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MAY
IS ASIAN HERITAGE MONTH!
Go out and eat Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino,
Singaporean, Indian or any other type of Asian cuisine you can find --
food is a great bridge to other cultures! And smile at every Asian you
see and learn something about their culture....
30 April, 2002
PUTTING
THE APA PERSPECTIVE ON STAGE
I saw a theater troupe perform the other night, that made me feel glad to be an Asian American.
| Six actors entered the stage in pairs, calling each other "Jap," "Chink," "Flip," "Gook" and other epithets. |
Hereandnow performed two nights in the area, at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, and at Denver University, where Erin, Jared and I saw the show, which was sponsored by the Colorado Asian Pacific Student Associaton (CAPSA). It was a treat, both to see an audience that was predominantly Asian, and also to see the creative efforts of an APA troupe that includes Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos and other heritages. Out here in Colorado, we're just beginning to bridge all our diverse Asian communities, and we don't have an APA theater group that can entertain and inspire us to build those bridges.
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The troupe was formed by John Miyasaki in 1989 because he was frustrated that Asians aren't part of the Hollywood scene. So he formed the group to showcase the talents of young APAs who are creative and lively and funny and smart, and to present the issues and stories that weave throughout the Asian American cultural and political experience. He produces thought-provoking performances using improv, comedy, dance, music and monologues presented in short sketches. Each scene tackles issues that are immediately familiar to any APA or Asian immigrant living in this country. Because the situations and relationships explored by hereandnow is universal, the material also transcends its Asian focus and would appeal to non-Asians.
The performance started as the audience was seated, with cast members walking in the auditorium, handing out different kinds of Asian candy so the audience would like them.
This interactive approach to theater continued with audience members invited onstage to participate in some of the actors' warmup exercises - games that had everyone laughing. One was "Freeze," where one actor shouted "green light" and "red light" at random as the rest of the troupe approached her, and anyone caught still moving had to move to the back of the stage. In another warmup, the troupe took turns exercising their improvisational skills, making up different scenarios from other members' positions.
The troupe numbers up to 20 actors at any given time, mostly in their 20s; ten were on hand for the Colorado dates. After more than a decade, hereandnow has a catalog of material to present; they mix and match sketches to suit each performance like a rock band with a large and flexible set list. The troupe also performs full plays from an APA perspective (like a Pinoy - Filipino -- version of "Romeo and Juliet") on their home turf. The vignettes cover subject matter familiar that's relevant to the Asian American experience, including inner ethnic conflict, the struggles of coming to America, political injustice, racism, sexuality, family values, gender issues and what it means to grow up Asian in the United States.
 |
The first sketch during the Denver performance illustrated the fact that 25 percent of all hate crimes against Asians are committed by other Asians. Six actors entered the stage in pairs, calling each other "Jap," "Chink," "Flip," "Gook" and other epithets, putting each other down until they ended up fighting. The scene - and the well-chosen music in the background, Peter Gabriel's "Games without Frontiers" -- got the audience thinking, and squirming uncomfortably. Then the troupe followed up with an enactment of a Korean folktale about a fool who ends up being a hero, and the princess who marries him. An audience member was recruited to play the part of the princess, and the troupe heaped on the humor while it got across its message of tolerance and diversity.
Another scene illuminated an everyday situation - a young man dreams about his best friend, a girl, seducing him - with a universality that anyone in the audience would have identified no matter what their ethnicity.
In another sequence, cast members sat on stage and took turns standing up and reciting a childhood memory. Some were banal, like a childhood trip to the dentist, or funny, like one family's habit of farting in public. Because these were Asians telling us these universal truths, they were that much more powerful and easy to connect with.
The funniest, and raciest, sketch was about a couple after a date, each trying to decide whether to take the relationship to the physical level. Offstage actors spoke as the thoughts of the man and woman sitting on the couch, who reacted to the narration, improvising as they went along. Again, the scene presented a universal situation, but one rarely seen with Asians in those roles. At least, I haven't seen such theater. In fact, at the end of the sketch an actor came out dressed as Seattle Mariners baseball star Ichiro Suzuki, and pointed out "Asians have sex too."
The most powerful segments included a monologue by one actor about his Hmong family's flight from persecution in Laos after the Vietnam War, with other actors pantomiming the tragically futile rowing of the refugees.
My favorite part of the evening was when the cast assembled on stage and took turns alternately offering a good thing about being Asian and then a bad thing about being Asian. The observations were funny, insightful, poignant and thought-provoking. The good things include the fact that rice goes with everything, and the fact that lowering your car makes you look taller. The bad things included the Internment of Japanese Americans and the fact that so many Latin Japanese are still waiting for reparations; how everyone thinks we all look the same; and "those dumbass shirts by Abercombie & Fitch."
The cast closed the evening with a beautiful, surreal dance piece without any dialogue, to another song by Peter Gabriel. The piece capped off a tour-de-force of performance art that made the audience feel lucky to have attended, and even luckier that admission was free (the troupe's appearances are underwritten by the schools where they perform).
During a question-and-answer period following the performance, Miyasaki explained that the troupe is a non-profit organization, and that besides colleges paying for their travel expenses, their main fundraising is through sales of t-shirts. A true grassroots operation, Miyasaki as founder and director, and the stage manager are the only ones who get paid for their work. The rest of the actors volunteer their talent.
And they have plenty of talent to share. I felt privileged to see hereandnow, and would gladly have paid an admission. The cost of tickets would have been worth the entertainment, education, and food for thought provided by the troupe.
They made me feel proud to be who I am. I would even have liked them without the free Asian candy before the show.