DEVELOPMENTAL DRAMATURGY IN THE EMERGING ASIAN-CANADIAN PLAYWRITING COMMUNITY IN TORONTO ANDREW CHENG A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF FINE ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN HIGHER EDUCATION YORK UNIVERSITY, TORONTO, ONTARIO DECEMBER 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-51516-7 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-51516-7 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada Abstract The following thesis, entitled Developmental Dramaturgy in the Emerging Asian Canadian Playwriting Community in Toronto, is submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts. The thesis provides an overview of the dramaturgical process undertaken and observed while working with fu-GEN Asian-Canadian Theatre Company's writing unit The Kitchen, as well as the annual Potluck Festival, the only Asian-Canadian new play festival held in Canada. The paper provides an overview of fu-GEN's company history, as well as the state of Asian-Canadian Theatre in Toronto between 1990-2008. The paper also explores the different processes of playwrights and dramaturgs participating in both The Kitchen and The Potluck Festival. iv Acknowledgm ents I would like to acknowledge the artistic and administrative staff at fu-GEN Asian- Canadian Theatre Company, as well as all the artists involved in The Kitchen and The Potluck who offered me their support and time. I would further like to acknowledge Dr. Judith Rudakoff, who offered her strength, skills and mentorship. She has instilled a passion in me for my vocation and opened the doors to a career; Nina Lee Aquino, for her incredible spirit and dedication. She is a gift to all artists of colour; Lindsay Small for her humour and friendship; and my family, who offered me everything they had and asked for nothing in return. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract iv Acknowledgements v Table of Contents vi INTRODUCTION: The State of Asian-Canadian Theatre in Toronto 1 CHAPTER ONE: New Play Development at fu-GEN 7 CHAPTER TWO: The Kitchen 10 In Remembrance of That 22,000 Days by Titus Leung 13 Red Snow by Diana Tso 19 Tongue by Yaya Yao 22 Saturn's Return by Wayne Sujo 24 One Day at Clam Pink Cafe by Jeff Tung 28 Submission by Karl Ang 30 CHAPTER THREE: The Potluck Festival 36 Brown Balls by Byron Abalos 37 Stroke by Marie-Leofeli R. Barlizo 41 A Taste of Empire by Jovanni Sy 46 Tale of a Mask by Terry Watada 48 Kim's Convenience by Insurp Choi 51 Pu-Erh by Norman Yeung 53 lady in the red dress by David Yee 57 CONCLUSION 61 Works Cited 63 Appendices 65 Appendix A: Grant Application 66 Appendix B: Production Dramaturg's Program Note 74 Appendix C: Dramaturg's Program Note 76 vi INTRODUCTION The State of Asian-Canadian Theatre in Toronto This chapter will delineate a short history of Asian-Canadian1 theatre in Toronto, between 1990 and 2008 and suggest why there is a need in the city for artist-based companies with culturally specific mandates such as fu-GEN Asian-Canadian Theatre Company. One of the primary reasons for the existence of these companies is to empower artists of colour. In the case of fu-GEN, the focus of empowerment is Asian-Canadian playwrights . Jovanni Sy, current Artistic Director of Cahoots Theatre Projects in Toronto describes his first professional meeting with Cahoots (a company mandated to be culturally inclusive rather than culturally specific) in 1992: It was amazing for a young actor to find a company that produced work that includes everyone. For a long time myself and my colleagues (not limited to just Asians) felt excluded from "mainstream theatre." Cahoots and the Carlos Bulosan Theatre Company (mandated to produce the works of Filipino artists) for me were companies, like fu-GEN does now, that reflects the mainstream audiences of Toronto. (Sy) In her Canadian Theatre Review article entitled "Chinese-Canadian Theatre: The Bigger Picture," Jean Yoon describes the state of Asian-Canadian theatre during the 1990s: In 1990, Cahoots Theatre Projects hosted the critical Write About Now! Conference. Founded in 1986 Cahoots was ambitiously For the purposes of this thesis, the term Asian-Canadian refers to the Pan Pacific community which includes representation from the following countries: China, Japan, Korea and the Philippines among others 2 For the purposes of this thesis, from this point onwards I will refer to the fu-GEN Asian-Canadian Theatre Company as "fu-GEN". 1 mandated to create theatre that crossed cultural and artistic boundaries. Led by Beverly Yhap, a Chinese-Canadian raised in the Caribbean, Cahoots displayed a profound and visionary understanding of the cultural ambiguities of contemporary Canadians and the challenges this created for theatre. While playwrights were considering their course, artist-advocates were pushing for non-traditional casting. Actors Brenda Kamino, Sandi Ross, director Sally Han and others were asking hard questions: Why were actors of colour only called in for ethnic roles? Who wasn't being auditioned? Why not? What could arts service organizations, mainstream theatre companies, film & television production houses, and arts councils do about it? (Yoon 5-6) Toronto's theatre community responded to these questions by holding several public meetings to discuss the lack of artists of colour on Toronto stages. The response heralded the beginning of the attempts to address this issue within the Toronto theatre community. Below is a time line of significant examples of Asian-Canadian Theatre produced in Toronto before fu-GEN was established. These examples are significant because they represent early critically successful and widely seen productions as well as events where Asian-Canadians were made visible to and were acclaimed by the mainstream Toronto Theatre community. 1993 Mirvish Productions mounts Miss Saigon, casting Asian-Canadian artists, including an Asian Canadian in the lead female actor. 1995 Yoon inaugurates her company Loud Mouth Asian Babes3 with a production of her play Sliding for Home Borders. 1996 The federal government, celebrating Canada's Year of the Asia- Pacific, invests money in East Asian arts projects across the country. That same year Tarragon Theatre produces Blessings by M.J. Kang. A company mandated to develop and produce new Canadian works by, for and about Asian Women. 2 1999 Jane Luk produces her play The Fabulous Smokey Topaz Multimedia 2000 Loud Mouth Asian Babes produces The Yoko Ono Project by Jean Yoon at Theatre Passe Muraille. 2000 Keira Loughran produces her plays Alice and Sheroes in association with Loud Mouth Asian Babes. 2001 Cahoots Theatre Projects produces Betty Quan's Mother Tongue. That same year Young People's Theatre produces Betty Quan's Ghost Train. 2001 John Ng's / is produced at the Toronto Fringe Festival, a play about an Asian Olympian. As the festival drew to a close, Beijing won the 2008 Olympics bid. 2002 fu-GEN Asian-Canadian Theatre Company is established in Toronto. The fu-GEN Generation fu-GEN ("Future Generation") strives to empower Asian-Canadian theatre artists to create and work with material that examines contemporary issues. The demographic of Asian-Canadians with whom fu-GEN usually works are Canadians who exist not between cultures, but as part of Canada's culture as a whole. This means that the plays created by the artists do not have to be focused solely on what have long been perceived as traditional Asian stories of ancestry and immigration, but rather they explore contemporary issues that Asians face in Canada today. Examples of these specific issues will be further delineated below. A Company Historical Overview: 2002 - 2008 Founded in January 2002, fu-GEN is determined to carve out a space in the Canadian cultural landscape for vibrant Asian-Canadian voices. In five years, fu-GEN has launched six highly successful major projects. This includes two full-scale 3 productions in association with Factory Theatre, one of Toronto's first and still existing alternative theatre companies that continues to produce exclusively Canadian content on its mainstage and secondary stage.