Henry Ong fits into Los Angeles about as
well as growing old gracefully. Which is to say, how does a person
as honest, modest---as practically courtly---as Ong, become a successful playwright? Isn't
pushandshove the lifeblood of showbiz? You know, that sort of Mr. Producer,
here I am jazz? Perhaps Ong's innate decency and forthrightness have been
his greatest cache, so novel is a lack of guile in this cutthroat town. But then, his
ability has a hell of a lot to do with things, too. Ong is the author of the well-known
"Madame Mao's Memories," a one-woman production based on the life of Mao
Tse-Tung's widow, performed on major stages in Los Angeles, London, Singapore, San Diego
(at the Old Globe) and many other cities.
He was also moved to
write "Fabric," based on the true story of incarceration and enslavement of Thai
garment workers in Southern California; "Sweet Karma," based on the life of the
murdered Oscar-winning actor and Cambodia "Killing Fields" survivor, Dr. Haing
S. Ngor; and "People Like Me," about gay and lesbian teenagers in Los Angeles.
He is a six-time recipient of grants from the L.A. Department of Cultural Affairs, a
member of the Dramatist Guild, the Los Angeles Stage Alliance and the Alliance of Los
Angeles Playwrights, and Literary Manager and an Artistic Associate of Playwrights' Arena.
His latest work is in some
ways his most remarkable. It's a Christmas play, of all things, written for and acted
entirely by deaf students at Marlton School, Los Angeles's only school for the deaf. A
parable about greed and temptation, "The Old Lady Who Popped Out of the Sidewalk and
Became A Christmas Tree" also features actors doing the spoken
"translation" for hearing audiences. It will be performed Thursday, Dec. 11 and
Friday, Dec. 12 at Marlton, 4000, Santo Tomas Dr., L.A.(Tickets for the show are $5
for 9-year olds and older and $3 for 3 to 8 year olds. For more information, please call
(323) 296-7680.)
Mr. Ong, who is currently seeking to produce his
six-hour(!) adaptation of the epic Chinese novel, "Dream of the Red Chamber,"
discussed his new play, his life as a playwright, and the state of theater---and Asian
theater---in Los Angeles from his home in Silver Lake.
RENSE: How did you come to write "The Old Lady Who Popped Out of the
Sidewalk and Became a Christmas Tree"? How did you come to produce it for deaf
students? Was it written specifically for them?
HENRY ONG: Let me start from the beginning.
RENSE: Always a good idea!
ONG: Last year, I contacted Marlton School, L.A's only day school
for the deaf, after I learned that the school was interested in producing an Asian play.
In talking to the school's then principal, Cecilia Perea, I discovered that the school was
anxious to bring balance to the drama program. It had done Hispanic and African American
plays, but not Asian. Ms. Perea and her drama teacher, Wanda La Coure (who is deaf) felt
that since the school had an eight percent Asian student population, they really wanted to
include an Asian play in its drama programming. The prospect of working with a whole new
community really appealed to me, so I agreed to work with the school. As it happened, I
had already developed a couple of plays for youth that were adapted from Asian folktales.
Last summer, the school produced one of these folktales---"Golden Flower
Princess," a Thai folktale about a princess who had flowers fall from her mouth every
time she spoke. The collaboration proved joyous, thrilling and exciting, and I wanted to
continue working with the school. I therefore applied for a grant from Cultural Affairs.
In discussing the selection of a play this time, Wanda asked it I had a Christmas play in
my repertoire. I decided to write an original play inspired by Gabriel Garcia Marquez'
lyrical story. "A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings." In a sense, yes, I did
write the play specifically for the deaf students.However, I hope other schools and
theaters would consider producing it too."
RENSE: Will hearing audiences be able to follow the play?
ONG: Absolutely. One of the joys of this collaboration is to be able to
introduce my theater friends to this community as participants in the process. While the
deaf students perform in ASL (American Sign Language), a group of actors will read the
lines offstage, so that hearing audiences can follow the storyline.
RENSE: Funny, so it's the reverse of what you often encounter in
"hearing" theater, where you have a person signing for the deaf audience. Tell
me about working with deaf students. You've been doing this for sometime now. How
difficult was it for you to adjust to their world?
ONG: Adjusting? I'm learning ASL now, but communication is bit difficult
since I don't know American Sign Language that well yet. However, the students are very
eager and that makes it so much easier. Also, the school supplies me with an
interpreter-Levyette Harper, and I'm grateful for that. . .The school produced
"Golden Flower Princess" in May and I started work with the students and staff
as a consultant sometime in February or March. Wanda, the deaf teacher, asked if I could
help with costumes. Happily, my friend, Shirley Wineman, was pleased to be involved. She'd
designed costumes for me for a previous project. I also thought it would be a good idea to
include Thai dance and martial arts, and asked my actress friend Chuti Tiu to choreograph
a simple Thai dance and martial art routines for the students to learn. Oh, yes, I did
recruit my actor friends to supply the "voices"-a hearing subtitle, if you will.
RENSE: Are there things about the play that are especially appropriate
for deaf students?
ONG: It's interesting that in a deaf performance, the "words"
are not as important. ASL ,being such a conceptual language, makes it all the more
important for me to "paint pictures" rather than be tied to language. There is
an innate theatricality to signing as a means of communication; I hope that the play
complements that. In every day communication, hearing people tend not to be very
expressive. But in the deaf world, facial expressions, body language play a big part in
communicating feelings. Still, I'm surprised at how well some of the "spoken"
ideas translate into ASL. For example, there is a character in the play-that of a
reporter-who speaks backwards. I wondered, Is it possible to sign backwards? Apparently it
is!
RENSE: Reporters often speak backwards. They learned it from politicians.
Tell me about some of the travails of the production---the triumphant moments, the hard
stuff, and the funny stuff.
ONG: Hmmmm. It seems so corny to say this, but this experience is such a spiritual
growth for me as an artist. As someone who has relied so much on the spoken word all
my life, it's a humbling experience when you can't use "words" to express a
thought. Like anyone learning a foreign language, I've had my share of bloopers when
communicating. Example: the time I told the class that the interpreter had gone "to
make love" when what I wanted to say was she went to get coffee. Imagine my
embarrassment.
RENSE: Given the worship of Starbucks, the distinction is increasingly
fine, I suspect.
ONG: Oh, I should mention that the inclusion of Thai dance to the
performance of "Golden Flower Princess" gave me enormous satisfaction---to see
the faces of the students light up when they perform the dance to music they can't hear!
That, to me, is simply so precious. I understand the students also performed the dance on
International Day. It's good to see skills you impart to them being used outside the drama
class!
|
RENSE: I notice that you are also conducting workshops in
acting, lighting, set and costume design. I thought you were just a writer, Henry! How did
you come to do this sort of thing?
ONG: I conduct these workshops every other Friday on my days off. I
recruit friends who are knowledgeable in these areas to help out. We plan out a simple
curriculum, so that the students can get a taste of actually participating in all aspects
of theater production, not just acting. My friend, Liz Sadoff, a fabulous artist, helped
me with the set design workshop. Shirley Wineman, who has tons of costumes and is a
skilled designer and seamstress, especially in Asian clothes…she helped me conduct
the workshop on costumes. And Art McDermott, an actor friend who is fluent in ASL will
teach improv exercises in ASL and teach acting techniques. Oh, Joycelyne Lew, actor and
make-up and hair consultant, will teach the students all about make up and hair.
RENSE: I see the play is described as a "message play."
What is the message?
ONG: Doesn't that sound dreadful? Who wants to hear a
"message"? But there is a message. The play is about greed. The play is
about a very poor man who encounters an old lady who pops out of the sidewalk. He
discovers she has magical powers---should he use her to amass wealth? Is it exploitation,
or opportunity?
RENSE: Lovely premise. A valuable question to raise in this era when
absolutely everything is exploited for money, without conscience. . .
ONG: Yes, I hope that this will stimulate thought about
"balance"--while it's nice to be financially stable, we must also remember that
money is not everything in life.
RENSE: In L.A., every second person calls himself or herself a writer, if
not an actor or screenwriter. You are a rare item in that you are a genuinely successful
playwright. You not only work at your craft intensely, but you have had many plays
performed with success in LA. Europe, and Asia. How did you get started writing plays? Was
it a childhood aspiration?
ONG: I worry that I might be that second person you refer to. But thank
you for calling me a successful playwright. Success is relative. What is success? Who's to
say that the person who calls himself or herself a writer is not actually a writer?
RENSE: I am! In L.A., if you sit at home and type on a keyboard, you
automatically add "writer" to your business card. I have seen many a card that
says "actor/singer/director/writer." I kid you not. You know, I plant and water
the flowers outside, but I'm not a gardener. . .
ONG: Well, he or she could be happy just writing for himself or herself.
That could be considered a success, no?
RENSE: No! Oh, I suppose, in an idealistic sense. . .
ONG: Some would say you can't call yourself a playwright unless you've
been produced on Broadway, or at least in New York. Or, unless you make a living out of
writing, it's only an avocation.
RENSE: Yes, I would say that last statement about sums it up. . .but
continue. How did you start out?
ONG: Writing was definitely a childhood aspiration, albeit one that was
crushed very quickly. I remember saying to my mother that I wanted to be a writer, when I
was seven. To my horror and surprise, she burst into tears! I guess she wanted me to be a
doctor. For many years, I suppressed the need to write, and it wasn't till well after
graduating with a degree in biology, that I decided to put pen to paper, and that was the
start of my writing career-if you can call it that.
RENSE: You have a degree in biology? Well, that would support what I told
a journalism class at CSU Fullerton once: major in something other than journalism, so as
to gain some actual knowledge. You learn writing by doing, not very much by studying in a
classroom. Today, you are a six-time Cultural Affairs grant recipient. How have you
managed this, and what were your other grants for?
________________________________________________________________________________________
My dream project is to see the theatrical realization of "Dream of the Red
Chamber," all six hours of it. In 2000, I staged a reading of my adaptation in
Central Library, commissioned by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. Now, if only
someone would do the damn thing!
________________________________________________________________________________________
ONG: It's always difficult for an artist to work in a vacuum, so it was
fortuitous that I discovered Cultural Affairs. As an artist-in-the-community, I've always
gravitated to community-related themes. Much of my focus centered on newsworthy happenings
like the Thai garment workers slavery case. I remember being shocked to learn about modern-day
slavery right in our backyard, and I approached the Thai Community Development Center
which had access to the workers with the idea of writing a play ("Fabric") based
on that situation. It wasn't until I obtained a grant from Cultural Affairs that I was
able to pursue the project.
A brief summary: In addition to "Fabric," which required that I work with the
Thai community to research the play, I have written "Sweet Karma," a play based
on the life of Oscar-winning actor, Haing S. Ngor ("The Killing Fields")---this
time my research introduced me to the Cambodian community. "People Like Me" was
written based on workshops I conducted with gay and lesbian teenagers in Los Angeles.
Another grant was for conducting a youth drama workshop that resulted in the performance
of "The Fire Boy," a Japanese folktale. Finally, many years ago, Cultural
Affairs supported the staging of my "Madame Mao's Memories" at Occidental
College for the benefit of underserved youth who seldom get a chance to attend theater.
RENSE: Comment about the state of theater in Los Angeles, and how it has
changed for better or worse over the years?
ONG: People say that theater is dying…but as long as there are
people who wish to express themselves, there will be theater. While it's still the
cheapest way to produce one's work, ironically it is expensive to see a play. Musicals are
even more costly. Who can afford to see "The Producers" at $100 a ticket? Even
small theaters charge around $20 at least. Compare this to a movie ticket, and is it a
wonder why people flock to the big screen as opposed to experimental theater?
I'm noticing a proliferation of multicultural plays, and that is heartening for me. I've
always gravitated to small theaters because that's where you discover the experimental
work. I'm constantly amazed at how much theater we have in Los Angeles---this film town
spawns so many plays! I recently saw a wonderful play about the life of Alfred Kinsey. And
a play called "The Shore"-I admired it very much-the innovative structure was
simply wonderful.
RENSE: Comment about the state of Asian-American theater in Los
Angeles, specifically. It seems that the stereotype is plays with titles like "Hot
Dogs and Rice." To a certain extent, that's understandable, given the cross-cultural
nature of the subject matter, but do you find that hackneyed or confining? I notice that
you have never written that type of play.
ONG: Gosh, Asian-American theater! You're right, although I write
Asian-American plays, I tend not to write what you call "hot dogs and rice"
plays. Not that I don't want to, I just don't know how. Perhaps because my experiences
have been that of a first-generation Asian-American, I write about immigrants or about
people from Asia. Nevertheless, I find that labeling or restricting oneself to a
particular genre is somewhat confining. I think that it is natural that Asian-American
writers would write from their life experiences, and therefore we gravitate to topics that
are a confluence of East and West. I believe there is a place for all kinds of plays; we
just need to write about what moves us, and sometimes what moves us could very well be the
"hot dogs and rice" kind of plays.
RENSE: Yeah, but there comes a time when enough hot dogs and rice
is enough. Fried Chicken and Chopsticks. . .Chow Mein and Ketchup---I mean, I get the
point! Henry, who are your favorite playwrights, writers and why?
ONG: Without question, Tennessee Williams. I admire his dedication to his
craft, and even when in an inebriated state (EDITOR'S NOTE: THIS MEANS
"SNOCKERED") he always found time to write. But mostly, I admire the
quality of his writing, and his creation of memorable characters, particularly dominant
but deceptively frail women-I find that fascinating. Recently, I discovered the works of
Nilo Cruz, the Pulitzer-winning playwright of "Anna in the Tropics." The lyrical
quality of his work is enticing. I love "Two Sisters and A Piano." It almost
made me cry. When I read or see works by writers I admire, I'm filled with inspiration-and
despair…will I ever be able to write like that! Of Asian American playwrights, I like
Philip Kan Gotanda-a particular favorite is his play, "The Wash."
RENSE: What are you working on next, and what are your dream projects?
ONG: I'm working on trying to get "Sweet Karma" produced.
Writing-wise, I'm working on a couple of plays that I think will take a while to complete.
My dream project is to see the theatrical realization of "Dream of the Red
Chamber," all six hours of it. In 2000, I staged a reading of my adaptation in
Central Library, commissioned by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. Now, if only
someone would do the damn thing! I'm open to re-writing it, but only if there is a
commitment to get it done. I spent six weeks writing the whole play---it was one of the
happiest times I had writing! For those who are not familiar with the novel, "Dream
of the Red Chamber" is the famous Chinese classic by T'sao-Hsueh-ch'in. It revolves
around two main characters, the effete Pao-yu and his paramour, Black Jade. This is epic
in scope---30 major and 400 minor characters; the story interweaves realism with the
supernatural. My adaptation requires 20 actors to play some 70 characters.
"Dream" was banned by Madame Mao at the height of her power---yet she and
Chairman Mao were known to have loved the book!
|
© 2003 Rip Rense. All rights reserved.