YELLOW EARTH AND FUTURE GENERATION: CORRELATIONS IN BRITISH EAST ASIAN AND ASIAN CANADIAN DRAMA by PARIE PUI YEE LEUNG B.A. (Hons.)., National University of Singapore, 2004 M.A., The University of British Columbia, 2007 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Theatre) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) October 2015 © Parie Pui Yee Leung, 2015 Abstract Since 1995 and 2002, London’s Yellow Earth Theatre (YET) and Toronto’s fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company have been producing work under the identity labels of “British East Asian theatre” and “Asian Canadian theatre” respectively. Emerging out of different socio-cultural contexts, the companies have nonetheless produced plays that address similar themes around mixed-race identities, immigration, and the experiences of first- and second- generation East Asians living in Britain and Canada. Despite burgeoning research on Asian Canadian theatre and British Chinese culture—developments that echo the pioneering directions of Asian American theatre scholarship—studies have tended to focus exclusively on cultural work produced by East Asian artists within the national boundaries of America, Canada and Australia. Inspired by two emotionally charged events that I attended in Toronto and in London that drew attention to the parallels between ethno-national theatre produced in different western cultures, this thesis investigates the background, mandates, and key works of two leading theatre companies in order to compare their dramatic strategies. Using data from published and unpublished scripts, published reviews and interviews, archival video where available, and the companies’ press and public material through their websites, this thesis argues that comparing theatre companies across ethno-national contexts can reveal insights about how familiar dramatic strategies such as the absurd, fantastical, spectral, and audience interaction, have additional import in identity-centred work. ii Preface This dissertation is the original, independent work of Parie Pui Yee Leung. Some ideas on David Yee’s lady in the red dress discussed in Chapter Four have previously been incorporated into the paper, “Drama as Surgical Act: Operative Realism and the Chinese Canadian Redress” (pp163-181) by the author, published in New Canadian Realisms: New Essays on Canadian Theatre (2012), edited by Roberta Barker and Kim Solga. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………………………... ii Preface ………………………………………………………………………………………………. iii Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………………................ iv Acknowledgements …………………………………………………………………………………. vi Chapter One Introduction ………………………………………………………………................ 1 1.1 An Uneasy Witness …………………………………………....................... 1 1.2 The Links and Germinations of British East Asian and Asian Canadian Theatre ……………………………………………………………………... 5 1.3 Review of Prior Research ………………………………………….............. 15 1.3.1 Asian American Theatre Scholarship ……………………………………… 16 1.3.2 Asian Canadian Cultural Space ……………………………………………. 19 1.3.3 The British East Asian Context ……………………………………………. 23 1.3.4 Hybridity …………………………………………………………................ 29 1.4 Issues and Frameworks: “Ethnic” Cultural Work …………………............. 31 1.4.1 Visibility and Stereotyping ………………………………………………… 32 1.4.2 Issues and Frameworks: Multiculturalism …………………………………. 37 1.4.3 Issues and Frameworks: Interculturalism …………………………….......... 39 1.5 Overview of Chapters ……………………………………………………… 42 Chapter Two Visions and Voices: The Founding of Yellow Earth Theatre and fu-GEN Theatre 46 2.1 Yellow Earth and fu-GEN: Two Companies Born in Difference …………. 48 2.2 Naming and Branding: Cultural Shorthand or Representational Shortchange? ………………………………………………………………. 55 2.3 Domestic, Diasporic, Transnationalist: Varied Approaches and Perceived Cultural Quality ……………………………………………………………. 71 2.4 Yellow Earth and fu-GEN: Repertoires …………………………………… 85 2.5 Shorthand …………………………………………………………………... 91 Chapter Three Reforming Bodies: Play to Win and Banana Boys ………………………………. 94 3.1 David Tse’s Play to Win …………………………………………………… 97 3.2 Leon Aureus’ Banana Boys ………………………………………………... 99 3.3 Troubled Bodies …………………………………………………………… 103 3.4 Dramatic Themes – Bodily Reform Through Kung Fu and Revamping ….. 109 3.5 Filling the Hollow ………………………………………………….............. 133 Chapter Four Haunted Bodies: Spectral Agents in 58 and lady in the red dress ……………….... 138 4.1 Philippe Cherbonnier’s 58 – yan wai you yi/ meaning lies beyond language 141 4.2 David Yee’s lady in the red dress …………………………………............. 147 4.3 Haunted Bodies, Spectral Agents …………………………………….......... 154 4.4 Voices of Racialization ……………………………………………….......... 165 4.5 Ghosting and Thematic Connections ………………………………………. 173 4.6 Justifying Justice ……………………………………………………........... 178 iv Chapter Five Demonstrating Bodies: Occupying Audiences in FACE and Brown Balls ………... 184 5.1 FACE – A Background ……………………………………………….......... 188 5.2 Brown Balls – A Background ……………………………………………… 192 5.3 Tales Bodies Tell …………………………………………………………... 195 5.4 Embodying Mixed-Race and Colouration …………………………………. 204 5.5 Live Dramaturgy and Bodies on Display ………………………………...... 216 5.6 From Community to the Personal ………………………………………...... 224 Chapter Six Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………... 228 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………………………… 238 v Acknowledgements This dissertation would not have been possible without the support and encouragement of faculty members at the University of British Columbia’s Department of Theatre and Film. For her unwavering belief in me, generosity and her tireless guidance of my research process over the years and across the Atlantic, I would like to thank Dr Kirsty Johnston. I am also deeply grateful to members of my supervisory committee, Dr Siyuan Liu and Dr Jerry Wasserman, for casting such a careful eye over my writing as it developed and helping me improve the structure and quality of my various drafts. This final version has benefitted greatly from the expertise of my UBC University Examiners, Dr C. W. Marshall and Dr Glenn Deer. I am grateful for their thoughtful questions and suggestions, many of which have helped to enhance the thesis as a whole. I would like to thank my External Examiner, Dr Julie Salverson for asking me to think more critically about what it means to position myself as a witness, and for her insightful suggestions on attending to the stakes that matter. Dr Gaby Pailer, my Dissertation Chair ensured that everything ran smoothly during my oral examination, for which I am thankful. In completing this research, I am grateful for the support of the Cordula and Gunter Paetzold Fellowship, the Stuart Keate Scholarship, UBC’s International Tuition Award and Four Year Fellowships for Ph.D. Students. My research forays into the field of Asian Canadian theatre began with my attending “GENesis,” the first ever Asian Canadian Theatre Conference hosted by Toronto’s fu-GEN Theatre. I am indebted to Dr Ric Knowles for seeing the possibilities when I met him at the Canadian Association for Theatre Research conference in 2009 and for inviting me to “GENesis”. I am also grateful to the academics and artists with whom I shared many fruitful exchanges during the event. Many thanks especially to Dr Karen Shimakawa, Dr Daphne Lei, Nina Lee Aquino, Leon Aureus, Dale Yim, Marjorie Chan, Simon Johnston, and Eury Chang, whose friendship and intellectual engagement I continue to appreciate. For allowing me a glimpse into their world and for taking time to meet with me informally to follow up on “GENesis,” I would like to thank fu-GEN theatre company members, David Yee and Jenna Rodgers. I am also grateful to Byron Abalos for so generously sharing his script of Brown Balls with me. In embarking on my research in London, I was fortunate to meet Veronica Needa, Artistic Director of True Heart Theatre and one of the original founding members of Yellow Earth Theatre (YET). I would like to thank her for welcoming me so warmly to her company, and for opening the doors for me into YET and the larger British East Asian theatre community. For so readily speaking to me and allowing me to look into their archives, I would like to thank Yellow Earth Theatre company members, Kumiko Mendl, Chris Corner, and Binita Walia. vi Many British East Asian artists I met during the event, “Opening the Door: East Asians in British Theatre” were happy to talk to me and share their views. Many thanks especially to David Tse, Daniel York, Lucy Sheen, and Anna Chen. Some of my ideas on David Yee’s lady in the red dress were first formulated when I prepared a paper for the New Canadian Realisms conference organized by Dr Roberta Barker and Dr Kim Solga. I would like to thank them for their advice and suggestions in getting my paper ready for the publication that emerged from the conference. Many thanks also to Dr Natalie Alvarez, who was on my panel and directed me to some interesting lines of thought. For their good humour, kindness, support, and for sharing my struggles during the graduate research process, I would like to thank Nick Harrison, Alex Ferguson, Allison Leadley and Trish Everett. I am very grateful to Selena Couture and Jocelyn Pitsch for taking the time, at short notice, to help me practice for my oral examination presentation. Their constructive criticisms aided me tremendously on the day of my defence. I also really appreciate the encouraging