jedicus: "Shakespeare isn't an apt comparison, though, since from the beginning his plays have been performed by "locals" (i.e. not people of a particular descent) and set anachronistically (e.g. with contemporary rather than historical costumes and language). The character of Hamlet, for example, was written for Richard Burbage, who was not, to my knowledge, of Danish descent."Sounds like an extremely apt comparison. H.C. Andersen's fairy tale Nattergalen is set in China because it was inspired by the then-fashionable chinoiserie decorations in the newly opened Tivoli gardens in Copenhagen. The Chinese theme is completely irrelevant to the story, which is about Andersen's unrequited love for Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind.
muddgirl: When we live in an America where Asian-American actors can get 'white' roles, then we can re-address the appropriateness of staging a show in FEUDAL China and having 1 adult Asian actor in your cast (who is probably actually Japanese-American).With you up until the implication that, somehow, a Japanese-American is not a valid Asian.
blucevalo: With you up until the implication that, somehow, a Japanese-American is not a valid Asian.Still not agreeing. A website was set up where people were surveyed on what nationality various Asian people were (based on their photos). It was run by an Asian-American, and he discovered Asians were fairly incapable of making an accurate distinction, despite their common belief that the nationalities looked very different.
To my eyes, she was talking about the OPP writer's statement in her blog post that the La Jolla Playhouse casting crew could have selected one actor with Chinese ancestry for a role in a show set in China and instead, for the single Asian actor they picked, selected an actor with Japanese ancestry instead.
fatehunter: "The onus is on any production to decide how they wish to adapt any existing work. Kaufman can and should drop the China setting if he feels it's not relevant to his production, regardless of what HCA intended for HCA's story. Or Kaufman can modify the story so that the setting is actually relevant."Just checking: you of course also think this applies to Hamlet being set in Denmark, and that contemporary productions of the play should make the Danish setting relevant or scrub it from the production (changing the names of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to Wilson and Johnson, etc.)?
slkinsey: "Why wouldn't it have been the same European nightingale with which Hans Christian Anderson was familiar?"Of course it would, the red-billed Leothrix is a red herring. Andersen never travelled further east than Istanbul.
kyrademon: On a different note, in response to a different subject and set of posters:Fair, but statistically insignificant. The cast wasn't that small; as noted elsewhere, the school is ~40% Asian.
"[Casting a Japanese-American in a Chinese-American role is] akin to casting a Frenchman to portray Hercule Poirot (a Belgian) ..."
This is not an unreasonable argument, and saying that they clearly made the effort to cast at least one East Asian performer in this small cast show seems like a fair point.
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When we live in an America where Asian-American actors can get 'white' roles, then we can re-address the appropriateness of staging a show in FEUDAL China and having 1 adult Asian actor in your cast (who is probably actually Japanese-American).
posted by muddgirl at 9:56 AM on July 11, 2012 [19 favorites]