Tue. November 13, 2012
By Danny Bernardo
Both of these incidents occur mere months after a study from the Asian American Performers Action Coalition that cited that API's compromised only 2% of Broadway casts in the past five years. While it's very troubling that this is happening in the world's largest theatre markets, it's even more disturbing that it's happening right here in Chicago.
Bridge of Birds: A Tale of China That Never Was is slated for Spring 2013 at Lifeline Theatre. Again, a story about China. Many Chicago API actors were called in for this show, including myself. As I was booked with my own project in the same time slot, I declined, but offered up names of many more API's who weren't on the casting director's original list. More auditions were held and finally, a diverse cast made up of API's, bi-racial, and Caucasian actors.
Now I pause for a moment to note that I don't oppose diverse casting. Quite the contrary, I embrace it. It's a huge part of what I believe in as an artist. I owe pretty much my whole theatrical career to directors and casting directors who call me in and cast me against type because they themselves embrace diversity. And I'm very thankful for that. But again, this show is set in ancient China. Not the international hubs of modern day Beijing or Shanghai; ancient China. In its adaptation of the book by Barry Hughart, Lifeline built a storytelling framework that would justify the diversity in its casting.
Because every director mentioned (save Jadhwani) in this post saw "lots and lots" of Asians, yet somehow, with all these binders full of Asians, we are not always seeing ourselves represented onstage. Because in the same month that Bruce Norris withdrew a German production of Clybourne Park because a white actor was to have appeared in black face, a respected British critic said in his review of The Orphan of Zhao that the lack of Asian representation "should not diminish the power" of the piece. Because an all-Caucasian cast of A Raisin in the Sun would never see the light of day, but pieces like the ones mentioned above have been happening for decades. Because it's time API actors stopped living up to our submissive stereotype and stand up for ourselves.
You can't borrow our culture and not invite us to the party. You can't say you practice colorblind casting if you are blind to color. You can't tell our story without us and call yourself an artist, for an artist seeks truth in their work. You can't mold our truth to fit your agenda. I can only echo my friend Eliza Shin's sentiments from my article about The Nightingale controversy: "At the very least, this has brought our voices forward."
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UPDATE - November 16, 2012 - Bridge of Birds at Lifeline has been postponed for a future season while the creative team revamps the piece and is able to cast it more fully with API actors. The season will now close with The Three Musketeers
For further reading on the ongoing challenges in casting for API's, please read this amazing post from Chicago actress Eliza Shin.
For the complete article (non-reader view with multimedia and original links),
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