Entertainment
A Black actor was denied a wig for a major Broadway tour. She's now suing for racial discrimination
Out of town, on Broadway and on the road, the recent revival of “1776” was strategically cast in a nontraditional manner, with actors of diverse gender identities and racial backgrounds portraying the historically white, male Founding Fathers as they finalized the Declaration of Independence. “Putting history in the hands of the humans who were left out the first time around,” read the show’s marketing material.
But a complaint, filed earlier this week by actor Zuri Washington, alleges racial discrimination and retaliation on the show’s national tour. Washington hopes the complaint, which recounts producers’ dismissal of Washington’s hair preferences and alleges she was terminated after expressing an intent to submit a formal report of discrimination, reignites conversations about the industry’s inequitable treatment of Black hair and the harmful perpetuation of the “angry Black woman” stereotype.
“I was made to feel like I did something wrong in the course of this entire experience, and I know I didn’t do anything wrong,” Washington tells The Times. “I could have done things differently, perhaps. But what they did to me is like a legal version of tone-policing, and like I’m being constantly punished for existing and telling my truth.”
Washington filed the complaint against the tour’s production companies NETworks Presentations and 1776 Touring, and several of their employees. The tour’s production companies did not respond to The Times’ request for comment.
According to the lawsuit, Washington, upon getting cast as Robert Livingston in December 2022, reached out to the tour’s management to finalize a hair plan — a collaborative decision that prioritizes a production’s design preferences as well as a performer’s practical needs. During consultations with the tour’s associate hair designer, Washington said she expressed her discomfort with wearing her natural hair onstage, as well as her desire to wear a wig or, at the very least, to install a braided protective style.
“I love my natural hair, but [producers] don’t realize what wearing my natural hair for eight shows a week entails,” she says, citing the lengthy amount of time and numerous products needed for proper maintenance, especially amid the variety of climates they’d be exposed to while on tour. Washington learned this the hard way: while previously touring “Hairspray,” the changes in altitude, temperature and humidity wreaked havoc on her locks.
“I was devastated — my hair almost fell out of my head, and I had to cut it to my ears,” she recalls. “I promised myself, never again would I leave the fate of my hair, something that’s so close to me and that I care about so much, up to other people. And given the ethos of the production, I was hoping I would feel secure and supported by the team behind the scenes.”
Washington, fourth from left, and the national tour cast of “1776.”
(Joan Marcus)
The complaint outlines that, after multiple emails to various members of the tour’s creative team, Washington was told to wear a protective style — specifically, a two-strand “spring” twist. But these instructions didn’t specify whether this style was to fit under a wig or to wear on stage; when she asked for clarity on the matter, her emails went unanswered.
According to the suit, Washington wasn’t informed about her onstage hair design until she arrived at the tour’s first stop in Utica, N.Y., in February 2023. Though multiple white actors in the cast were provided with wigs, including someone Washington says didn’t even request one, Washington’s request for a wig, as well as those by the cast’s other actors of color, had been denied.
Washington was then presented with an image of a specific protective style the production team preferred her to wear, reads the complaint. Since there were no appointment openings at any nearby hair salons, the team offered to book one at the next tour stop and requested she wear her natural hair during performances in the meantime.
Though she felt pressured to do so by the production, Washington didn’t want to wear her natural hair on stage, so her hair was instead styled by the tour’s assistant choreographer into Marley twists, a style that’s arguably an easier one to do because it doesn’t need shaping. According to the suit, the process lasted until 3 a.m., amid tech rehearsals and during a meal break. The complaint also notes that another Black cast member had similar frustrations about their hair plan.
Had the production team informed her of their decision for her hair plan earlier, “I could have easily gotten it done when I was in New York, where there are braiding places everywhere,” says Washington, a Bronx native who’s the daughter of a hairstylist. “I could’ve bought products way in advance, and I would have showed up with my full arsenal. But they waited until the last minute to give me an answer.”
At the time of the “1776” tour, the contract governing touring productions — held between Actors’ Equity Assn., the national union representing more than 51,000 professional actors and stage managers working in live theater, and the Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway industry — only addressed the topic of hair in regard to changing one’s hair color or length for the duration of a role.
A new touring agreement, ratified in May 2023, specifically addresses hair texture as part of diversity, equity and inclusion standards — an addition made based on the historic New Deal for Broadway, the comprehensive industry-wide agreement led by nonprofit advocacy organization Black Theatre United. “We will not discriminate against anyone due to hair texture and will ensure all hair needs are addressed with respect and care,” reads the New Deal, signed by theater leaders in 2021.
“If the show genuinely requires hair of a certain texture that doesn’t match the actor’s natural hair, we, directors, commit to speaking with the actor and hair and costume designer early in the casting process (or, if that is not possible in the circumstances, as soon as possible thereafter) to outline our vision for the character and gauge the actor’s comfort level with alterations to their natural hair.”
Though productions are required to provide any hair products to maintain a performance hairstyle on tour, Washington said her requests often necessitated multiple follow-ups and took weeks to fulfill — long after those of the cast’s white actors, according to the complaint. Looking back, she considers it, at the very least, reflective of the industry’s wider misunderstanding of Black hair: “There’s definitely a lack of knowledge about how much time and money it takes to keep up, how politically charged it is and how it’s seen as a statement when in certain spaces.”
“Black hair has been a hot-button issue within the theatrical community for many years now so, at this point, it feels like willful ignorance,” she continues. “You’re putting us in these productions, but you’re not taking care of us, and it ends up imbuing harm on our spirits and our bodies that we have to use eight shows a week.”
Washington, third from right, and the national tour cast of “1776.”
(Joan Marcus)
Tensions continued to rise shortly after opening the tour, when the production held a meeting about its COVID-19 testing standards. There had already been one positive case in the workplace and, according to the complaint, several performers felt producers were not taking their safety concerns seriously, particularly as some actors suffered from preexisting conditions.
Washington, also delegated as the production’s Equity union deputy, voiced the group’s frustrations on the matter, swearing and slapping her hand against the back of a nearby chair for emphasis. After the meeting, the production’s general manager contacted Washington’s agent to report the actor as “unruly,” according to the complaint. Washington was the only cast member whose agent was called, even though Washington said numerous actors were impassioned in the meeting, including one who threatened to sue the show.
The complaint outlines that, in March 2023, Washington met with a third-party human resources professional, who informed her that the production’s management would not be issuing an apology for singling her out, and offered her the option of filing a formal complaint of discrimination with her union. “Yes, I will, because this is the only course of action available to me and I’m going to do it,” she replied, according to the complaint. “I’ll take these f— down that way if I have to. I’ve taken bigger f— down before and I’ll do it again. So yes, I will be filing an official complaint with HR.”
Hours after announcing an intent to file the report, Washington was called by her agent and told that her contract, scheduled for the duration of the tour through August, was being terminated, according to the suit. The following day, she received an official termination letter that cited alleged “aggressive, uncontrolled behavior and threatening statement” in the meeting, and her union representatives were later told that Washington was an “immediate safety concern.”
“Race discrimination has absolutely no business on Broadway,” said Washington’s attorney, Tanvir H. Rahman of Filippatos PLLC. “In the theater industry where talented actors, especially actors of color, are expected to keep their heads down and voices low, our client, Zuri Washington, an incredibly talented, principled and thoughtful Black actor, has courageously decided to tell her story and hold the producers of ‘1776’ accountable for violating her right to work in an environment free of bias and retaliation.”
Washington hopes that going public with her experience will encourage other actors to continue to advocate for themselves and each other. “I used to think I’m the only one this has happened to, and it’s so uncomfortable to hash through the stories,” she says. “But if I can make a difference in this way, it will have been worth it.
“We have so much power, as individuals and as a collective. And we can continue pushing this industry forward, even if they go kicking and screaming into the future.”
Pizza Movie (2026) Director: Nick Kocher and Brian McElhaney, Star: Gaten Matarazzo and Sean Giambrone
Somehow, I got through an hour of this movie. I was seconds away from turning off in the first fifteen minutes because of the juvenile humor. Pizza Movie is too silly, repetitive, and the characters are annoying. Stranger Things Gaten Matarazzo and Sean Giambrone star as college friends, Jack and Montgomery. College angles are rarely seen in films right now, and that’s the one saving grace of the film. Similar to high school, people are also trying to fit in. The story and visuals were too corny. You can only watch someone’s head exploding for so long without letting yours.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026) Director: Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, Stars: Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy
I never saw the first Super Mario Brothers Movie when it was out, but I heard it got positive reviews. My brother always loved playing Super Mario video games as a kid, and I’d watch him. I tagged along with my friends to see Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and it’s a cute and fun film. I like it when movies explore the video game world. The animation creates unique worlds and characters. The characters are split into their own storylines, and for me, I felt like it worked. It adds more action, especially for kids who are seeing the films.
Emily in Paris Season 5 (2025) Creator: Darren Star, Stars: Lily Collins and Ashley Park
After a bright spot in season 4, I thought season 5 of Emily in Paris would continue its growth in the story and its protagonist, but no, it’s all drained out in the usual Emily (Lily Collins) mishaps. Ashley Park (Mindy) has become too good for this show. Emily and Mindy waste several opportunities because of their love lives. The whole relationship angle is ruining it. I don’t understand why Alfie (Lucien Laviscount) is still in the show. I thought writers learned their lesson, but by the last episode, they’re continuing to bring the past into an apparent season 6.
Sarah’s Oil (2025) Director: Cyrus Nowrasteh, Stars: Naya Desir-Johnson and Zachary Levi
There’s always history lurking right beneath our noses. Sarah’s Oil (2025) tells the true story of Sarah Rector, an Oklahoma-born African American girl who became the first black female millionaire in the U.S. Naya Desir-Johnson is fierce and driven as Sarah. Zachary Levi is also along for the ride as Bert, a man who helps Sarah. Kate (Bridget Regan) was another favorite character as an intelligent woman. Cyrus Nowrasteh was drawn to the subject for its story and its themes. Nowrasteh’s direction is compelling as he unearths a hidden story from history. The film is streaming on Amazon Prime.
Jack Goes Boating (2014) Director and Star: Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Ryan
Jack Goes Boating (2014) didn’t quite work for me, largely because of its slow pace and uneven storytelling. The film stars the late Seymour Hoffman as Jack, who also directed the film. This was Hoffman’s first and only time in the directing chair. Amy Ryan also stars in the film, giving a solid performance. This was also based on a play that Hoffman starred in. Jack wants to participate in a swim championship. That’s hardly what the film is about, tracking other characters’ stories. While the film aims for quiet intimacy, it ultimately drags, making it an underwhelming viewing experience.
You Kill Me (2016), Director: John Dahl, Stars: Ben Kingsley, Tea Leoni, Luke Wilson
Meet You Kill Me (2016), yet another film that I found in the museum of underrated gems. The concept revolves around Frank (Ben Kingsley), a hitman, who is sent to an A.A. meeting to get his mind focused again. A different story happens, where Frank falls in love with Laurel (Tea Leoni). Leoni is one of my favorite actresses. It also stars the funny Luke Wilson. I liked the trio’s dynamics. You Kill Me is a mental health movie. It’s okay to make changes if you’re not happy. I recommended that you keep an eye out for this movie.
Entertainment
Review: Trigger warning? ‘For Want of a Horse’ gives new meaning to the term ‘animal lover’
“For Want of a Horse,” a play by Olivia Dufault receiving its world premiere in an Echo Theater Company production at Atwater Village Theatre, wants to have a rational conversation about a taboo topic that can provoke instant outrage.
The subject is zoophilia, not to be confused with bestiality, though for many of us it will be a distinction without much of a difference.
Calvin (Joey Stromberg), a good-looking, mild-mannered married accountant, has harbored a secret for much of his life. He has a thing for horses. His erotic interest began at an early age, and all his efforts to lead a normal life have left him depressed and contemplating suicide.
His wife, Bonnie (Jenny Soo), is a permissive kindergarten teacher who’s having difficulty restraining a girl in her class who has discovered the joys of masturbation. Worried about her husband, she discovers through his browsing history that he’s once again visiting strange animal sites.
She suggests he keep a horse, explaining that she doesn’t want to end up a widow or divorcée. Calvin is taken aback by her generosity but has come to recognize that his preference is more than a kink. It’s part of his identity — and maybe the only part that makes his life seem worth living.
Joey Stromberg and Jenny Soo in “For Want of a Horse” at the Echo Theater Company.
(Cooper Bates)
A horse named Q-Tip (Griffin Kelly) enters the couple’s lives. A stable is secured, and the mare, who senses that something strange is going on, is indulged with apples and caresses.
Kelly, a statuesque presence in a dress, harness and boots, brings the horse to life with wild, unpredictable movements. The sheer size of the animal poses a threat to humans. One kick, as Q-Tip herself explains in one of her thought-bubble monologues, is capable of penetrating a steel wall. But controlling an animal’s food supply is an effective way of winning over its trust.
Calvin has found support in the online zoophilia community. PJ (Steven Culp), a man whose current inamorata is a bichon frise, is considering moving to a country where zoophilia isn’t illegal. He’s tired of the shame and the secrecy. He’s proud of his attachment to pooch, even if his thing for dogs has cost him contact with his daughter and ex-wife.
Dufault doesn’t shy away from sexual details. For PJ, intimacy depends on peanut butter. Calvin describes the physical signals that reveal Q-Tip’s erotic satisfaction. The play occasionally descends into sitcom humor. (PJ says he’s considering creating a human-dog dating app called Rin Tin Tinder.) But mostly the subdued tone steers clear of sensationalism.
The production, directed by Elana Luo, is scrupulously well-acted by the four-person cast. Stromberg makes Calvin seem not only reasonable but surprisingly sensitive. Soo’s Bonnie sweetly embodies the excesses of a kind of progressive piety. As PJ, Culp gruffly embraces his role as the play’s polemical fire-starter. And Kelly’s Q-Tip, in the production’s most physically demanding performance, straddles the human-animal divide with theatrical aplomb.
Steven Culp, left, and Joey Stromberg in “For Want of a Horse” at the Echo Theater Company.
(Cooper Bates)
The open-mindedness that Dufault, a trans playwright, brings to the play creates some dramatic slack. Possibly the same fear of making value judgments that has inhibited Bonnie from imposing common-sense discipline in her classroom has robbed “For Want of a Horse” of a propulsive point of view.
The play moves monotonously between Calvin and Bonnie’s bedroom and the stable. Scenic designer Alex Mollo has worked out an efficient way of shifting between these realms by employing the same set of wooden trunks. But the argument of the play doesn’t so much build as elapse.
Time takes its toll, and Calvin eventually has to make a decision. But the character who interested me most was Bonnie, whose reality is only glimpsed. The play tacitly uses her husband’s threat of suicide as a trump card. Zoophilia isn’t merely a fetish for Calvin but a nonnegotiable part of his identity.
This questionable assumption can be psychologically scrutinized not only from Calvin’s point of view but also from his wife’s. The play wants to have an intelligent debate, but it doesn’t want to interrogate certain political positions too skeptically.
At one point, Bonnie objects when Calvin compares his situation to that of homosexuality, but the conversation ends there. The reality is that the right wing has been making a similar claim, arguing that same-sex marriage opens the door to bestiality, polygamy and incest. “For Want of a Horse” inadvertently lends legitimacy to this line of reasoning.
Griffin Kelly in “For Want of a Horse” at the Echo Theater Company.
(Cooper Bates)
Not that extremist positions should be off limits, but they ought to be more rigorously addressed. Similarly, Bonnie’s concern about the issue of consent — how can a horse say yes to intercourse with a human — is introduced only to be dismissed in a shrug of mild-mannered bothsidesism.
While watching “For Want of a Horse,” I recalled a program on PBS called “My Wild Affair” that wasn’t about zoophilia but about the problematic nature of human bonds with untamed animals. Relationships with a seal, an elephant and a rhino, for example — obsessive, protective, loving friendships — all seemed to end if not in outright tragedy, then in shattering heartbreak.
Q-Tip is rightfully given the play’s last word, and Kelly, an actor (HBO’s “The Book of Queer”), writer and comedian, is the production’s driving force. We can never know what’s inside this mare’s mind because Q-Tip’s brain has evolved so differently from our own. Kelly plays the anthropomorphic game while retaining some of the inscrutability of a four-legged creature.
It is through language that we, as humans, traverse the chasm separating us from one another. That’s not possible with animals, even with our closest domestic companions. (Try explaining a necessary medical procedure to a cat.)
“For Want of a Horse” sets out to speak about the unspeakable, but its construction may be too tame for such a wild subject.
‘For Want of a Horse’
Where: Echo Theater Company, Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Ave., L.A.
When: 8 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays; 4 p.m. Sundays. Ends May 25
Tickets: $15-$42.75
Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes (no intermission)
Info: echotheatercompany.com
Desert Warrior, 2026.
Directed by Rupert Wyatt.
Starring Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley, Ghassan Massoud, Sharlto Copley, Sami Bouajila, Lamis Ammar, Géza Röhrig, Numan Acar, Nabil Elouahabi, Hakeem Jomah, Ramsey Faragallah, Saïd Boumazoughe, and Soheil Bostani.
SYNOPSIS:
An honorable and mysterious rogue, known as Hanzala, makes himself an enemy of the Emperor Kisra after he helps a fugitive king and princess in the desert.
With aspirations of being a historical epic harkening back to the sword and sandal blockbusters of yesteryear, Rupert Wyatt’s seventeenth-century Arabia tale is about as generic and epically dull as one would expect from a film plainly titled Desert Warrior. Yes, there appear to be real locations here, and there are some admittedly sweeping shots of various tribes storming into battle on horseback and camels, but it’s all in service of a mess that is both miscast and questionable as the work of a filmmaking team of mostly white creatives.
The story of Emperor Kisraa (Ben Kingsley, a distracting presence even with only one or two scenes) rounding up women from other tribes to be his concubines, which inevitably became the catalyst for a revolution led by Princess Hind (Aiysha Hart), uniting all the divided clans and strategizing battle plans for flanking and poisoning, is undeniably ripe for cinematic treatment. The problem is that what’s here from Rupert Wyatt (and screenwriters Erica Beeney, Gary Ross, and David Self) is less than nothing in the primary creative process; no one seems to have a connection to Arabic heritage or culture, but they have made a flat-out boring film that is often narratively incoherent.
Following the death of her father and escaping the clutches of oppression, the honorable Princess Hind joins forces with a troubled, nameless bandit played by Anthony Mackie (he totally belongs here…), who seems to be here solely to give the movie some star power boost without running the risk of white savior accusations. Whatever the case may be, it’s jarring, but not quite as disorienting as how little screen time he has despite being billed as the lead and how little characterization he has. It is, however, equally disorienting as some of the other names that show up along the way.
As for the other factions, Princess Hind talks to them one by one, giving the film an adventure feel that fails to capitalize on using beautiful scenery in striking or visually poignant ways at almost every turn; the leaders of these tribes also often have no character. There also isn’t much of an understanding of why these tribes are at odds with one another. This movie is filled with dialogue that consistently and shockingly amounts to vague nothingness. Nevertheless, each tribe doesn’t take much convincing to begin with, meaning that not only is the film repetitive, but it’s also lifeless when characters are in conversation.
That Desert Warrior does occasionally spring to life, and a bloated 2+ running time is a small miracle. This is typically accomplished through the occasional fight scene between factions that also serves to demonstrate Princess Hind coming into her own as a warrior. When the tribes are united in a massive-scale battle, and that plan is unfolding step by step, one certainly sees why someone would want to tell this story and pull it off with such spectacle. However, this film is as dry as the desert itself.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder
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