DreamCatcher Theatre's JJ Caruncho Writes About Unconventional INTO THE WOODS Casting

DreamCatcher Theatre is currently presenting INTO THE WOODS in partnership with the Adrienne Arsht Center as part of their Theater Up Close Season. Featuring some unconventional casting, the show stars Broadway's Tituss Burgess (starring in the upcoming Netflix series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt) as The Witch and Arielle Jacobs (In the Heights) as The Baker's Wife.

JJ Caruncho, who plays the Baker in the show and also serves as co-artistic director, recently wrote an open letter about casting the piece. Check out what he had to say below:

Dear friends,
I have heard two different versions of a quote/concept mistakenly attributed to our theatre company, DreamCatcher Theatre, lately that, because of how untrue it is in concept, I feel the urge to set straight, just in case any of my friends have heard it and believe that it actually comes from me.
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Several times now I have heard it said that part of the reason, or even the principle reason, that we founded DreamCatcher Theatre was to "create more opportunities for Hispanic actors". I've also heard the broader version: "That we created it with a heavy commitment to 'non-traditional casting' in order provide people of 'color' with more opportunities". Although I know that these are meant to be positive in nature...both of these things are totally untrue and we have never said either.

The fact of the matter is, I find the concept of "non-traditional" casting to be a brazenly offensive one. It offends me because "Non-Traditional" implies that it is the opposite of something else which IS "Traditional". And, since we all know that "non traditional" casting means "many ethnicities on stage and cast in a way that seems to not care about race"....this clearly implies that "traditional" casting thus must mean: "Casting only Caucasian people in ANY play regardless of subject matter". What many people refer to as "non traditional" is, in fact, just what real life looks like. This bizarre concept that any character, unless specifically mentioned as being otherwise, is Caucasian is clearly a "tradition" of racism and bigotry and, if it IS a tradition (which it clearly is), it is one which I refuse to recognize as valid. Comparable to sacrificing goats in order to satisfy angry thunder gods. It just makes no sense. Secondly, there is not, nor will there ever be, any affirmative action within our theatre company. The concept that anyone was cast because of their skin color, and that we are "trying to provide opportunities to people of color", is offensive to the actors in question since it implies that their skin was what got them in rather than their talent and passion. None of them needed any help. Every time a person has come up to me (usually an artist) and said something regarding the "worldy" nature of our cast, I've had to hold my tongue and spirit a bit. Race (or gender) was never an issue within our casting process. The people in our cast were cast because they are some of the best actors on the the planet and were the best people for the parts. Period. Including the many Caucasian actors in our company. That is the extent of the reason they were cast. So, I won't call it "non traditional" casting. Rather, I will call it....."Casting". Or, perhaps more specifically, "Casting Really Awesome People Because They're Really Awesome" casting. Unless we are putting on a play that is specifically about race, the genetic optical illusion that we are somehow not all just people doesn't interest me in the least and never has. It bores me terribly and is a tedious remnant of an embarrassing past history of ignorance which at some point we must, as a species, decide to move on from. I refuse to be shackled down by ridiculous and mistaken traditions begun by our forefathers. I have decided to move on from it.

As a final note: It does seem to mainly be artists who perpetuate this idea. We've not had a single audience member comment on it, nor a single critic. When I played Hamlet earlier this year, audiences only referred to me as "that actor who played Hamlet". I found it interesting that it was ONLY fellow actors who ever said things like "Oh! A Cuban Hamlet?! Cool! Are you changing the country? What's the concept?!". To which I usually said, "To be clear: Do you think that Lawrence Olivier, Mark Rylance, or Jude Law are from Denmark?". This thinking of people in regards to "type" kind of conversation, which is perpetuated solely by artists, is a powerful poison that we pour into the very well from which we drink. We must free ourselves from it.

It's 2015 A.D. The world, which grows increasingly amalgamated, is made up of people of all colors and is more beautiful and the better because of it. As the people who get up and tell the stories, we have a tremendous amount of say in what stories we choose to tell, the way that said stories are told, in which "traditions" we choose to continue within the arts and society, in which new traditions we fight to establish, and which traditions we choose to simply set down and move on from. Fighting to "abolish" it simply gives it power by recognizing it as real. And it is an imaginary tradition that is wholly without imagination. At DreamCatcher, we have most certainly set the tradition of judging an artist, or person, by the color of their skin rather than by the content of their character, their spirit, and their ability to share stories, light, and essential truths about what it means to be alive, down in the past; where it belongs. And we proudly walk forward, away from that sad old idea, without ever giving it a backwards glance. I hope my friends will join me in doing so as well.
I hope you've all had a wonderful week so far and have a beautiful weekend.
With love,
JJ Caruncho
Founder and Co-Artistic Director
DreamCatcher Theatre Company

Tickets to INTO THE WOODS are $50* and may be purchased through the Adrienne Arsht Center box office by calling (305) 949-6722 or online at www.arshtcenter.org. For more, go to www.dreamcatchertheatre.com or follow @DCTdreamteam.