Asian American theatre goes under-appreciated in the United States. Despite this, Asian American theatre has a rich history and includes many great plays written by very gifted playwrights. Their plays express their culture, but still retain western themes to the plays and with the art of theatre, they bring attention to Asian American society.
Asian American Theater Theatre is an ancient art that goes back thousands of years and spreads across many different cultures. Theatre has expanded and evolved within every culture throughout time and has created a variety of different unique and exciting stages of theatre. The United States has been a melting pot for many different cultures throughout its existence, and frequently, those cultures
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Throughout the late twentieth century Americans began to see many Asian American theatre companies such as East West Players and National Asian American Theatre Company (Wang 3). Also, these companies began casting a large Asian American cast which was never before seen on this scale. These playwrights say that they are still American and have western themes in their plays, but they intend to add Asian culture into the plays as well as a more diverse cast of actors (Wang …show more content…
Most of those western plays are commonly known this is due to us living in a western society. Western society is dominated by western culture such as Aristotle and Shakespeare, however, the United States is a melting pot of many different culture so we should include some theatre of different cultures not only from western decent. However, some of these cultures which get fused within our culture creating a new type and expanding our original culture and furthering our horizon and learning new things for ours society. Asian American theatre is one that is often overlooked by many in the United States. Which is a shame because it has so much to offer everyone. It is not only enjoyable to watch and experience, but can help you learn what is it like to immigrate to a new country. Also, Asian American theatre has great plays that deal with real issues and has both Asian and American culture themes with in the plays. Which makes it enjoyable for people from both culture to enjoy and understand the play. This type of theatre also has brilliant play writers who make ground breaking leaps for the art, and has a great history behind it one of a humble origin. With all of these characteristics one can see the importance Asian American Theatre has to offer not just people from Asian descent, but from
Indeed, in all their schools from elementary to secondary schools, they already adopted curricula that will foster cultural diversity. Through this program, students from different levels had the chance to be exposed to different traditions and customs of various ethnic and racial groups. Even the government sectors in the United States are advocating tolerance for diversity, like how they commemorate Asian American, Hispanic, and Pacific Islander Heritage weeks (Margai, 2010). Even in their postage, they developed stamps highlighting some prominent Americans along with their diverse backgrounds. Despite all these efforts, sometimes the issue concerning multiculturalism causes significant political and societal conflicts. Right now, United States is widely known as the greatest melting pot where people from different countries and with different cultures could be united as one. However, people have divided views with regards to the issue whether the immigrants should adopt America’s culture, or they should be given the freedom to keep their own culture. The majority of the Americans believed that one must learn first how to speak English before permitting to have an American citizenship. In support of the notion of melting pot, many Americans still insist that their Creed should endure, and their nation is destined to be a prime model to
Since its creation, the United States of America has been labeled as a melting pot.
Perhaps, the “Melting Pot” myth gained strength during the Industrial Revolution. With millions of immigrants entering the United States, culture was changing within the United States. Americans set a high standard for there society and everyone wanted to be accepted. There was a social requirement to live in a civil society creating together the “American Dream,” which leads to prosperity. Many immigrants moving to the United States brought with them various traditions of their culture and after moving, they repressed such beliefs and forged ahead with a new way of “American Thinking.” The rituals and traditions of such societies should have brought diversity to this nation’s culture however, these ways would soon become a part of the past. The “Melting Pot” myth heavily influences American society and people believe that everyone no matter what skin color or religious belief is created equal. This belief of the American Way of life is idyllic to say the least. Unfortunately, this myth has been thwarted due to a high level of racial supremacy within the nations past and even present. There are two particular events in national history, which will forever hinder equality: slavery of African Americans and Japanese internment camps during World War II in America. These substantial events shape our society and are only the tip of the iceberg when it
Varma, Rahul. “State of Denial: Cultural Diversity as a Resource for Alternative Globalization.” Canadian Theatre Review, Vol. 157. January 2014. Web.
When a Canadian is asked what his or her nationality is, he most often does not reply by saying Canadian. Instead he will answer by his European, African or Asian roots. This is because we as Canadians do not see ourselves as distinct Canadians, but rather as a collection of diversified individuals. Because of this attitude, Canada lacks a common idea of what it means to be Canadian. This common idea could simply be that anyone residing in Canada, whether by birth or citizenship, is in fact distinctly Canadian. By the same argument, English-Canadian theatre can be constituted by any theatrical performance written or produced by an individual of Canadian nationality. Edward Gilbert, who served as artistic director of the Manitoba Theatre Centre, advanced his own particular opinion of Canadian drama and dramatists. Concerning Canadian playwrights he wrote, “ I do not care where [artists] come from or what nationality they have or what race they belong to. If they have something to say, they’re welcome in my book. (Chusid 14).” Just having something to say is not enough. These artists are free to express themselves in Canadian theatre; however, as they do not have any aspect of culture, their work cannot be classified as Canadian. English-theatre, therefore, is vastly embodied by its Canadian cultural identity in the form of nationality. This can be seen in both Hedda Gabler performed at the GCTC and Shakespeare’s Dead & Foolius Ceasar performed at Academic Hall.
America was widely known as a “melting pot” of sorts for many generations. The country earned its title by accepting immigrants of various cultures and molding, or melting, them into the American lifestyle. However, the “melting pot” idea of America is starting to dissipate. According to a Newsweek Poll on the public, “only 20 percent still think America is a melting pot” (Morganthau and Wolfberg, par.4). As more Americans push away immigrants and create stereotypes against said immigrants, America continues to lose its title as a “melting pot.” There is ethnic friction in America and people have begun to have a hard time assimilating (Morganthau and Wolfberg, par.18). .America is beginning to place a negative outlook on its culture. Authors Jack Shaheen, Richard Rodriguez, Peter Marin and Zora Neale Hurtson all shape American culture in a detrimental way.
Numerous countries of the world have very distinct cultures and are typically composed primarily of one type of race, religion, or nationality. For instance, France, Mexico, Japan, China. The United States differs greatly from these countries listed because we are known as the "melting pot." According to Merriam Webster dictionary, the term "melting pot" is metaphor for a society where many different types of people “blend” together as one. However, the United States is also associated with and known as a "nation of immigrants.". This name was given due to the fact that almost every citizen of the country has an immigrant ancestry, with the exception of the Native Americans. In the Francis Walker publication over “Restriction of Immigration
It is human nature to tell stories and to appreciate and participate in theatre traditions in every society. Every culture expresses theatre and may have their own traditions that have helped pave the way for how they are today. The involvement of African-Americans has increased tremendously in theatre since the nineteenth century and continues to increase as time goes on. African-Americans have overcome many obstacles with getting their rights and the participation and involvement of Theatre was something also worth fighting for. American history has played an important role with the participation of African-Americans in theatre. Slavery occurrence in America made it difficult for blacks in America to be taken seriously and to take on the characters of more serious roles. With many obstacles in the way African-Americans fought for their rights and also for the freedom that they deserved in America. As the participation of African-Americans involvement within the theatre increase so do the movements in which help make this possible. It is the determination of these leaders, groups, and Theaters that helped increase the participation and created the success that African-Americans received throughout history in American Theatre.
The United States has been, and is, a melting pot of cultures and ethnicities. As
American Theatre: History, Context, Form. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ, 2011. Print. Scott, Freda L. "Black Drama and the Harlem Renaissance."
Students attending American schools are taught clearly about the United States’ image as a melting pot; however, there is evidence to support that, while there is not an official federal stance on the matter (Sengupta), the amount of assimilation required to be legitimately considered a “melting pot” is not being reached. Although similar, there is often confusion about the differences between “multicultural” and “assimilated” communities. By definition, assimilation is the complete “merging of cultural traits from previously distinct culture groups” (Dictionary), while multiculturalism is delineated as the “preservation of different cultures or cultural identities within a unified society, as a state or nation” (Dictionary). Early to mid-1900’s America entertained the idea of a melting pot, where people from all parts of the world would join together and assimilate. It seems, however, that the growing trend has been to treat America as more of a “salad bowl” (Porter), in that people are joining together but instead of merging as one unit, are maintaining a majority, if not all, of their primary culture with little attempt to adapt. This underachievement has left America to unintentionally become a multicultural society. The clear differentiation between expectation and reality brings vast amounts of controversy among the nation’s people.
The genre of the play was American tribal hippie counterculture who are in love with rock musical, wanted to get freedom after the WWII. The timeline of the play was late 1960s after war with Vietnam. 5.
Effiong, Philip U. In Search of a Model for African-American Drama: a Study of Selected Plays
For as long as humankind exists, theatre will always take on an important function within its cultures. Through theatre, a culture expresses itself, reflects its society, and displays its individuality. It invites people to experience other cultures.
For thousands of years, people have been arguing that theatre is a dying art form. Many people think theatre is all just cheesy singing and dancing or just boring old Shakespeare, but there is much more to theatre than those two extremes. Theatre is important to our society because it teaches us more about real life than recorded media. Theatre has been around for thousands of years and began as a religious ceremony that evolved into an art form that teaches about the true essence of life. Theatre can incorporate profound, and provocative, observations of the human condition that can transcend time; lessons found in Greek plays can still be relevant to the modern world. People argue that the very essence of theatre is being snuffed out by modern