Hainamana Review: Roots written by Oliver Chong

March 12, 2018

"There’s a peculiar joy at seeing pākehā faces comprehend and enjoy something that is an intrinsic part of your identity, and have it be a realistic representation rather than a parody." - Amy Weng, Hainamana

Another great write up for Roots, presented in the Auckland Fringe Festival by PAT. Read the full article below!

A review of Roots [根] presented by Proudly Asian Theatre

by AMY WENG

As part of the Auckland Fringe Festival, Proudly Asian Theatre presents the New Zealand premier of Roots [根], in association with Auckland Lantern Festival. Amy Weng caught the show at Uxbridge in Howick. Roots [根] will also play at Q Theatre from 1 – 3 March 2018.

Howick is strange place, for someone who grew up on the North Shore. The highway heading out east stretches so long and continuously that you would be mistaken for thinking that you were no longer in Auckland, but another city with its colonial sentiments and polite picket fences. But Howick is also a area in flux, and has been for the better part of three decades. As of 2013, a Council reportshowed that 39% of Howick’s population identified as Asian, with 49% of all residents born overseas. This should make Howick one of the most cosmopolitan neighbourhoods in Auckland, yet it remains a sleepy enclave of predominantly conservative temperaments and stratified interests.

It is here that Proudly Asian Theatre have alighted to open their latest production, Roots [根], by critically acclaimed Singaporean playwright Oliver Chong. The original play is an ambitious, one man act telling the tale of the protagonist’s search for his roots. Proudly Asian Theatre have chosen to adapt this story, casting the charismatic Amanda Grace Leo as the now-female lead, Hsu Hsien. The team have also decided to translate the work into a bilingual English/Mandarin play, surtitled in English and, surprisingly, traditional Chinese.

Roots [根] presents the intensely personal journey of Hsu Hsien, who decides to travel to Taishan (Toishan) in search of her ye-ye’s long lost daughter and the potential to reconnect with her heritage. Armed only with a few vague clues and implausible tales from her nai-nai, and no understanding of the local Siyi dialect, Hsu Hsien embarks on what should be a calamitous endeavour. Instead she lands in Guangdong, guided by her ancestors spirits and a motley cast of familiar characters.

Along her journey Hsu Hsien paints a beautifully vivid picture of the Chinese landscape with the assistance of an ingeniously elegant set. The floor of the stage is laid with a carpet of rice, crunching underfoot like the dry mountain road, and hissing like the sway of crops or the premonition of heavy rainfall. It also serves as a powerful insight into Hsu Hsieh’s state of mind as she carves a path into her family’s history.

Leo is a larger than life character, and she breathes into Hsu Hsien a fiery tenacity that is at once immensely likeable and achingly earnest. Leo also embodies 21 different characters, from the gracious hotel receptionist to the friendly Uncle Li, the hostile landlord to the austere and monosyllabic patriarch. These characters are at once intimately relatable and absurd, conjured by the actor from our collective memories. Leo, a Singaporean-New Zealander of Hainanese descent, has more than her work cut out for herself delivering these roles in Mandarin and English. In fact, it is the Mandarin passages where Leo’s physicality as an actor really shines through, in the expressive dialogue and punchlines delivered with verve.

I can’t testify to the veracity of Leo’s pronunciation, not being a Mandarin speaker myself, but it is also the script’s linguistic duality that stops the play from really hitting its mark. When the actor switches between English and Mandarin, it’s not so much jarring as it becomes evident that the Chinese carries a fuller meaning, more poetic and rhythmically suited the emotional intensity of the play than the English translation, which lags with its wooden-ness and literal-ness. I was also left wondering why the scenes in Guangdong were not spoken in native Cantonese as intended, as this disrupts the logic of the show, and the authenticity that the play strives towards. New Zealand has a not insignificant Cantonese, as well as Toishanese, community so I don’t think it would be beyond audiences to grasp this.

At times, this mental shift between languages becomes a visible effort for Leo – kudos to her for this ambitious undertaking. As anyone who is bilingual can sympathise with, it can be difficult to maintain fluency in two or more languages, especially in a nation that is systematically monolingual, and in this sense Roots [根] is a bold and necessary addition to New Zealand’s mainstream theatre. When the protagonist laments her inability to speak in the Siyi dialect, she hits on one of the most sensitive and visible markers of cultural identity.

But audiences need not worry that the play will be lost in translation. There’s a peculiar joy at seeing pākehā faces comprehend and enjoy something that is an intrinsic part of your identity, and have it be a realistic representation rather than a parody.

You can also understand the appeal of wanting to present a story like this in Howick. Beyond tapping into a large Chinese population, there’s a real potential to bring together audiences that might not necessarily do so otherwise, in an area where anything outside of the mainstream is rarely heard of.

While Roots [根] is a quintessentially Singaporean narrative, there are enough similarities that the story finds resonance in Aotearoa New Zealand. Chong’s play has been described as a continuation of one pivotal idea within Singaporean playwriting and culture at large – namely that Singaporeans are ‘cultural orphans’ – a society composed of displaced and dispossessed immigrant with no homeland to return to, the figurative heirs to a fragmented culture. This anxiety still plagues many tauiwi and so we find ourselves drawn into Hsu Hsien’s journey, as she cast herself adrift in her hopes for reconciliation.

Ultimately, Roots [根] acts as a salve to these anxieties about cultural belonging without being dogmatic. It also promises greater things to come from Proudly Asian Theatre, a company that isn’t afraid to make work that can affect real social change.

Theatrescenes Review: Roots by Oliver Chong

March 12, 2018

"As with all great theatre, the play doesn’t provide a theatrical (or even literal) answer, but raises questions, because in the end it’s not about the truth, or even what you know, it’s about what you are willing to accept, and, once again, PAT have provided Auckland audiences with a show that accepts everyone." - James Wenley

Check out Theatrescenes review of Roots, presented by PAT, in the Auckland fringe Festival.

REVIEW: Roots (Auckland Fringe)

March 4, 2018 James Wenley Auckland Fringe Festival, Theatre Reviews

Journey to the Past and Future

New Zealand is a country with a strong migratory history, but too rarely are the stories of our Asian roots given room to breathe and grow on stage, which is one of the reasons why Proudly Asian Theatre represents an integral component to both our theatrical and cultural landscape. With only four stage productions since 2013, PAT is in many ways a boutique theatre company, presenting infrequent yet sophisticated works to what would once be considered a niche market to the now wider public. Roots, written by Oliver Chong, directed by Chye-Ling Huang, and performed by Amanda Grace Leo, examines the ancestral journey on which many people find themselves at some point in their lives, and, while presenting a protagonist, Hsu Hsien, who is both from and begins said journey in Singapore, it is one to which many can relate.

Huang’s direction is incredibly well-measured. It’s detailed yet subtle, allowing Leo to focus on the story being told while maintaining a natural strong and consistent theatrical flow – a vital necessity for Chong’s script, which reads more as a short story than an inherently theatrical piece. Presented in English and Mandarin, with surtitles in both, both the script and Leo’s performance flow seamlessly between the two languages. It’s an excellent example of interculturalism and our ability to accept bicultural narratives in New Zealand theatre.

Sound, an often misused if not altogether disregarded component to theatre, sets the tone of the show well, with Tom Dennison’s design evoking a mystery and nostalgia evocative of a time passed, but not forgotten. Add to this a lighting design by Ruby Reihana-Wilson which utilises the colour of the performance space as well as the contrast between its vastness and the performer, and Roots provides a successful theatrical trinity of story, creatives, and cast.

This cohesion means that’s Chong’s story makes the successful transition from page to stage, with audiences being taken on the journey with Hsien in a compelling yet comfortable way. As with all great theatre, the play doesn’t provide a theatrical (or even literal) answer, but raises questions, because in the end it’s not about the truth, or even what you know, it’s about what you are willing to accept, and, once again, PAT have provided Auckland audiences with a show that accepts everyone.

Roots is presented by Proudly Asian Theatre and played at Uxbridge and Q as part of Auckland Fringe.

PAT Chats - Interview with Helen Wu

March 1, 2018

Theatre as a means of reconnecting with cultural roots

We chat with Helen Wu, powerhouse filmmaker, stage manager, operator and the bilingual connection between the Chinese Community and Roots - PAT's fringe show for 2018 at Uxbridge Arts Centre and Q Theatre.

We ask Helen about the relationship with her own cultural roots and the ways that theatre can bring communities of people together.

What are your own roots and do you feel connected to them?

My roots are quite tangled in itself actually. I was originally born in a city called Tianjin in Northern China and the relatives I have on my Mother's side all live in that city. But when I was a few months old, I moved with my parents to Shenzhen (a city in the South, opposite Hong Kong) where I grew up with very minimal contact with my relatives in the north. I was very much cultured there until coming to New Zealand at the age of 10. On my Father's side, when I asked he had told me I apparently share the heritage of one of the minority races of China, which may or may not trace back to the emperor's bloodlines during the dynasty periods.

So, I think it’s safe to say, I feel pretty disconnected to all this. Especially since none of it seems relevant after I've come to New Zealand. I think for a good number of kids who've migrated here at a young age, after using all that energy to deal with the initial struggle of identifying as neither completely Kiwi or completely (in my case) Chinese, you tend to become neglectful about your roots; I know I'm certainly guilty of that. Which is why, when I initially read the play 'Roots', I found it to be such a refreshing reminder for myself to be more interested in my heritage.

Can you explain to us about your role in this production?

Officially my role is as the stage manager and assistant producer but a lot of my role involves putting my experiences and use my bilingual ability to help support Roots to better reach an audience.

In what ways are you trying to get Chinese people to feel Roots is important, and go to see the show?

I think it goes without saying we have different groups of Chinese audiences in Auckland. You have the younger generation of Chinese kids pursuing work and studies in order to build a life here, you have the elderly generation of Chinese grandparents coming to live with their sons and daughters, you also have the migrant Chinese families who've been here for many generations and more. But within all these differences there is one commonality they share, and that is, they all have roots from a place that's now very far away.

So I think "Roots" will be a very special show for these Chinese audiences. Because for that hour or so, they'll find themselves captivated; they could be in tears or laughter, be intrigued or be confused, there is no telling of what each might feel relevant to their own experience, but ultimately they will resonate with strong emotions, because "Roots" will give them a space where that universal inner longing for the search of your heritage can be fulfilled.

What do you think is currently lacking in Auckland, so that Chinese people don’t go to the theatre?

I think language barrier and the lack of content that interests Chinese audiences are major factors. And from there, a lack of high quality, authentic content that's produced for Chinese audiences is another issue.

How important is it to branch out to Chinese people who might not regularly go to the theatre?

I think with every show, the creators won't be choosing audiences, rather audiences will be choosing us. In that sense, believing that it’s a good production, we should absolutely be branching out with open arms to all audiences; whether they are regular theatre-goers or not. I mean really, it just takes one good show to convert one into a theatre-enthusiast!

The story is culturally specific, despite that, do you feel that there will be broader
appeal for Roots?

Of course, even though Roots is originally a Singaporean story, it's themes of finding-home is universal. Audiences across different ages can relate, and it certainly has the potential to be developed into plays for different cultures.

Helen Wu and Jen Huang on the set of "The Han Chronicles"

How do you think that Roots appeals to Asian people in New Zealand?

I think Roots will be especially appealing to all of the migrant Asian community in NZ. As its a story very close to the hearts of those who's had to leave a part of themselves behind to go to a new country. And because ROOTS is quite a unique play that'll be performed in Mandarin Chinese and English, with subtitles in both languages, not just Chinese audiences will be able enjoy this. It'd be a great opportunity for those that are interested in the Singaporean-Chinese culture to come in touch with more of it as well. My wish is that Roots will be able to reach out to not just Asian audiences, but Caucasian audiences as well. Because be it Theatre or Film, I think it’s important for society to step out of their filter-circles through Art, and enrich themselves with unfamiliar stories across different cultures.

What have been some challenges that you’ve had to overcome in your role?

Time. Balancing my jobs for Roots with my other jobs. But I'm sure that's everyone (laughs).

Interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

PAT Chats - Interview with Lindsay Yee

February 22, 2018

The Roots of Design

Lindsay Yee is a graphic designer who works closely with Proudly Asian Theatre including creating the poster for the upcoming production of Roots. We pick his brain about his own heritage and design approaches.

What are your own roots and do you feel connected to them?

My family comes from Aotearoa, Mainland China, and Hong Kong. My mother was born in Hunan but grew up in Guangzhou like many immigrants to New Zealand. My father was born in Oamaru, his parents, and grandparents (my great grandparents) also lived in New Zealand, but moved between China (They are Taishanese 台山话 hence the Yee not Yu, 余), Hong Kong, and New Zealand. My grandfather had a Laundromat on Colombo street in Christchurch at one time.

Could you tell us about your previous work for PAT and your larger body of work?

I worked with Chye-Ling and James when they shifted from 'Pretty' to 'Proudly' working on developing their brand and designing a mark and some collateral that reflected this new name and tone.

Does your heritage inform your work in any way? How?

It's a tough one to think of, but obviously, it does without me thinking about it too much. Graphic Design has a relatively short history — as we know it — and dealing with roman characters means the conventions set are mainly from European high modernist, and probably more specifically the Bauhaus, Swiss Modernism, and the continuation of these ideas in the United States of America. I did Calligraphy and rice paper painting as a child, which probably also has an influence on what I do.

What was your approach designing the poster for Roots?

Having a strong image supplied by Andi Crown, I really tried to utilise and build around the image of Amanda Grace.

Other than the Chinese character within the 'O' showing it inside, we used Averta for everything PAT (at the moment) as it worked well with the tone of Proudly Asian Theatre.

What are your design influences at the moment?

I'm very lucky to have so many friends doing great creative work, who are all so inspiring. My wider creative community is also so great. But also visiting galleries, going to concerts, travelling, going on walks and general wandering.

Lindsay works at Category

PAT Chats - Interview with Amanda Grace Leo

February 21, 2018

Singaporean roots grow in New Zealand

Amanda Grace Leo is the lead in the upcoming production of Roots, a one-woman show about the search for cultural identity.

Fierce, fiery and fresh off from discovering her own roots in Singapore, she candidly speaks to assistant producer Nahyeon Lee about the relationship to her own ancestry, her connection with her grandmother, and the uniqueness of the bilingual nature of the play.

Catch Amanda Grace in Roots on Fri 23rd - Sat 24th February at Uxbridge and Thurs 1st March - Sat 3 March at Q. Ticket link for Uxbridge here and Q here.

Three photos of Amanda's paternal grandmother Theresa Lim Mong Lan at different times of her life.

So, what are your own ‘roots’ and do you feel connected to them?

I’m Hainanese on my father’s side but my great grandmother was Indonesian Chinese and on my mum side I’m Peranakan - they call them the “straits-born Chinese” - basically an inter-marrying between Malay and Chinese who are their own sub-ethnic group.

I would say when I thought of roots, I used to always see myself as Singaporean-Kiwi, but now I’m starting to really think about what it means to be Hainanese [as well] because Hsu Hsien [the main character in Roots] – is an alter ego of me. Hsu Hsien is my own Chinese name and she has certain aspects of myself that we played up; she’s a bit precious, very adventurous, curious and headstrong, but like Hsu Hsien, I can’t speak the Siyi dialect and that’s an important part of the play.

Roots was originally written as an autobiographical piece [by Oliver Chong] how did you personally connect to it?

I think one of the first things that stuck out to me when we first started was the idea about not being able to speak the mother tongue, there’s a line that’s like “I really hate myself for not being able to speak the Siyi dialect” that really stuck out to me.

Before [PAT’s Fresh Off the Page] reading happened, three years ago, my grandmother passed away and I was very close her even though she lived in Singapore. When I was younger my whole family spoke in Hainanese when we were together and [to my grandmother] I couldn't speak Chinese and she couldn’t speak English; so our relationship was one that was very physical and loving. As I grew older I learnt Mandarin and we communicated, but of course when I heard my grandmother speak towards the end of her life in Hainanese there was a longing that got awakened in me - I really want to be able to speak to my grandmother in her language but I couldn’t. I felt like there’s so much more detail and so many more things I wish I could have gotten a sense of.

Coming from Singapore do you feel a more personal connection to the piece?

Oh yeah, 100%, especially the lingo, the language is so important, even something like Singlish, is a whole different way of expressing myself that I don’t really access here. It brings a very specific cultural part of myself to the people that know me now.

The show is bilingual, Mandarin and English, how does your relationship with Mandarin inform your performance?

What I was really looking forward to doing for Roots was to let the language inform my physicality and my physical skill as an actor. It had been a challenge because when I read something and tried to remember my lines in Mandarin, I will think about the next line in English and have to translate it back, so Mandarin was always going to be one of the biggest challenges because I struggle with it. My performance of it isn’t going to be perfect, but that’s going to be a statement. I think with the Hsu Hsien character we really wanted to bring out that aspect, that she has this disconnect with the Siyi dialect, but she also has a disconnect with Mandarin. It’s very difficult and interesting, because you’re so saturated in the language and you can communicate well, but there is still a kind of block when you can’t speak Mandarin perfectly.

The play explores feeling connected and disconnected between geographical and generational differences - how do you explore this through a one woman show?

I have to play 21 different characters as it is a one-woman show but one of the joys of the play have been discovering who these people are, where they come from and how they feel. One of [director] Chye-Ling’s notes was to keep an eye out for people you think will be similar to the characters and surprisingly I drew from my own relatives that I’ve known all my life. I feel like that’s why this play is so magical and so relatable because it really makes you go back into your own history and ask yourself about this intergenerational place.

Also I never had a desire to go back to China, in fact, I’d never had any feelings towards China, maybe because I was always more concerned with my NZ-Singapore-ness, but when I was back in Singapore this time around one of my uncles were talking about how there is this place where everyone has this surname “Leo” which is Hainanese, and suddenly, I felt like I should go to China and I want to know what is Hainanese culture is. I knew what Singaporean-Hainanese culture is but what is it all the way back there?

I also think Hsu Hsien’s generation, which is my generation, have more of an interest in finding our roots than our parents’ generation. Maybe that’s because, ironically, we feel more disconnected and disenfranchised because of globalisation and technology.

Something we do with the physical space in the play is that we craft it with rice grains. Rice, which is what Oliver [Chong] used in his performances, is wonderful because it represents so many things, it’s a staple, rice is numerous and what we want to embed in the play is the idea that there are so many grains of possibility. Rice is also such an earthy thing and lends itself to the imagery of China and what people think China is. There are parts of the play that talk about endless patty fields and grains of rice on the ground and it is quite a literal and metaphorical thing.

Who do you hope watches Roots and what do you want them to take away from it?

I hope the Chinese community turns up and my mum, brother and sister will be in the country, they haven’t seen me perform in 10 years! But I also hope that Maori, Pakeha, Chinese all turn up and it’s important for us to all sit in a room and participate in something that is different, that is diverse, and that's not homogenous. There is such a big stigma attached to language that isn’t English spoken in this country and I hope that people will come to the play and celebrate how that makes them feel - celebrate the way that we can look at difference together. I hope people come in, are confronted with difference, and are able to celebrate being in that same space and enjoy it - it’s a fun experience and we want to be different, because that’s going to create a change.

What has been the most enjoyable day working on Roots?

It would be one of the first days back from Singapore, because coming back, I didn’t get much sleep, but there was this invigoration that had come from being back home. Then suddenly, in one of the first few days we smashed out a couple of scenes and because I just came back there was so much discussion.

And it sounds like you had quite a cultural experience overseas and you could channel that straight into your work?

Yes, and at that time because it was still fresh, I was also processing so the play was really good for me to reflect on what I had experienced as I travelled.

Finally, how do you calm your nerves before a performance?

I think because I was raised Catholic and my grandma got baptised before she died, I think what calms my nerves is quite ritualistic and that might be something like taking a moment to acknowledge and speak to my grandma in spirit. Something we’re thinking of doing that Oliver Chong had done in his performances, is leaving two seats empty in the theatre for his nai-nai and his ye-ye to sit - for our ancestors. So I imagine every night we will come together and we will do something, whether that is a moment of prayer or lighting a candle for my grandmother before the show. So, yeah the answer is something ritualistic. It changes all the time. And to not drink V.

Check out the rest of the PAT Chat interviews on our blog.

Interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

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