Is No Accent Better Than A Bad One?

Generally, it’s American actors who are known for mangling British accents on stage. But lately, the stages of London have seen a parade of British actors playing American roles, apparently under the impression that “everyone in America sounds as if they’ve stepped off the set of Goodfellas.” And the fact is that plenty of good actors aren’t good with dialects. So why do we continue to ask them to try them on?