Asian American Plays for a New Generation
Plays for a New Generation
Publication Year: 2011
Asian American plays provide an opportunity to think about how racial issues are engaged through theatrical performance physical contact, bodily labor, and fleshly desire as well as through the more standard elements of plot, setting, characterization, staging, music, and action.
Asian American Plays for a New Generation showcases seven exciting new plays that dramatize timely themes that are familiar to Asian Americans. The works variously address immigration, racism, stereotyping, identity, generational tensions, assimilation, and upward mobility as well as post-9/11 paranoia, racial isolation, and adoptee experiences.
Each of these works engages directly and actively with Asian American themes through performance to provide an important starting point for building relationships, raising political awareness, and creating active communities that can foster a sense of connection or even rally individuals to collective action.
Published by: Temple University Press
Contents
Introduction
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pp. 1-10
One might well ask whether “Asian American plays” are more than a collection of works that just “happen” to be written by Asian Americans. What follows by way of introduction are some reflections that argue for more than just this casual connection. My argument is that “Asian American plays” first and foremost comment on the distinctive relationship between racial and...
1. Indian Cowboy
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pp. 11-32
Indian Cowboy premiered at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis from January 27, 2006, to February 12, 2006. Commissioned by Jack Reuler and Mixed Blood Theatre, with development of the script supported by the Jerome Foundation, the play was performed by Zaraawar Mistry and created in collaboration with Kathleen Sullivan, with original music composed and performed by Keith Lee. ...
2. Walleye Kid: The Musical
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pp. 33-100
Walleye Kid: The Musical was first produced by Mu Performing Arts and presented at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis from March 11, 2005, to March 27, 2005, under the direction of Jon Cranney. A revised version, directed ...
3. Happy Valley
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pp. 101-171
Happy Valley was produced by Mu Performing Arts and presented at Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis from September 16, 2005, to October 2, 2005, under the direction of Jennifer Weir. ...
4. Asiamnesia
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pp. 173-203
Asiamnesia was produced by Mu Performing Arts and presented at the Playwright’s Center in Minneapolis from September 13, 2008, to October 5, 2008, under the direction of Randy Reyes....
5. Sia(b)
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pp. 205-222
Sia(b) was produced by Mu Performing Arts and performed by May Lee- Yang and Katie Ka Vang at the Playwright’s Center in Minneapolis from September 13, 2008, to October 5, 2008, under the direction of Robert Karimi. ...
6. Bahala Na (Let It Go)
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pp. 223-263
Bahala Na was produced by Mu Performing Arts and presented at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis from September 14, 2007, to October 7, 2007, under the direction of Jennifer Weir. ...
7. Ching Chong Chinaman
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pp. 265-317
Ching Chong Chinaman was produced by Mu Performing Arts and presented at Mixed Blood Theatre from February 14, 2009, to March 1, 2009, under the direction of Jennifer Weir. ...
Afterword
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pp. 319-323
Mu Performing Arts participated in the development and produced the world premieres of all but one of the plays in this anthology. The question that comes to mind is “How on earth did this happen?” The answer is a story that blends my own personal and artistic journey with the emergence here of a ...
Contributors
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pp. 325-327
E-ISBN-13: 9781439905173
Print-ISBN-13: 9781439905166
Publication Year: 2011
