Why David Harewood is the level-headed boss Rada needs

After a turbulent few years, the London drama school is in need of some common sense. That’s why the Homeland star is a perfect appointment

It would be easy to take a cynical view about David Harewood being made the honorary president of Rada. Not because this Rada alumnus clearly has a useful amount of celebrity to bestow on the most venerable drama school in the country (after all, Sir Kenneth Branagh, leaving the role, is as bankable a name as it comes). 
It’s more that, given the entertainment industry’s prevailing obsession with diversity and inclusion, and the fact that Rada declared itself responsible for “maintaining structures that are systemically racist” in July 2020, Harewood’s appointment might look like it’s following a ‘woke’ agenda.
But it is my firm belief that Harewood, 58, is a robust – in fact pretty ideal – candidate for this distinguished figurehead role, which isn’t just ambassadorial but will help shape the ethos of the place. Apart from his evident leadership qualities – he’s thoughtful and charismatic – it strikes me that he understands historic grievances without being so in thrall to the idea of change he’ll throw the baby out with the bathwater.
No one has been more open than Harewood about the mental scars caused by discrimination – his autobiography Maybe I Don’t Belong Here is a gripping, and often shaming, account of his encounters with prejudice and the psychiatric consequences. 
But while wanting to cement changes in our theatre culture, and kick open doors, he’s also a fair-minded sort. When he spoke to me about his time at Rada, he conceded that he mainly encountered a stifling of his potential after he left it, in the mid-80s. The idea that roles like Hamlet were “off-limits” for black actors suddenly hit him hard – hence his avowed focus on readying Rada students for the outside world.
He remains shocked by dismissive media commentary about his being the first black actor to play Othello at the National. That “blacking-up” – a subject he has fronted a TV documentary about – was still a reality when he was growing up explains how much needed to change. But while the accent must be on ensuring a level playing-field for actors of colour, and of his calibre, he also spoke eloquently about the need to ‘cross-cast’ (he dislikes the term ‘colour-blind’ casting) in all directions. 
He told me: “If a white actor wanted to play Martin Luther King I’d say have it [go for it]. It’s whether or not it would look faintly ridiculous. But anything’s possible and I’m all for everybody doing everything. I don’t think anything should be off-limits. Don’t cancel people for having a go.” 
Isn’t that exactly the generous spirit we want? We’ll see what happens, but the omens are good. So long as Rada ensures passion for nurturing acting talent is at its heart and ideology is kept at bay, then it’ll be a case of all’s well that ends well.