Datebook: If theater were to excise from its canon every problematic work of art — every play espousing racism, sexism, nationalism or some other nefarious belief — we’d not only have a paltry repertoire, we’d also rob ourselves of the chance to learn from our classics’ failures.
2 comments:
I love that the author of this article chose to bring in actual East Asian Americans to discuss Miss Saigon. It does not just back up Lily's claim from her review of the play, it also gives a platform for the people who are actually affected by these stereotypes to speak out against it. I have not seen Miss Saigon, but I know the plot and how incredibly damaging it is. It would be fine if it allowed us to understand our history better, as Lily says, but it does not. It re-writes history and makes white soldiers out to be the good guys in a situation that they simply were not. The only saving grace of this show is that it gives an opportunity to East Asian actors that does not usually exist. The problem is that producing this show for that reason only reinforces the problem. We can do better than Miss Saigon. Until we let go of this show, people will continue to produce it in a backwards effort to get East Asians onstage and that is wrong. Why can they not be cast in other shows? Why can't we write better shows for them? Representation is a terrible reason to produce this show, end of story.
I have never seen Miss Saigon, and I know only a few things about it. Two of these things are that it follows the (now controversial) plot of the opera Madama Butterfly, and that it perpetuates stereotypes about Vietnamese people and culture. Through conversations with friends and fellow theatre artists, I have learned about this production and its negative effect on them and their cultural identity. In the past, I have heard people argue this production as progressive, as its main cast is primarily made up of Asian actors, but when the characters are depicted in such a problematic, unauthentic way, I personally think this doesn’t matter anymore. If we are going to create theatre to tell the stories of oppressed people, why not tell them in a raw, truthful way? The stories we tell should empower those who have been oppressed, not employ stereotypes and harmful narratives about them. The interview in this article gives me hope that a new generation of artists will usher in an era of theatre that lets people speak their truth, and lets traditionally unheard voices ring out.
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