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INDEX
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The Emperor and the Assassin
- A Review>
Many
Chinese and East Asian films are very successful due to their fantastic
creativity and innovation.
Here
are a selection that deserve your attention.
Rawle
Austin presents...
Typhoon
3 - The gales of change gusting through British theatre.
Taking
a slight detour from normal proceedings I recently attended a seminar
on behalf of Chinatown magazine.
The
topic of discussion had loose connections to this column so I have
included my write up of it here for your consumption.
Where
are the British Chinese and East Asian writers and actors?!
Ever
wondered how the dialogue between British theatre and East Asian
dramatists could be improved?
Well
this has a direct link to the visibility (or invisibility) of Chinese
and East Asian actors seen on stage, television and film in Britain.
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A
recent seminar hosted by Yellow Earth Theatre, the premier theatre company
for British Chinese and East Asians, addressed this very question at the
end of it’s annual Typhoon 3 event.
What
is Yellow Earth Theatre?
Established
in 1995, Yellow Earth Theatre pioneers British East Asian theatre in the
UK.
It
is a touring theatre company producing text-based physical performance
integrating theatre skills from the East and West and is headed up by
Artistic Director David K.S. Tse.
The
company is funded by Arts Council England.
What
is Typhoon 3?
Typhoon
3 is Yellow Earth’s third annual International East Asian
playreading festival supported by Soho Theatre.
The
event is held over a week and is designed to promote the best of
contemporary East Asian drama.
It
showcases work from new and established writers in Britain as well
as the East Asian region and the Asian American diaspora.
The
panelists were, David Tse of the Yellow Earth Theatre, Laura Gribble
of the Royal National Theatre, Richard Shannon of the Polka Theatre
and Nina Steiger of the Soho Theatre.
The
chairman was Phillippe Cherbonnier who is the Literary Manager of
the Yellow Earth Theatre.
The
panel declared they wanted a two-way discussion. |
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This would happen with the audience whilst also discussing multiculturalism
in the theatre world and much needed outreach and development programs
to reach the grass roots and wider mainstream audiences.
They
would address two topics, the problems and any solutions.
Here
follows my account of the seminar.
There
was a consensus that there is a great deal of quality talent out there
from the British Chinese and East Asian community and Yellow Earth Theatre
and similar organizations should take charge in reaching out to those
individuals and promoting them.
Laura
Gribble pointed out that The Royal National Theatre is able to give
advice to writers and help them develop.
The
issue of developing contacts is crucial and a joint approach is
necessary to help bridge the gap between community organizations
and national institutions.
It
was agreed that the grassroots (British Chinese and East Asian communities)
must be approached and mobilized.
Richard
Shannon from the Polka Theatre went on to state that two things
needed to be increased.
Greater
representation of multicultural work in British theatres and audience
figures for those works.
These
works had to be accessible to, and ‘owned’ by, the community
for them to feel involved and not patronized. Speaking
to the audience directly through the strength of the writing and
corresponding acting could do this.
New
writer development must be more aggressively promoted and more solid
groundwork and relationship building with the community must be
pursued. |
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Direct
marketing to the community and an in depth research as to what the grassroots
wants to pay and see is also in order.
Nina
Steiger of the Soho theatre added that there was a strong need to raise
the profile of new writing and a way must be found to support writers
and their subsequent development.
Ways
to adequately serve the writer and their community are of paramount
importance as are creating opportunities for all.
David
Tse of Yellow Earth Theatre and perhaps the present custodian of
the grassroots experience pointed out briefly what his organization
was doing to address the issues at hand.
Yellow
Earth gets British Chinese and East Asian acting and writing professionals
to tour the country once a year.
They
feature festivals and workshops, which also involve talented young
people often using the traditional East Asian style. Yellow
Earth is also heavily involved in getting British born Chinese and
East Asians, trained and educated in Britain to embrace their cultural
heritage.
He
continued to elaborate on some the problems facing East Asian dramatists
in British theatre today. |
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The
two main points to highlight were casting and staffing, both of which
are affected to a degree by institutional racism in the British theatrical
hierarchy as was stated in the Eclipse Report (June 2001) which was formulated
to develop strategies to combat racism in theatre.
The
report can be read in full here,
www.artscouncil.org.uk/documents/projects/1510.pdf
(In
particular, see page 55 of the report to read David Tse’s powerful,
personal account of the difficulties facing British East Asian dramatists
today).
The
report listed 21 clear recommendations for improving the current
situation.
This
would involve action taken by the Arts Council, Regional Arts Boards,
the Theatrical Management Association, the Society of London Theatre
and the Independent Theatre Council.
David
Tse went on to state that British theatre have to include culturally
diverse actors in the UK.
Casting
directors have a great responsibility to cast East Asian actors
from the increasingly large talent pool.
Also,
artistic directors who tend to promote plays according to their
own personal taste have a duty to put forward more diverse offerings
to audiences. |
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Some
plays could include bilingual scenes to help some British East Asian audiences
identify with a production, i.e. a Filipino produced play could have some
Tagalog language in there.
This
appreciation of diversity, by showcasing the other languages that many
East Asians speak due to their background culture, will bring further
enjoyment of the piece.
This
representation of diversity should also be represented comprehensively,
throughout the administration staff.
Equal
opportunities laws should be rigorously adhered to and affirmative
action should be explored to kick start the creation of role models
which are vital.
British
East Asian audiences, like any other, need to be able to identify
with the actors on stage, to see people like them for accessible
role models.
He
concluded by saying high quality British Chinese and East Asian
actors should be promoted more visibly.
So.
On to solutions.
A
lively debate followed between the audience and panel.
One
strategy for improving the dialogue between British Theatre and
East Asian dramatists is to find ways of making East Asian drama
more appealing to mainstream masses. |
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Regional
accents of British East Asian actors, if present, should be cherished
and promoted, not excluded.
Also,
ways to get people from the British East Asian communities curious and
interested in plays and theatre must be sought.
The
profile of East Asian work should be raised and this could be achieved
at the school level.
Unfortunately,
the status of drama in the National Curriculum is very low as this could
be a vehicle for promoting East Asian work from an early age.
The
so-called ‘gate keepers’ in schools, the parents and teachers,
also have a responsibility to request and promote diverse material in
schools.
This
leads to a need for greater participation by the community in finding
ways of how to make theatre appear more appealing and important
to the public.
The
grassroots must be engaged and mobilized for their support will
see productions through lean times.
It
was noted that the translation of some International East Asian
plays, from their original tongue to English, was not always of
the highest quality, thus ruining the whole feel and message of
the writer’s vision.
British
East Asian actors are in despair as they are still seeing recent
examples of Oriental roles given to white actors who ‘yellow
up’ for the part. |
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Considering
the wealth of talent of struggling young actors out there this is seen
as a slap in the face.
The
need for visible role models was a constant theme running throughout the
seminar.
Theatrical
institutions should outreach more to communities so as to appeal to people
who have been educated in Britain but want to explore their cultural heritage.
The
recommendations in the Eclipse report should be carried forward and tailored
towards the British East Asian community.
There
was a slight sense of anger and frustration among some of the young
actors present in the audience and also a real desire for change.
A
desire that this seminar should be more than just another talking
shop but a catalyst, leading to eventual breakthrough into the mainstream.
With
the ever growing stable of British East Asian writing and acting
talent around, this will just be a matter of time. For more info
on Yellow Earth Theatre go to www.yellowearth.org
David
Tse recently helped to form Chinatown
Arts Space which supports East Asian visual and supporting arts. |
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Among
the audience members was Jason Chan, winner of the 2004 Norman Beaton
Fellowship Award.
Jason
Chan was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia of Chinese parents and came to
England at the age of 4.
He
was educated in West London and, in his late twenties, following a background
in martial arts and Zen Buddhism, decided to train as an actor.
For
2 years he worked during the day and attended drama school classes in
the evening and at weekends.
By
doing this he showed that studying for the creative arts takes as
much hard work, dedication and commitment as it does for the traditional.
The
stable, high earning professions such as medicine, law and accounting
which many British East Asian parents guide their children towards.
Since
leaving drama school in 2002 he has completed 2 TV commercials (including
one for the Asian Wall St Journal), several stage plays, a TV comedy
pilot and various roles in corporate training.
Again,
showing skeptical parents, that making a good income from the acting
profession is a reality. |
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An
unexpected bonus of his acting career has been his rediscovery of Chinese
culture through meeting so many gifted British East Asian actors, writers
and directors.
Jason
is soon to begin a 6 month contract with BBC Radio Drama in August 2004
and is especially looking forward to learning from all the experienced
and talented people within the organization.
He
also greatly enjoys working in group pieces where the actors can spark
ideas off each other.
Check
out www.jasonchan.co.uk for more
information on this aspiring actor.
The
Norman Beaton Fellowship Award scheme is now in it’s second year,
Jason Chan explained.
It
is aimed at actors and actresses from non-traditional training backgrounds
and particularly to entrants from groups currently under-represented in
Radio Drama.
Anyone
aged 18 and over, keen to do radio acting, who has never attended
an accredited drama school can apply.
The
winners are awarded a six-month contract within the BBC Radio Drama
Company.
Past
members of the company include Stephen Tompkinson, Nina Wadia, Alex
Jennings and Ben Onwukwe.
More
details can be found online at, http://www.bbc.co.uk/soundstart,
as well as details about the late Norman Beaton, the Guyanese born
actor for whom this award was named in honour.
Also
present was Veronica Needa, a founding member and Outreach and Education
coordinator for Yellow Earth Theatre.
She
is also a cultural ambassador for the Arts Depot in North London
(www.artsdepot.co.uk).
Veronica
Needa was born and grew up in Hong Kong, fluent in Cantonese and
English. |
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She
is a professional theatre worker, trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre
School, and is a graduate of the School of Playback Theatre (N.Y., USA,
1995).
Now
based in London, she travels internationally facilitating workshops, which
develop spontaneity, creative expression, and deep listening through personal
stories with the company Playback AME (www.playbackame.co.uk).
The
wealth of talent on show at the Typhoon 3 event show that the future is
bright for British Chinese and East Asian dramatists.
<Save
the Green Planet - A Review |
The Emperor and the Assassin
- A Review>
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here to learn more about the latest Chinese movies!
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