The Royal Opera House (ROH) has been accused of “whitewashing” over its latest production of a Puccini classic.
The British East and South-East Asians in Theatre and On Screen (BEATS) group has criticised the production of Turandot, which is set in China, for only having two east or south-east Asian performers among nine lead roles.
It also highlighted the casting of Italian singer Anna Pirozzi as the Chinese Princess Turandot.
A spokesman from BEATS said: "Casting a white actor in a specifically non-white role, known as ‘whitewashing’, is regressive, as it perpetuates the historical and present exclusion of artists of colour from the stage.”
The Royal Opera House said it was "limiting and reductive" to pigeonhole singers into roles based on ethnicity.
It added: "We are proud that this revival presents an outstanding and diverse cast, and we will continue to work with others across the industry to ensure that broader representation is achieved on our stages and across the performing arts."
The cast includes performers from countries including South Korea and South Africa, but BEATS added: “Whilst we acknowledge that some artists of colour have been added to the cast, we fail to see why there are only two British East and Southeast Asian singers in a production that is set in China.”
This is not the first time BEATS have criticised the opera house. Last year it accused them of whitewashing after Italian and Armenian singers were cast in Madame Butterfly.
The Covent Garden institution recently issued an anti-racism pledge which said it wanted diversity to be “the expectation, not the exception” in its work.
It added: “Opera, ballet and the Royal Opera House should belong to everyone. We acknowledge that people have experienced long-standing underrepresentation, inequalities, discrimination and micro-aggression as a result of their skin colour, ethnicity and/or faith.
“We take responsibility for driving change in our organisation and in its artforms, in the UK and internationally. Specific actions and targets are set out in our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion plan which will be regularly reviewed and updated by the Executive team.”
