HowlRound: The New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players have recently cancelled their planned production of The Mikado, in order to take some time to address their use of yellowface in the show. However, this cancellation is not the end objective—rather, an end to racist yellowface practices (and blackface, redface, and other forms of stereotyping and cultural appropriation) so rampant in theatre is the true goal. There are some who are objecting to the decision to cancel, claiming “censorship” if The Mikado is not done exactly how it was “performed historically” or “how Gilbert and Sullivan intended.”
2 comments:
As a middle-class white American I feel very out of place being (so far) the only voice commenting on this article. But I think the perpetuation of practices like yellowface creates a hostile and discriminatory environment that it the exact opposite of what we want to encourage in theater. This article discusses how yellowface is a product of the long history of anti-Asian propaganda and hatred in the West.I believe part of the reason that this can be justified as simply entertainment and satire in people's minds is the lack of education about the East Westerns get, especially in history classes. I've had many discusses, particularly with my Indian-American friend Jharna, about how Euro-centric history education is in the West. We discuss at great length horrible disasters and humanitarian crises, if they happened in the West. Things such as the fate of Japanese women during WWII or the internment camps in America get sped over. Hiroshima gets a class or two, mostly focused on how it effected life and politics in America.
It is easier to perpetuate a practice that tears down and vilifies a certain culture if you have only a narrow understanding, a caricature, of the story of that culture.
This article brings up many conflicting views when it comes to historical discrimination and various conceptions of historical accuracy. Right now, especially in the theater industry, there seems to be a discrepancy between traditional values and modern sensibilities--the bridge between the two is slowly being constructed, but it's unfortunately taking much longer than I believe anyone hoped for. Instead of looking at some more superficial aspects of a piece, why not look at the substance behind it? Is yellow face absolutely necessary to tell this story, to convey the playwright's message? The author argues in the negative. As a whole, I believe our society needs to readdress some of the untouchable cultural touchstones we hold dear, and maybe reanalyze them in a more critical context, altering them to fit within the proprietary guidelines of our society, one that is much more culturally accepting than ever before.
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