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Not for the LSDCATS.
The London School of Dramatic and Creative Arts Theatre Society has an interesting auditioning process. They have been harsh, cruel and critical, but not in the way one expects.
They’ve rejected people for:
A) Being too dark-skinned for a traditionally white role.
B) Being too foreign to direct a classically white play.
C) Wearing a hijab.
D) Being of a different race and therefore being presumed unable to understand classic literature.
These are just four reasons why the LSDCATS have turned students away from their plays, but they plainly show how terribly prejudiced they are.
And if you’re wondering how I know this, it’s because I got added into a group yesterday called The Tragedies. All the participants of this group were students rejected by the LSDCATS because of their skin tone and nothing else. It was a group made to look out for one another, but, more than anything, it exposed the LSDCATS for their deep-rooted prejudice.
Theatre was made to entertain spectators, to paint stories with actions and music, to fill an auditorium with imagination. It was not made to breed hatred, to continue fostering this unequivocal racism.
To put it plainly, this is a warning from us to every aspiring actor or actress out there. Stay away from the LSDCATS. Protect your heart. Your mental health. Don’t subject yourself to their practices, which are rooted in hate and racism.
The LSDCATS are pretending to champion the theatrical arts, only to ultimately narrow it, restrict it and take it away from people of colour.
But I’m here to tell you that we’re not going to let them.
CHAPTER FOUR
Before we graduated, my A-level psychology teacher gave every single one of her students the same piece of advice: never decide something when you’re feeling the extremes of a negative or positive emotion. Never make a choice when you’re drowning in sadness or soaring with happiness or burning with anger.
Why?
Because once you move away from that feeling, everything will seem different, and the choice you once made will feel ill-fitting.
Last night, I not only went against her advice, but I also found a new condition to add.
Don’t make life-changing decisions at 3.00 a.m.
When I jolted awake at lunchtime to the sound of my don’t-forget-to-submit-your-assignment alarm, realizing I’d overslept and missed my 8.00 a.m. and 10.00 a.m. lectures, I didn’t expect to see over a hundred notifications lighting up my phone. More than that, I didn’t expect to see that I had gained over 5,000 followers on Twitter. It turns out my old Tumblr account is still linked to my pseudonymous Twitter account. As soon as I’d submitted that essay-post raging against the LSDCATS, the link to it had been automatically shared on my Twitter account too. And while I was dead to the world, my post was being read again, and again, and again.
Every time I refresh my screen, the numbers go up. With each like, my stomach twists; with each retweet, my pulse jumps.
‘Oh my God.’ I breathe out, my heart hammering in my throat. ‘Oh my God! What did I do?’
Is that a like from Simone Ashley? A retweet from Mindy Kaling? A fire-emoji comment from Laiba Siddiqi?
Laiba Siddiqi. Zayan Amin’s ex-girlfriend. Another favourite celebrity of mine. Right under her comment is a reply from the LSDCATS, the sight of it making my chest tighten.
@TheLSDCATS: We welcome ALL those who wish to audition.
The replies to that are painfully harsh.
@LeenasDreams: @TheLSDCATS Are you guys serious? That’s not what the post is saying in the slightest. The way you’ve been casting actors and actresses is biased, prejudiced and inherently WHITE. Are you going to own up to that?
I probably would’ve remained in bed, staring at my phone screen, shell-shocked, had someone not knocked on my door.
‘Y-yes?’ I croak out, my voice still rough with sleep.
‘It’s me,’ Amal says through the door. ‘You’ve missed your morning classes and I need to know if you’re still alive.’
