backstage.com: Asian American actors need more opportunities on Los Angeles-area stages. That's the message that Tim Dang, producing artistic director at East West Players, hopes four artistic directors from major Southern California theaters take away from an upcoming forum.
4 comments:
I think this article is very interesting. I'm hoping that there will soon be more productions featuring Asian Americans on stage. George Takei's "Allegiance" looks very promising in elevating the Asian American character in drama. Perhaps it will even inspire Asian Americans to take the stage like Lea Salonga. I agree with Dang that the talent is out there; the opportunities to acquire a role just have to be created. I'm also wondering if what Dang wants is different from all-Asian-American productions. Dang just states that he wants diversity/ more roles for Asian American actors. But is that the same as having plays entirely made up of Asian Americans? Does he want diversity or just more opportunities? It's kind of similar to "The Wizard of Oz," usually made up of white actors, and "The Wiz," usually made up of black actors. Should the theatre world be focusing on creating more opportunities for different ethnic groups, even if that means a continued segregation between those groups? Or should it be focusing on creating and integrating these roles? Personally, I think Dang needs to go one step further and not only create more opportunities on the stage, but also integrate the roles in productions
It's not just in Los Angeles that Asian Americans need to see more representation. I'm a bad theatre major in that I son't know many famous/currently working actors/actresses, but I know in movies, it becomes rather hard to find Asian-Americans, or just plain Asians, in important roles in movies that does not involve some sort of martial art.
I think the over arching problem really is that there isn't a diversity of writers that are being produced. With a diversity of different types of writers will come a verity of different types of theater, not only dealing with different races but with new stories and story telling. I think Asians are under represented or miss represented when they are put on stage but I also think this is true of women and other people of color. There is not a lot of diversity in theater, because of who has access to being produced and who is seeing theater. I think if people requested more diversity then theaters would be more inclined to provide it. But when theaters main clientele are older and white; diversity is not the main thing they are looking for in a night out.
I agree with what Dang said in this article how there has been a increase in role of American-Asian actors in TV programs, but not in Theater. I also hope that theatrical area has more diversity, encouraging Asian American actors who are desperate to get a role. Recently, I realized how some countries in Asia are definitely expanding theatrical area. They are actually putting more effort to bring Broadway plays and create original plays with Asian actors too. I could see that people's interest in drama has also increased. So, while reading this article, I hope that there can be a play where an Asian American actors also have major parts, so they can show their potential talents and be acknowledged.
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