Putting Actors in Boxes: A Study of Typecasting and its Effects

Abstract

“Putting Actors in Boxes: A Study of Typecasting and its Effects” discusses how gender is perceived in theatre; in characters and in actors, and the influences of each on the other. Research was conducted in hopes of aiding actors and entertainers with finding work as well as helping the public with seeing and accepting themselves in the media. To that end, this topic is pertinent as it reveals the ways in which, in certain environments, student actors have a much wider range of available roles than professional actors. After conducting extensive research, many questions inevitably arise, which can largely be summed up into “how does the practice of typecasting simultaneously reinforce and undermine the construction of gender identities in theatre, and what are the resulting psychological and economic implications?” In pursuit of greater knowledge, mixed methods research was employed in addition to extensive literature review; qualitative data was gathered via interviews of professionals in the theatre industry, including Ryan Bernard Tymensky csa and a former Broadway actor turned college theatre professor who preferred to remain anonymous, quantitative data was gathered through surveys conducted among the student theatre community at FSH, NDHS, and St.Francis. The sum of research concludes typecasting is a toxic systemic practice prevalent in the professional theatre industry, and although typecasting still occurs in the secondary school environment, it is largely not as problematic or damaging. This study proposes that advocacy and compulsory diversity education programs for all professionals in the theatre industry would play a pivotal role in mitigating the impact of typecasting on actors – dialogue is powerful, and being open to conversation is the first step in major change.