Thursday, July 12, 2012

This has already soared about the internet and blogosphere more than a few times now, but I don't think it can hurt mentioning it again.  Controversy has erupted about the La Jolla Playhouse's upcoming production of The Nightingale, a Chinese-set tale based on a story written by Hans Christian Anderson. 

Like many folks, I was first alerted to this by the blog post by Asian American actress Erin Quill.
http://fairyprincessdiaries.com/2012/07/07/moises-kaufman-can-kiss-my-ass-heres-why/

This has since been reposted on various sites, including www.angryasianman.com.  I recently caught the response of the show's creators here: https://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/11/behind-a-playhouse-casting-controversy/?page=1#article.  Frankly, I don't find the explanations at all acceptable, just a lot of lazy, intellectually dishonest justification for orientalism and cultural appropriation. 

Sheesh, it's the 21st century.  Gilbert and Sullivan I forgive, but not the makers of this thing.

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