H28.0606 (Drama) V30.0256 (Dramatic Writing) V18.0830 (A/P/A Studies)
Tuesdays/Thursdays 9:30-10:45 a.m.
Waverly Building, Room 570
Office Hours By Appointment
DESCRIPTION
This course acts as both an introduction to the genre of Asian American theater, and an interrogation into how this genre has developed over time. Through a combination of play analysis and historical discussion, the class will look at the ways Asian American drama and performance intersect with a range of issues, including race, gender, sexuality, transnationalism, and social activism.
REQUIREMENTS
Written Assignments:
Reaction papers to readings (1-2 pages each)
Must complete at least 8 over the course of semester.
Review of an Asian American theater performance (2-4 pages)
MIDTERM paper focusing on play analysis (5-7 pages)
FINAL EXAM: Take Home Final (8-12 pages)
All written work must be original. Plagiarism will result in severe penalties.
Attendance:
Attendance and active participation in class discussions is mandatory.
Three or more unexcused absences will result in the lowering of your grade.
Excused absences will be granted ONLY if you have a doctor�s note AND write a 2-3 page paper on the readings for the class you missed.
Students are required to see at least two Asian American theater performances during the semester. Suggested performances will be announced in class.
Required texts can be purchased at the NYU Book Center
The course packet is available at Advanced Copy Center, 522 La Guardia Place
Additional readings on Blackboard
Tuesday, January 20: Overview of class and syllabus
Thursday, January 22: The Chop Suey Circuit
Forbidden City, U.S.A.
�Asian American Theatre Before 1965� (Lee) [packet]
Tuesday, January 27: Frank Chin
The Chickencoop Chinaman by Frank Chin
Performing Asian America, Ch. 1 & 3 (Lee)
Thursday, January 29: Migrant Workers
The Romance of Magno Rubio by Lonnie Carter [Savage Stage]
�The Politics of Romance� [Savage Stage]
Tuesday, February 3: Immigration
Paper Son by Byron Yee [Blackboard]
Interview with Byron Yee [Blackboard]
Performing Asian America, Ch. 5 (Lee)
Thursday, February 5: Assimilation
Flipzoids by Ralph B. Pena [Savage Stage]
Tuesday, February 10: World War II
The Gate of Heaven [Blackboard]
�Japanese Americans at Dachau� (Colborn) [Blackboard]
Thursday, February 12: Post-Colonialism
Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn
Interview with Jessica Hagedorn [Blackboard]
Tuesday, February 17: Orientalism
Orientalism, Intro & Ch. 1 (Said)
Thursday, February 19: East/West
M. Butterfly by David Henry Hwang
Performing Asian America, Ch. 4 (Lee)
Tuesday, February 24: South Asian American
Barriers by Rehana Mirza [Blackboard]
Interview with Rehana Mirza [Blackboard]
Thursday, February 26: Hawaii
Hawa�i�s �Local� Theatre� (Carroll) [Blackboard]
In the Alley [Blackboard]
Tuesday, March 3: Philip Kan Gotanda
The Wash [Blackboard]
Yohen [Blackboard]
�Portraits by Gotanda� (Hong) [Blackboard]
Tuesday, March 5: Margaret Cho
I�m the One That I Want
MIDTERM DUE
Tuesday, March 10: Miss Saigon
National Abjection Ch. 1 (Shimakawa) [packet]
Thursday, March 12:
Trial by Water by Qui Nguyen [Savage Stage]
NO CLASSES
Tuesday, March 24: Dan Kwong guest lecture
�Flying Alone in Outer Spaces� (Vorlicky) [packet]
Additional readings TBA
Thursday, March 26: Community Based Performance
�Collective Autobiographies: The Process of Peeling� (Bacalzo) [Blackboard]
Tuesday, March 31: Chinese Theater/Japanese Theater
�Chinese Opera in New York� (Rao) [Blackboard]
�Kabuki from the Outside� (Goodman) [Blackboard]
Thursday, April 2: Filipino/South Asian performance forms
�Syncretic Traditions� (Bacalzo) [Blackboard]
�The Kathakali Theatre� (Barba) [Blackboard]
Tuesday, April 7:
A Language of Their Own by Chay Yew
�Chay Yew: The Importance of Being Verbal� (Drukman) [packet]
Thursday, April 9:
Satellites by Diana Son
Interview with Diana Son [Blackboard]
Tuesday, April 14: Spring Awakening
Middle Finger by Han Ong [Savage Stage]
Thursday, April 16: Medea
wAve by Sung Rno [Savage Stage]
Tuesday, April 21: Audience reception
Performing Asian America, Ch. 2 (Lee)
Thursday, April 23: Reviewing Asian American performances
ALL REVIEWS MUST BE IN BY THIS TIME
Tuesday, April 28: Yellow Face
Yellow Face by David Henry Hwang [packet]
Thursday, April 30: Current trends, the future of Asian American performance
The Verbal Mural [packet]
Required Texts:
Barrios-Leblanc, Joi (editor). Savage Stage: Plays by Ma-Yi. New York: Ma-Yi Theater Company, 2006.
Chin, Frank. The Chickencoop Chinaman/The Year of the Dragon: Two Plays by Frank Chin. Seattle: U of Washington Press, 1981.
Hagedorn, Jessica. Dogeaters. New York: Theater Communications Group, 2003.
Hwang, David Henry. M. Butterfly. New York: Plume, 1990.
Lee, Josephine. Performing Asian America: Race and Ethnicity on the Contemporary Stage. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1997.
Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York: Random House, 1979.
Son, Diana. Satellites. New York: Dramatist�s Play Service, 2008.
Yew, Chay. Porcelain and A Language of Their Own. New York: Grove Press, 1997.
Blackboard Items:
Yee, Byron. Paper Son. Unpublished Script. Courtesy of author.
Bacalzo, Dan. �Interview with Byron Yee.�
Nishikawa, Lane Kiyomi, with Talmadge, Victor. The Gate of Heaven. Electronic Edition by Alexander Street Press, 2002.
Colburn, Emily. �Japanese Americans at Dachau: Intercultural Exchange in the US Tour of The Gate of Heaven.� Theatre Research International. Vol. 27, no. 2, 2002, 201-212.
Bacalzo, Dan. �Filipino Politics at the Public.� TheaterMania.com. February 13, 2001.
Mirza, Rehana. Barriers. Electronic Edition by Alexander Street Press, 2002.
Bacalzo, Dan. �All Over the Map.� TheaterMania.com. September 3, 2003.
Sakamoto, Edward. In the Alley. Electronic Edition by Alexander Street Press, 2002.
Carroll, Dennis. �Hawa�i�s �Local� Theatre.� TDR. Vol. 44, No. 2. (T166), Summer 2000, 123-152.
Hong, Terry. �Portraits by Gotanda.� American Theatre. March 2007, 30-33, 68-71.
Gotanda, Philip Kan. The Wash. Electronic Edition by Alexander Street Press, 2002.
Gotanda, Philip Kan. Yohen. Electronic Edition by Alexander Street Press, 2002.
Bacalzo, Dan. �Collective Autobiographies: The Process of Peeling.� Unpublished Essay.
Rao, Nancy Yunhwa. �Racial Essences and Historical Invisibility: Chinese Opera in New York, 1930.� Cambridge Opera Journal, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Jul., 2000), 135-162.
Goodman, David and Kazuko. �Kabuki from the outside.� TDR, Vol. 15, No. 2. Spring, 1971, 175-184.
Bacalzo, Dan. �Syncretic Traditions: Kinding Sindaw and the Performance of Authenticity.� Unpublished Essay.
Barba, Eugenio and Simonne Sanzenbach. �The Kathakali Theatre� The Tulane Drama Review, Vol. 11, No. 4, Summer, 1967, 37-50.
Bacalzo, Dan. �Satellites Dish: Playwright Diana Son discusses the world premiere of her play at The Public Theater.� TheaterMania.com, June 5, 2006.
Reading Packet:
Lee, Esther Kim. �Asian American theatre before 1965.� A History of Asian American Theatre. Cambridge U Press, 2006.
Shimakawa, Karen. �I Should Be American � Abjection and the Asian (American) Body.� National Abjection. Durham: Duke University Press, 23-56.
Vorlicky Robert. �Flying Alone in Outer Spaces.� From Inner Worlds to Outer Space: The Multimedia Performances of Dan Kwong. Ann Arbor: U of Michigan Press, 2004, 1-10.
Drukman, Steven. �Chay Yew: The Importance of Being Verbal.� In American Theatre, November 1995, 58-60.
Hwang, David Henry. Yellow Face. In American Theatre. April 2008, 60-79.
Eng, Alvin. �The Verbal Mural.� Tokens: The NYC Asian American Experience On Stage. New York: Asian American Writers� Workshop, 1999, 408-444.
Don't forget to sign the guestbook!
� 1998 Dan Bacalzo
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