The Collaborators
by Nirmala Nataraj

The Bay Area is a veritable treasure trove when it comes to multiethnic theatre. Any night of the week, you can see everything from a traditional Indian classical music concert to a West African dance performance--very often inhabiting the same city block. But despite the explosion of festivals and companies devoted to giving a voice to the rich tapestry of organizations mining their cultures for inspiration and artistic expression, many companies are still struggling to draw diverse audiences.

Given foundations' shrinking budget for arts grantmaking, the rise of intergenerational, multiethnic, collaborative theatre has become a vehicle for small organizations to build new audiences and relationships with potential collaborators--as well as expand the possibilities of their organizational identity in the process. While collaborations between ethnic theatres have largely been limited to co-presentations and space rentals, 28-year-old Lorraine Hansberry Theatre (LHT), dedicated to celebrating and reflecting the life of African Americans and 35-year-old Asian American Theater Company (AATC) are working to transform the paradigm of insularity that still presides over Bay Area ethnic theatre.

Founded in 1981 by artistic director Stanley E. Williams and executive director Quentin Easter, the critically acclaimed LHT has produced over 120 plays in partnership with multifaceted artists like Ntozake Shange and Prince Gomolvilas. AATC also enjoys an illustrious legacy: it is one of the oldest Asian American theatre companies in the country, and it has featured work by artists like Philip Kan Gotanda and David Henry Hwang. While AATC has undergone a variety of changes over the past decades, nearly closing down altogether on various occasions since it was founded under the umbrella of the American Conservatory Theater in 1973, the company's hiring of two co-artistic directors (writer/director Duy Nguyen and actor/director Alan Quismorio) in October indicates that the company will continue to be a vital part of San Francisco's small-theatre landscape.

Early this year, the companies discovered an occasion to come together. LHT's production of playwright William A. Parker's Waitin' 2 End Hell (premiering in February) and AATC's production of playwright Aurorae Khoo's Fayette-Nam (premiering in July, and the winner of the Gerbode Foundation's emerging playwright grant) similarly tackle interracial relationships, gender roles and domestic strife. Because both productions feature prominent roles for Asian American and African American actors, discussions of how the companies could collaborate on casting, dramaturgy and audience development quickly arose. AATC's interim executive director, Darryl Chiang, notes, "In general, our theatres are producing more and more pieces where there are overlaps, and where we can stand to gain something from each other. The fact that there happened to be a coincidental programming, with both of our [upcoming] productions sharing a multiethnic component, just made the link stronger."

AATC's co-artistic directors, Alan Quismorio and Duy Nguyen, as well as LHT artistic director, Stanley Williams, recently spoke with Theatre Bay Area magazine about their germinating partnership, as well as the future of ethnic theatre and community building among small theatre companies.

How did the partnership between the two companies come about, and what have some of the different facets of the collaboration been? What are the long-term implications?

Stanley Williams: My friend Ted Fang, who is an editor at [the newspaper] Asian Week, suggested a collaboration with the Asian American Theater Company during our rehearsal process earlier this year. Because Waitin' 2 End Hell featured an Asian female as one of the primary roles, I thought it would be a great idea…as far as having access to each other's pool of actors [since AATC was also in the process of planning their production of Fayette-Nam, which included a prime role for an African American actor]. Both organizations have helped each other as far as opening up their casting pools to each other.

Waitin' 2 End Hell has been produced in other places before, but it is the first time it's been done in an area with such a large Asian American population. This made me think that the Asian female character was too general. So [LHT and AATC] began sharing ideas with each other on how to frame and shape the character. We ended up making her Filipino, which came from AATC's input. This gives her a specific ethnicity, as opposed to a merely "Asian" one. With that comes the story of her cultural heritage. This was crucial to me--I didn't want to be part of something that would generalize a large group of people. In the upcoming months, AATC will open up their process in a similar way regarding the believability of their [African American] character, and there will be more dialogue between the groups.

Duy Nguyen: We are two premier ethnic theatre companies, so working together just made sense. We thought casting could also be used as a way to get to know each other, as a stepping stone for expanding our relationship. As far as using each other's casting pool, we are hoping this is something that's permanent. Cross-publicizing each other's shows is also an idea we have.

SW: We're still in the process of figuring out what we'd like to do with our partnership, how we can help each other. Both shows were selected prior to the partnership between AATC and LHT, so it's not exactly a collaboration, but it is leading in the direction of a collaboration for the future. It has also been an opportunity for both organizations to think a little more deeply about how we may have different identities, but the collective experience, the human experience, can be wrapped around everyone, whether they are African American, Asian American, et cetera.

DN: In addition, we imagine we'll be incorporating a lot more African American characters in our future productions. I feel that this collaboration will definitely affect casting choices for us down the line. I think we'll start to see a greater representation of the different cultures within both our communities. The more we work together, the greater that opportunity will be.

SW: LHT has a history of reaching out to different communities and organizations. With the Asian American community, some of the work we've done has included collaborations with [playwright/performer] Prince Gomolvilas and the Korean embassy here in San Francisco. There hasn't been as much collaboration as I'd like, but I'm hoping for that to change.

DN: I've been the point person for AATC in this collaboration, and there's been a lot of personal relevance for me. In my day-to-day life as a high school teacher, I work in a predominantly black community. For me, the work is part of a personal quest to familiarize both Asian Americans and African Americans with each other's communities. Historically, there's always been a bit of a misunderstanding between the communities, and they don't generally tend to mix. I thought this could be a good way to address that issue. There is so much diversity within the Asian American and African American communities. We could learn a lot from each other, but in order to make the experience of coming together more regular, we need to develop a degree of comfort with each other, one that may not currently exist.

Alan Quismorio: I think it's a great idea for small theatres to start collaborating with each other. There are so many different levels on which we can help each other...foundations that have limited funds for arts grantmaking also like to see communities coming together...and collaborations arising from that. It's a win-win situation.

SW: The more we work together, the better things are, the more possibilities there are. When you are an insular organization that doesn't share resources or reach out to others, that's where the problem lies. Building bridges is something that can take place without pressure--sharing resources (whatever that means for an organization) can be as simple as making contact and taking advantage of what we have to teach one another.

DN: We've found working together very advantageous. AATC certainly hopes to deepen our relationship with LHT. We're also striving to reach out to other organizations, such as college groups, to promote greater involvement. Like LHT, AATC represents a sense of history, which is important to people who are looking to strengthen ties with the community or just get a piece of their culture's legacy. That's why I find the African American community so inspiring—partially because they've had a longer time in America to do so, they have developed a rich legacy of music, culture, a way of being. In comparison, Asian Americans are somewhat lost, because there isn't that same legacy. We're trying to change that, to be a source, but that isn't something we can do in a vacuum. It takes the dedication of many different groups.

How are both organizations currently working to bring in diverse audiences, especially given that theatregoers in the United States tend to be white and affluent, and frequent more mainstream theatre?

SW: The majority of our audience is African American, about 45 percent. We have always been interested in reaching audiences who don't traditionally have a history of going to theatre. In general, younger audiences of theatregoers tend to be white, and they grow up to be the ones who actively support theatre. We are more interested in reaching out to a nontraditional audience, those who have no history of attending the theatre, largely because no one has done work that is accessible to them.

AQ: I think it's a matter of going out to where the audiences are, rather than asking them to come to us. There is this misconception of theatre being stuffy or for older, affluent audiences. Being at a theatre isn't like being at the movies; it demands your attention and focus. That can be daunting for a society that is used to quick-fix entertainment. So I think we need to start looking at how we can create the kinds of narratives with the power to draw viewers, but also be aware of what traditional theatre can offer that other forms of entertainment might not.

And it really comes down to accessibility. Theatre is generally so expensive that the people who can afford it are the ones who will see it; in this day and age, affluence is still predominantly related to white America. But there are ethnic groups that are working to break ground and change the status quo. In many ways, whoever holds power also has the power to change the definition of what is mainstream.

DN: It all comes down to the work, the space, who feels comfortable coming to our shows, et cetera. AATC is trying to program things next year that ensure a space for everybody, for people of different races, while rooting ourselves in an Asian American identity, which is something we are already anchored in. Once you have your core, it becomes easier to start to market to other groups. Of course, the typical theatre crowd tends to be older and white. Interestingly, our demographic is mostly Asian American and tends to be young and urban, so we are attracting an age group that customarily doesn't show up. If anything, we have difficulty reaching older audiences!

SW: It's all about the marketing, how you communicate to the audiences and get them to come out to the theatre. [With the LHT-AATC collaboration], there are all kinds of possibilities--such as both organizations sponsoring evenings for the other, selling tickets for each other's plays, doing outreach to our respective communities. The way in which we communicate, first and foremost, needs to be really clear. We need to make it clear that no matter how specific the stories are, the human experience connects to all of it. But I think that over time, [the different communities will be receptive to each other]. When you are doing consistent outreach work to bridge the gap between communities, people will begin to expect that you'll reach out to them.

What is the new model of ethnic theatre for the 21st century and beyond? What are some of the challenges that come with it?

SW: In the 21st century, the idea of ethnic theatre won't be a hindrance. It is the future. By the year 2020, we will have a majority people of color. To the extent that we can take our collective ethnicity and wrap it around the human experience, we will always have a future, particularly since some of the cultures we come from are much older than European cultures and have been sustained over millennia.

AQ: I don't think ethnic theatre will ever be obsolete. It'll always be there to remind people of where they came from and how far they've come. Of course, we don't want the word ethnic to be polarizing. To avoid that, it's all about how you market yourself, how you market the work as being both representative of life within and outside a particular community, about the specific group experience and the common human experience.

With AATC in general, we are looking at a population that is typically second or third generation and wasn't raised with the same values as their parents or grandparents. So we're about addressing the issues of the day, figuring out how we fit into the American and global fabric. I think identity among Asian Americans is always in flux. There are two different dialogues occurring: where are we the same, and where are we different? Can we accept the places where we are different? In many ways, we want to be a community because there is so much commonality, such as with the deep sense of family structure. We're still concerned with our niche in the world, but that has transformed. Now we're interested in how we can reach others. It's not about assimilating in a negative way, but about creating dialogue in a new way, especially with groups that might not be aware of us.

SW: As far as ethnic theatre goes, one of the things we must do is see how all of our works can feed into the sensibility of an American audience in general, while dealing with our own ethnicity. This might be a challenge for AATC as far as beginning to solidify what that identity means, since "Asian American" encompasses so many people and countries that all have their own cultures and art forms. This will take consistent leadership...to portray that diversity in a meaningful way. For AATC, this challenge of identifying who your community is can be used as a great opportunity.

DN: We've been more decisive in our upcoming season about freeing the Asian American identity from stereotypes and even the expectations we may have placed upon ourselves. I'm interested in the Asian American as a world citizen.... I see this as the 21st century identity. Asian Americans have an inherent advantage because they are already bicultural. The world is rapidly shrinking...I hope to see theatre that reflects this trend.

We've spoken about how the concept of identity is integral to ethnic theatre. How are the two productions breaking boundaries in exploring identity?

SW: Waitin' 2 End Hell is sort of a male version of Waiting to Exhale. It asks a lot of questions, from the male perspective, about the impact on the traditional relationship of marriage when women are in the workforce, in powerful positions, and men are no longer the heads of the household. It's about reexamining traditional perspectives...taking a deeper look at what marriage means when gender roles get flipped.

DN: It's particularly interesting that both [LHT's and AATC's] productions involve interracial romantic relationships, especially since the Asian/black pairing tends to be more rare. In many ways, we're attempting to break stereotypes around relationships, whether they be sexual or platonic. In some ways, this is a reaction to the dominant media, but moreover, it's an attempt to see ourselves more accurately, as much more than caricatures.

Fayette-Nam is about a romantic relationship between an older Asian woman and a young black teen enlisted in the military. A complex love triangle emerges when the woman's daughter comes home...and lots of unconscious things in both communities are played out on stage, particularly around the issue of identity. And while the show might focus on people of color, the racial aspect is never overt. It pushes the envelope but in the end, it's about people--their meeting points, what they are fighting for and against.

Given our movement toward a more multicultural world, is community building becoming a new imperative for small—and, in particular, ethnic—theatre companies?

SW: I think it goes deeper to the question of how we start to get audiences to see work by different communities...and ensure that that work is still managed, maintained and controlled by the specific community, as opposed to a more mainstream definition of the community. The latter can easily happen, and that is a case where bridges are not built. I think we can go beyond narrow portrayals of people of color. One of the ways to do this is to work with the academic community, with cultural anthropologists, to explore what it means for America that by the year 2020, the majority of our population will be people of color. Organizations of color need to take ownership of this and enter into a spirit of partnership and collaboration with each other. If part of the task of the coming decades is to solidify our identity in the face of a changing demographic, this cannot be done in isolation.

AQ: I see this as an opportunity to pull in other ethnic-based theatre companies, to start a dialogue where we can begin looking at ourselves and our audiences as part of a world stage. This is something that is being mirrored in the greater world...with a new president who is the type of person to pull various groups of people together. I'm excited about the possibility of this sort of partnership [between AATC and LHT] strengthening the community and including everyone. In the context of the work we are producing, I think it's crucial to note that we aren't so different from each other. We may come from different walks of life, but what matters is that we live in a world where you can turn on a laptop and discover there's someone thousands of miles away who shares the same interests as you. It's a very different climate. That's the direction we want to head in--to retain our cultural identities but also nurture our similarities.

How does theatre contribute to the work of community building and breaking walls that may exist between different communities?

SW: A theatre is an artistic home for artists, so I think there is an ingrained sense of pushing the envelope by being edgy, holding a mirror up to the audience but also breaking through that. Theatre is a relevant form of entertainment, not simply a platform to lecture. But there is that responsibility to educate, to communicate, to the greatest extent possible.

DN: Theatre, to me, is the best way to get to know somebody. In Fayette-Nam, you have this central relationship between an older Asian woman and a black teenager. For a month, the two performers spend time acting out some very intimate feelings and situations. It's very close to life. That's the great thing about theatre--the way it lets you approach these very real situations but at the end of the day, come back to who you are. You can live in a fantasy for a certain period of time, but even though theatre is fantasy, it has very real consequences…it uncovers our unconscious desires, impulses, fears and hopes.

AQ: Theatre also feeds into the audience reaction, so it isn't like movies, where there's a one-way relationship and actors are not influenced by the audience. Theatre is not as distant--it's approachable. You can talk to actors afterwards and engage in a dialogue. There is the possibility of transformation in that.

Waitin' 2 End Hell plays at the PG&E Auditorium from February 12 to March 1. Tickets are $20-36. Call (415) 474-8800, or visit lhtsf.org.

For more information in on Asian American Theatre Company, visit asianamericantheater.org.

Nirmala Nataraj is a San Francisco-based freelance writer, editor, playwright/poet and erstwhile filmmaker.