From the New York Times:
When playwright Rebecca Gilman adapted “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter” for the stage, she changed a key element of the Carson McCullers novel, giving speeches to a character who is deaf and mute throughout the book. The change makes it difficult for a deaf actor to play the role.
Now that the play is being produced in New York, deaf actors and deaf theater groups are protesting the artistic and casting choices behind the character of John Singer. A coalition of groups has asked that Henry Stram, the hearing actor who is playing the part, be replaced by a deaf actor.
“A hearing actor playing a deaf character is tantamount to putting a white actor in blackface,” said Linda Bove, a deaf actress and board member of the Alliance for Inclusion in the Arts, an advocacy group for minority, disabled and deaf artists.
Director Doug Hughes said he would not fire Stram but was sympathetic to the deaf actors’ concerns. He offered to work with them on a future project.
(Photo from the New York Times)