Tag Archives: yellowface

showbiz

Opening the door … and keeping the door open

I did my first bit of acting in some time yesterday, rehearsing a reading which will  be performed later tonight at a Tamasha Theatre “scratch night” in Shoreditch.  Its an extract of a new play, Summer Rolls, written by a British Vietnamese writer, Tuyen Do.  I have yet to meet her, but it is a good solid play and will do well, I think, and she is obviously highly talented.

My old colleague and comrade in arms, Daniel York, has his play, The Fu Manchu Complex, currently in rehearsal for a run that starts soon at the Oval House theatre.  He first mentioned his incredulity at the racist language and imagery present in the Fu Manchu novels (by author Sax Rohmer) to me some 14 years ago and I am pleased for him personally that he has managed to get funding for it.  I can’t wait to see it. He has worked hard for years to get to this point and congratulations to him.

At last it appears that British East Asians are getting their voices heard on British stages – as well as appearing on them.

The industry is currently pleased with itself for putting on Chimerica (Almeida and West End) and #aiww (Hampstead) and The World of Extreme Happiness (The RNT’s Shed),  not to mention Miss Saigon and employing an enormous number of East Asian actors.  This year we also had a resurfacing of David Henry Hwang in the capital, with an excellent production of Yellowface before summer and Golden Child coming soon.  Its all looking quite exciting.  It is as if the RSC’s Zhao-gate crisis has started the ball rolling.  But has it really?

Before anybody starts noshing anyone off about how great things are now and how things have turned around, I feel I need to add a note of caution.

Just over a year ago, the RSC had not employed a single actor of East Asian descent on their stages for 20 years.  The RNT had hardly done much better.  They acknowledged this, and  a mini online movement, dubbed Zhao-gate, ensued.  This eventually  resulted in an Equity-led event, “Opening the Door”, which was designed to spotlight this historic imbalance and.. er…open the door for us East Asians.  Given the unprecedented action in the industry at present, it appears to have worked

But does Zhao-gate and Opening the Door have anything to do with what is happening now?  The current fascination with China has led to the above 2013 productions and it’s not before time.  But does this really mean that the industry’s slate of historically overlooking East Asians on its stages has been wiped clean?  Has the door been opened?  NO.  Emphatically not.  

Employing East Asian actors in an East Asian play is not really something the RNT should get overly praised for, it is only the done thing.  Zhao-gate notwithstanding.  Of course I acknowledge it’s good that they are doing the play at all, but not only is it about time the RNT produced something about / set in East Asia, does a production in the Shed really  give the Royal National Theatre a get out of jail free card after all these years?   Hmmm…  After careful consideration, I conclude no.  Not in itself. They could do better.  As could the RSC and others.  I am worried that they actually might feel they have done their bit for East-West race relations, when they could in fact make a more impactful statement and do it easily now.  

It is very simple and has been in their power all this time.  The RSC and the RNT (in fact any theatre – though these big publicly funded flagship theatres should lead the way) must cast East Asian actors in roles that are not East Asian, in much the same way as they cast black and (south) Asian actors.  In fact, when they are about to cast a black or (south) Asian actor in a non race specific part, if they really wanted to redress the historic imbalance they should look twice and recast him with an East Asian!

Film and TV are not excluded from this, incidentally.  It is rarely the case that an East Asian pops up on the telly in a part that is not specifically related to his being from East Asia.  Casting directors are not open to receiving a submission for an East Asian actor when the part in Casualty is calling for a Dr Gupta to say a few lines.  But why not?

Opening the Door should have been called Opening the Eyes (subtitle: of the Industry).

In the Casualty example, the writer is making his intentions clear to the casting department that this Doctor can be played by any ethnic actor.  Yet the chances of being seen for this part as an East Asian actor are low.  It happens, but not that often.  You just need to watch tv to know this is true.

TV and theatre don’t even do ethnic monitoring of their auditionees, something we East Asians all think they should to avoid this institutional racism, if Opening the Door is anything to go by.

Even when Ethnic & Diversity monitoring happens, we as a group are all bunched into one afterthought, as you can see from the BFI Ethic and Diversity Monitoring Form, below.

monitoring form

Note that while on this form it is acknowledged that people can be ‘Black British’ or ‘Asian British’, there is no such similar acknowledgement given for the Chinese or (to add insult to the Japanese, Koreans, Thais, Malays, etc.) “any other backgrounds”.

We still need to keep an eye on that door.  It doesn’t look open to me yet.

showbiz

Miss Saigon

Miss Saigon yesterday broke box office records.  I just heard Cameron Mackintosh on 5 live.  He was on good form.  Sounded very modest and cool.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24029745

I auditioned for this production.  I auditioned for the infamous Jonathan Pryce “Yellowface” lead role, The Engineer.  I had good reasons to think I would do well.

1. Because I am British.

2. Because I am Eurasian (the very ethnic mix they are looking for).

3. Because I am the right age.

4. Because I can sing it.

5. Because I can act it (admittedly this is subjective, but I am one of very few British Eurasian actors who has worked at the RNT, Hampstead, Soho, Birmingham Rep and Royal Lyceum theatres in main parts not to mention having been nominated as best actor at the Manchester News Awards).

6. Because I was in it before, when I understudied the part, 20 years ago, 1992-1994 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

I was delighted therefore to get a call from Cameron Mackintosh’s casting director Trevor Jackson, a few months ago, to prepare a few songs and strut my stuff.   This I did and dare I say it, I did rather well.  It was obvious to all present that I could sing it.  After all, I had remembered to warm my voice up, and had learned the words.

Trevor had called me in after his appearance at the Equity Minority Ethnic Members Committee annual Open Meeting, earlier in the summer, which I had arranged.  Trevor had initially approached a group I am a member of, British East Asian Artists, to ask how he could avoid the trouble the RSC had got themselves into 6 months previously with the casting of The Orphan of Zhao.  I will blog about this story another time, but you can get an idea of it from this article below.

http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/oct/19/royal-shakespeare-company-asian-actors

I spoke with him at length, and suggested he officially speak at an Equity annual Open Meeting, given I was (and still am) also a member of the actor’s union’s “Minority Ethnic Members” committee.  This was agreed, hastily arranged and Trevor made an appearance before 60 ethnic Equity members at what was quite short notice.  It was quite a brave thing to do.  He spoke engagingly and acquitted himself  in a potentially volatile environment, despite a few early faux pas.  The general mood of the meeting was actually very good natured.   I have witnessed other such meetings degenerate into a slanging match.

What Trevor said, among other things, was that he encouraged us (as an ethnic minority) to never given up the fight  (against being discriminated against) and he hoped he would be able to avoid the Pryce casting controversy of the late ’80s, by casting an East-Asian actor in this role.  All this sounded fair and reasonable, but as always the proof would be in the pudding.

So I auditioned,  and did so well, with Trevor sat on the panel alongside 2 or 3 others, some weeks after this.   I was flabbergasted to learn 2 weeks later that I was rejected.  Without recall.

I was tempted to call him and ask how this could be.  I still may yet.  I was extremely disappointed.  Not because I expected Cameron Mackintosh to open a multi million pound musical starring me – I didn’t.  I don’t.  But rejected without being seen again?  After this one audition?  After what he had said in front of 60 other actors of ethnic origin? I was disappointed because this threw into doubt the veracity of Trevor’s platitudes that day at Equity and with it, perhaps all the strides the group British East Asian Artists (think they) have made this past year on behalf of East Asian actors.

I was certain that I deserved a recall.  To be fair, my agent said that Trevor had told her they didn’t want to waste my time with a load of recalls when the outcome was already clear.  I would not be cast in the role so why waste everybody’s time?  I agreed with that and again, I am not naive enough to think I would have been cast in the role, so I appreciated the gesture.  Initially.  But this occurred to me: why am I not being considered to be cast in the show at all?  Perhaps I could have understudy responsibilities?  That is surely feasible?

If I was able enough to do exactly this 20 years ago (in 1994 I simultaneously understudied The Engineer & the role of Thuy (for which I am now too old)) – and now I am the right age, having 20 more years of performance experience under my belt (not least as ChineseElvis!) then I am surely capable as a performer?

It seemed unfair and implausible.   But that’s show-business, I suppose.

It seems equally implausible that they would sell £4 million worth of tickets in advance sales and have no idea who is playing  the lead part, which is the story at the moment. Show-business really is unfathomable.  To quote Canadian comedian, Stewart Francis, who made the same observation,”In the UK, Sharon Osbourne judges talent”!

I just hope this current ‘worldwide search for a cast good enough for the show’ is not an exact replica of what happened back in the day a quarter of a century ago and it is not all a smokescreen so they can cast a white guy.  Not again.  25 years after this shameful episode, it would be extremely bad for race equality and much else.

Incidentally, one problem we learned at that meeting of the Minority Equity Committee is that Equity has no idea or policy to guide what they would do about it.  Much like in 1989, they will be clueless and not able to lead the arguments.

The only thing that is different this time is that British East Asians have found a political voice, using the power of the internet and social media to get worldwide support.  It is not well organised, which is perhaps one of its strengths, but it has demonstrated itself to be quite powerful and not to be taken lightly.

So we are left with the situation, that we have to keep our fingers crossed that Trevor lives up to his promises.  Otherwise, it will be up British East Asian Artists to flag it up again and it may look like sour grapes, when it is really not just that.

Let me put one thing straight.  I am a fan of Miss Saigon and want the show to do well and employ many of my British East Asian friends and colleagues for years to come.  I would love to be considered seriously to be in it.  I just don’t want to see a white actor playing the part of The Engineer.

Who knows what he is doing in this picture
Tony-winning actor, Jonathan Pryce, makes an interesting gesture