biggest and most violent divide” to date in the local theatre community due to Mr Bandy’s skin colour and ethnicity.

The musical adaptation of the 2005 Kinky Boots film debuted in 2012 and was scored by Cyndi Lauper, with such lyrics given to Lola as “I’m black Jesus; I’m black Mary”.

In a note to stage directors, the authors recorded their “strong preference” for a black actor, or otherwise a racially diverse one, to portray Lola, and encouraged similar casting of “other key roles”.

The authors did acknowledge limited demographics in some areas, speaking mainly about high schools.

Previous Kinky Boots productions in the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia have cast black men as Lola, whereas South Korean, Japanese, and Filipino productions have cast actors hailing from their respective countries.

Jeremiah Pau as Lola from North Queensland Opera and Musical Theatre's production of Kinky Boots at the Townsville Civic Theatre. Picture: Evan Morgan

In relation to Ballarat’s Kinky Boots iteration, performer Daniel Lamech published an open letter to the Lyric Theatre on August 28 saying its casting choice was “disappointing”, “not unexpected”, and “white-washing”.

“My disgust is that the audition was open to non people of colour in the first place,” he said.

“Despite an artist foreword to cast a black actor, and failing that a person of colour, the casting team at Lyric have wilfully misinterpreted this as permission to ignore the author’s original intent, rather than the call to be proactive that it is.”

He said claiming a black actor did not audition was a “tired argument” indicating “laziness and apathy”.

“You can tell the story of discovering masculinity and sexuality with a white man, but by doing so you are choosing to ignore the extra layer of stigma that comes from being queer or feminine as a person of colour.”

Ballarat Lyric Theatre president Michael Whitehead posted a defence the following day, saying “inclusion should not be a casting factor when used to exploit minority narratives for diversity’s sake”.

“The story of Kinky Boots is not centred on race,” he said.

“The story is about acceptance and being true to who you are.

“The rights for the show do not require a BIPOC casting of ‘Lola’, but do encourage it where possible.”

Dr Whitehead said the Lyric Theatre focused on “acting well” with respect to characters and intellectual properties.

“We do not ask ethnic background, race, religion or gender identity questions for a role,” he said.

“A straight male may play a gay man (or vice versa), a female may play a male (and vice versa) and the criteria for choice is that person who is the best fit for the role.

“It is about talented people telling an important story as well as we can.”

On Friday, Dr Whitehead told the Herald Sun that it was the theatre company’s remit to showcase primarily local talent with what small resources it had.

“We are an amateur theatre company,” he said.

“It costs us a quarter of a million dollars to put the show on each time, so we have to present to the Ballarat audience the most professional acting, singing, and dancing that we can find – that’s our responsibility.

“We’ve got a diverse group of people both on the committee and in the cast.”

He said many criticisms were “quite unfair” as the company always tried its best to put on a show that was “as professional-looking as it can be by non-professional performers”.

“We bear the responsibility of our decisions all of the time,” Dr Whitehead said.

“But decisions are not made based on race, ethnicity, any of those sorts of things: it’s the best person for the job.”

The Ballarat Kinky Boots cast beyond the character of Lola includes Indigenous Australians and people of other backgrounds.

Auditions were open and performed in front of competing actors.

It is not the first controversy for Kinky Boots adaptations: in 2019, a St Kilda theatre company received identical criticism for its casting choices.

The MEAA represents about 6000 performers.

The union’s equity section director Ashley Rose said the MEAA called on live theatre, music, and screen industries to “more accurately reflect the diversity of our nation”.

“While the role of Lola in Kinky Boots was not specifically written for a BIPOC performer, adding the extra dimension and depth to the story through a BIPOC lens enriches the experience for the audience as has been seen whenever it has been performed around the world,” she said.

“It is time for producers and theatre companies to begin ensuring they are reflecting the diversity of this country.

“This will be borne out in the bottom line as research from Creative Australia has shown there is a potential audience of six million Australians who currently only attend their local community art scenes because that is only place where they see themselves represented.”

Mr Bandy was contacted for comment.