But they have on occasion provided an opportunity to experiment with casting, shedding fresh light on a role, a performer and even a playwright. A reading of Larry Kramer’s “The Normal Heart,” a benefit for the ONE Archives Foundation, did just that on Saturday night. Sterling K. Brown and Laverne Cox were the headliners in an ensemble directed by Paris Barclay. AdvertisementBrown, who’s Black and straight, didn’t try to summon the white and gay Kramer back to life. The accent and mannerisms belonged to a newly interpreted Ned Weeks, a Ned Weeks who neither looked nor sounded like the author who created him.

Source: Los Angeles Times May 13, 2021 15:54 UTC