ANN ARBOR—In what theater professionals identify as color-blind, non-traditional, or integrated casting, British actor David Oyelowo has become the first Black actor to play an English monarch for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). He will bring his version of “Henry VI” to the University of Michigan campus in performances of Shakespeare’s history plays during a three-week RSC residency in March.

Michael Boyd, director of the RSC productions, and other directors, contend that it is not the color of the skin that is important in casting a production, but the quality of performance. “David really is a bit of a genius,” Boyd said. “It is color-blind casting. His son will be white and there is no hint of illegitimacy.”

Oyelowo, 24, whose family is from Nigeria, and other ethnic actors have endured a brand of negative stereotypes from those in the industry who feel that non-white actors have to “act their skin color.” British actor Karl Collins says that “with too many TV roles, there is still a sense that ‘Black’ is a character in itself.” Oyelowo told a British paper “Shakespeare did elaborate the facts in his historical plays, but I don’t think we’re meddling with history. After all, everything you see on a stage is only make-believe.”

When traditionalists exhibited outrage that a Black actor was going to play a British king, Oyelowo responded with: “Theater by its very nature is make-believe. If I’m on stage and I say I’m in tears, you believe me. If I say I’ve got an army of 30,000 off stage, you believe me. I don’t know why if I suddenly say that I’m the king of England that is so much more controversial.”

Royal Shakespeare Company