“Unfortunately, there’s no distinction of how their Asian mom is any different from my black mom, or anyone else’s mom. If this skit were set in the ’70s, Asian mom would have been Jewish mom.”
via A-Squared Theatre Workshop's My Asian Mom – Gapers Block A/C | Chicago.
I’m beyond ecstatic to have my play, MamaSiHero, be part of a One-Act Showcase called My Asian Mom in Chicago. I adore everyone involved with making this show, and EXTENSION, happen. I miss my cast and director terribly because they did an amazing job with my work.
I’d be lying if I took the road of saying that I don’t read reviews, but I’ve always been a person who craves for instant gratification. Just being honest. Anyways, I stumbled upon this review of My Asian Mom and the above quote has kinda stuck in my craw. The review is fine, but what I wonder is – should a play, initially written for an Asian-American cast, be re-written for an “American” (I’ll get back to the quotes in a sec) cast in order to gain a bigger audience… which would lead into larger revenues by the producing Theatre Company etc., etc… ?
As a writer, I’d like to think that I’ve “matured” (I really have to get over using the “”) into the thinking that stories boil down to the human element and emotion instead of depending on a story told from a specific ethnic point of view. And I’m still going back and forth with this argument. On the one hand, if a theme is sad or funny, then that is universal. However, I know from having the perspective of being a minority, that theme is viewed differently based on Culture. Case in point, probably stereotypical but whatever, in an American Family, once a person, especially a boy, turns 18, then he is free to leave a family and become a man and create his own future and fortune. In my Filipino-American world, man or woman, this would never fly. And if I were to write my truth, this is how I would portray this family relationship. But by focusing on my world, would that limit my audience even if, through plot, the theme would be universal?
A more specific example/question: I’m writing a 10 minute about a relationship between an assassin and his mom entitled, AGENT KILIKILI’S MOM AND HIS MALE ORDER BRIDE. The plot revolves around a mom wanting a grandchild in which he can’t provide as is revealed in the play. It involves a great deal of nagging and a fair amount of guilt-trippery – a pretty universal trait between moms and their children. But I put my voice to the story by having the main characters of this 3 character play be Filipino-American. Plus, the word “kilikili” means armpit in Filipino which makes the play relevant to a Filipino-American audience. I really like my theme and plot which revolves around the universal relationship between mothers and sons, but should I write an “American” cast version if it will get my work seen by more audiences?
The more I think about it, really think about it, if I did re-write this play with the sole intention of getting my work seen by more people, then I’d be betraying who I am as the artist I want to be – a writer for my community who’ll STAND UP for the original intent of my story and its audience. I should serve the story, not the audience (which is SO COUNTER to getting that instant gratification). It would be totally selling out if I changed my story for another audience because of what I wanted or if the producer wanted to. Please note that I DID NOT SAY that it’s selling out if I, or another playwright of color, solely writes for an audience outside what they consider their own ethnicity! That’s absolutely fine… brilliant even. A writer should be able to write any story they want to… as long as it’s good or in the process of being good! Again, as long as they serve THEIR story, all is good.
I probably have no right to even set up a soapbox given my very brief life in the Playwriting World so far, but it’s good to know at least where I stand as I make my way forward in the career I have chosen.