American Moor versus Richard III: Playing Roles Opposite of Their "Type"

 American Moor - Kieth Hamilton Cobb

"'Don't do Titania. Pick something else.' 

So I said,

'Gallop apace, you fiery-footed steeds, 

Towards Phoebus' lodging: such a wagoner

As Phaethon would whip you to the west,

And bring in cloudy night immediately. 

Spread thy close curtain, love-performing night,

That runaway's eyes may wink and Romeo

Leap to these arms, untack'd of and unseen-'

'Pick something you might realistically play! Something befitting your age, and experience!'

'O, what a role and pleasant slave am I!

It is not monstrous that this player here,

But in fiction, in a dream of passion,

Could force his soul so to his own conceit-'

'Hamlet is hardly your experience...'"

Richard III performed at the Globe:

I just to use this passage in comparison with the 2024 Globe's production of Richard III because they both touch on/contain characters either played by the opposite sex, or characters feeling as though they are worthy of playing the opposite sex. The production of Richard III at the Globe was played by an all women/queer cast, which I felt was incredibly empowering given the nature of the play. In American Moor, the main character, titled "actor", is engaging the audience in the conversation of playing more than what you are first seen as. Rather than only being able to play Othello because he is black, he is opening a dialogue of playing white characters, female characters, and everything in between. These two pieces compare well with one another in this sense, as both are actively pushing societal expectations of their genders.