Friday, October 16, 1998
Å’Dragon’ pokes fun at stereotypes
THEATER: East West Players trio lightheartedly deconstructs
ideas on Asian American men, actors
By Cheryl Klein
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The playbill for East West Players’ ‘Exit the Dragon’ reads like
a UCLA seminar description: ‘A three-man performance examining the
pop-culture stereotypes of the Asian American male.’ And the
one-act play that ensues indeed acts as a sort of Cliff’s Notes for
audience members who haven’t had the chance to hang around North
Campus, (though much of the dialogue will elicit knowing nods from
those who have).
More a series of monologues and montages than a full-fledged
play, ‘Dragon’ unfolds a bit like a combination
sociology-theater-English class as well. But if it were on URSA’s
menu, students would be begging playwright Eric Michael Zee for PTE
numbers as soon as word got out that examining pop-culture
stereotypes can be so entertaining.
‘Dragon’ opens with three shirtless young men karate-chopping to
’70s action flick music on a red-lit stage. Though the scene
elicits a few cat calls from the audience, the players are in fact
presenting one of several stereotypes they spend the rest of the
hour debating and trying to distance themselves from: the notion
that if you’re Asian, male and want respect, you have to know kung
fu.
Jun-Li (Kipp Shiotani) says his classmates’ ignorance came in
handy on the playground. ‘I never had to kick anybody’s ass,’ he
says. ‘I just had to pose.’ He vogues à la Bruce Lee and
shrugs. But such assumptions bring serious baggage to the already
cutthroat acting world Jun-Li and his two colleagues try to kick
their way into.
While they wait in line to audition, the three hopefuls wax
sociological on the various niches America deems appropriate for
them. Shiotani and Tuan Tran (who plays immigrant Vien) unleash a
staggering series of impressions, from Lieutenant Sulu (let’s hope
George Takei has a sense of humor–he’s on East West’s council of
governors) to Long Duck Dong, the foreign exchange student in
‘Sixteen Candles’ (embarrassing to think that that was just a
decade ago, huh?). The rapid-fire string of caricatures is
hilarious, but it also acts as culture-in-concentrate, revealing
the damage that a lifetime of exposure to such images can do.
The three protagonists are arguably stereotypes in their own
right. Yes, they’re realistic, ’90s, culturally sensitive,
self-referential stereotypes, which does make much of the
difference. But Vien is the refugee who puts his family first, Dave
(Zee) is the whitewashed midwesterner and Jun-Li is the homeboy who
sings the rather abstract praises of Asian empowerment while acting
like, well, a homeboy.
All three, however, seem to become increasingly aware of their
own shortcomings and their capacity as a collective. Thus, they
examine the roles they’ve played not just as actors but as Asian
American men and begin (as actors and as Asian American men) to
write their own parts, drawing from each other and their respective
cultures.
Heavy stuff. And while it may be on the final, it’s really not
preachy.
Really.
Dave, Vien and Jun-Li talk directly to the audience about the
big RCG (race, class, gender), bringing up every argument volleyed
across any self-respecting activist campus  and still, the
most suitable adjective to describe them is ‘funny.’
Zee and co-director Jeff Liu keep the pace quick and the tone
light. Because there are several play-within-a-plays, the three
actors aren’t confined to merely playing three actors. In fact,
while Zee’s Dave seems a little flat, he shines as three characters
in a play by ‘that David guy.’ (Can we assume David Henry Hwang,
the theater’s namesake?) Likewise, Shiotani adopts an odd, southern
accent in his attempt to sound like an Asian guy trying to sound
like a black guy, but he plays Jun-Li’s father with lovable
first-generation vigor. Tran is the only star who seems truly
comfortable in his primary role, easing between indignant and
mischievous.
Much of the humor in ‘Exit the Dragon’ stems from the very
qualities that make it appealing to such a limited audience. Thick
with metadrama, the whole play carries the intimate tone of an
inside joke. When Jun-Li asks his friends if they’re auditioning
for the East West Players’ production of ‘A Chorus Line,’ the
audience can’t help but chuckle at this brilliant dash of product
placement. And when Zee and Tran morph into groovesters in the
Asian Club scene, their ‘I’m da man’ gyrations prove that their
physical talent goes far beyond twirling nunchucks.
The dragon exits just a little over an hour after it entered. If
the folks who make a habit of casting Asian men as ‘Gang Member #3’
could spare the time, they’d find the play informative and wish
they’d thought of it first.
THEATER: ‘Exit the Dragon’ runs through Oct. 24 at the David
Henry Hwang Theater, 120 N. Judge John Aiso St., Little Tokyo.
Tickets are $15, $12 students. Call (213) 625-7000.
Comments, feedback, problems?
© 1998 ASUCLA Communications Board[Home]