The protest I was involved in made the front page of The Stage this week. This is fantastic news and congratulations to everyone involved/everyone quoted here. If any theatre casts white people in East Asian roles again, they have to know that this will happen, that there are consequences. Some huge steps forward are being … More Protest Front Page, Centre Stage
Last night in London, I protested at the Print Room with British East Asian theatre professionals, their friends, and their allies from the wider theatre industry. This is the first time that British East Asians have actually staged a physical protest against a theatre (unlike the US, there was no equivalent Miss Saigon protest back … More Yellowface Protest at the Print Room
Before Christmas, in response to the Print Room controversy over the casting of Howard Barker’s latest play, I mentioned that I would make my publications on yellowface (on the RSC’s The Orphan of Zhao) open access. It took a bit longer than I expected but ta-da! These are the accepted versions (so they are PDFs, not … More Yellowface publications (open access)
In a week where BAFTA announced that, from 2019, films that do not demonstrate diversity and inclusivity will no longer be considered for awards, in theatre land the antics at the Print Room, Notting Hill, show just how far we still have to go. Organisations such as Act for Change have initiated a wider cultural shift … More Yellowface alive and well at the Print Room
The other week I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Dr Dave O’Brien at Goldsmith’s about my book for the New Books in Critical Theory website. The podcast/audio file is now available, open access and therefore free, at the site here: http://newbooksincriticaltheory.com/2015/03/25/amanda-rogers-performing-asian-transnationalisms-theatre-identity-and-the-geographies-of-performance-routledge-2015/ He wrote a really great blurb for it which I am unashamedly cribbing … More Interview with Dr Dave O’Brien
I have been quiet the last 6 months whilst I knuckled down to finish the monograph (more on that later….) but as part of British East Asian Artists, we lobbied the Minister for Culture, Ed Vaizey, as he was setting up diversity initiatives to address the marginalisation of Black actors in mainstream culture. With the … More Update: BEAA lobby Ed Vaizey
Incidentally, after yesterday’s Fu Manchu blog, where I mentioned Anna May Wong in a 1920s period tv show I remembered one of my favourite photographs of all time. Which is this… Paul Robeson, Anna May Wong and Mei Lanfang outside Claridge’s Hotel in 1935. Ok, so a bit later than I immediately remembered. But my … More PS: Pondering 1920s set tv programs
Last Saturday, I was privileged to do the public Q&A with David Henry Hwang at the UK premiere of his 2008 award winning play Yellow Face at the Park Theatre in Finsbury, London. Thanks to Kevin Shen, Lucy Fenton and David for inviting me to do this! We had 45 minutes of lively and humour filled … More Q&A with David Henry Hwang
I listened to this yesterday and laughed my head off. For anyone mixed race, I think you are really going to love it too. Or if you’re South African. Or liberal. It is just fantastic. You’d better hurry as there’s only 4 days left on the iplayer. What really got me though was that what … More Trevor Noah: The Racist
Quick post #2 This is why I bang on about racial representation. Thanks to the film ‘Olympus Has Fallen’ we are back to ye olde hackneyed representations of Asians, now, mightily conveniently, updated to North Korea. So timely. These negative portrayals have resulted in a swathe of racist anti-Asian sentiment ‘let’s kill Asians’ from people … More Race and Film: Olympus Has Fallen
Theatrical Geographies 