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Edinburgh Fringe show accused of ‘yellowface’ for casting white actor as a geisha
- SRSLY_yours, the producers of the controversial Edinburgh fringe play “Tea Ceremony” at the Zoo Playground in Scotland, has received criticism for incorporating “yellowface” in the performance.
- The presentation, which ran from Aug. 5 to Aug. 28, featured award-winning Cypriot actor Marios Ioannou in full geisha make-up and costume.
- BEATS, an advocacy group founded by British East and Southeast Asians from the Theater and Screen industry, called out the producers in a statement and accused them of using yellowface for the play.
- “It's also a fact that to many of us who also bear the historical weight of those listed abuses in our family heritages, these lurid descriptions, danced upon by a Yellowfaced performer, are extremely triggering and traumatic,” BEATS said in a statement.
- “We have no wish to see a sanitized and conservative fringe,” BEATS added. “The problem is, though, that with outdated racist performance tropes, a sanitized and conservative fringe is exactly what we get.”
The producers of an Edinburgh Festival Fringe show have defended their decision to cast a white male actor in the role of a geisha, explaining geishas are “not exclusively ethnically Japanese or biologically female.”
BEATS, an advocacy group founded by British East and Southeast Asians from the Theater and Screen industry, called out SRSLY_yours for their production of “Tea Ceremony,” a play that was staged at Zoo Playground in Scotland from Aug. 5 to Aug. 28, for using “yellowface.”
Asian American Satirical Play ‘Ching Chong Chinaman’ Draws Backlash for Being ‘Racist’
An upcoming Asian American online play titled “Ching Chong Chinaman” has been accused of racism on social media.
The rehearsed reading, based on Lauren Yee’s 2011 book of the same name, follows an Asian American family who acquires an “indentured servant” from mainland China.
Kansas City Ballet to Remove Cringey ‘Yellowface’ Scene in ‘The Nutcracker’ After Backlash
The Kansas City Ballet, which has been performing productions of “The Nutcracker” for decades, was recently called out for its problematic depictions of Asian characters.
It has become a holiday tradition for the Missouri-based professional ballet company, which held its first “The Nutcracker” performance in 1972. However, a local woman has urged the ballet company to make some changes in their production to make “The Nutcracker” more culturally appropriate, reports WDAF-TV.
The Chinese Story of Mulan is Actually More Badass Than the Disney Version
The legend of Hua Mulan, the fearless Chinese warrior from the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, is a story most people are familiar with today through the Disney classic. But even the Disney version didn’t capture how epic of a woman Mulan was said to be.
Based on tales from medieval China, her story has inspired a number of screen and stage adaptations for global audiences in the modern era, but none so far have been able to portray the Mulan described in ancient Chinese texts.
Award-Winning Playwright Relives Cambodian History Through Play ‘Cambodian Rock Band’
A new play from award-winning Asian American playwright Lauren Yee, which has been getting rave reviews from critics, is nearing the end of its limited run.
Developed as part of an initiative by South Coast Repertory’s CrossRoads calling for an engagement with the diverse local communities, “Cambodian Rock Band” is Yee’s way of connecting to the Cambodian community in Orange County via music.
