Thank you to everyone for their input. Please keep the ideas and comments coming.

I know that the blacking may, on the face of it (no pun intended), be construed as rascist, but I have seen a Zulu dance which contained elements of the fight, death and resurrection which feature in our play. At least one character had white paint on his face (death?) I did not regard this as the least part racist (against white people) on his part and enjoyed the spectacle - even more as I could see the elements of his dance in our play thus confirming our common humanity.

The blacking in mummers plays originated as a form of disguise in order to beg and hide the identity of the participant. It may have also been a form of mask in order to permit the player to 'change into' that character. Either way changing the colour of the blacking may lessen any racialist allegations which we may receive, although I don't think we'll dance at the venue again as it isn't the first time we have had permission refused at the last minute.

Also as we are quite close to the Welsh border the blacking continues that morris tradition of blacking up one's face while dancing border morris and thus represents a 'regional' custom which we are keen to contuinue.

Interestingly enough there seems to be less objection to the villain being the Turkish Knight - a part I thought which would have caused more outcry on racial grounds. But hey, he gets brought back to life and is pardoned and dealt with as an equal at the end of the play.

We may have to bow to the inevitable and reconsider the choice of disguise, but that will require the concensus of the whole group.