21 Jun Interview with #BAPF2018 Playwright Dustin Chinn
We are delighted to have Justin Chinn on our team of playwrights for #BAPF2018. His play Colonialism Is Terrible, But Pho Is Delicious grapples with issues of cultural appropriation and will be serving up plenty of laughs and food for thought on Sunday 7/22 at 6pm and Saturday 7/28 at 4pm. If you haven’t already done so, book your tickets today!
Join us in conversation with Dustin as he tells us how he tackles hard topics like colonialism while maintaining an amazing sense of humor:
When did you write your first play? What was it about & how do you feel about it now?
I wrote my full-length play, entitled The Rise and Fall of the United States of Asian America, sometime around 2006. It was about a bunch of Asian American refugees who flee to Canada and eventually found their own country, only to have it fall apart due to inter-Asian tensions. There are several bits that I’m still proud of, like a citizenship test introduced by the disembodied head of George Takei, but as a play it’s almost “unproducible”.
Which of your plays would you most like to revisit?
I Am Nakamura, which is about a Dave Eggers stand-in who ends up “creating” Haruki Murakami. Seems like literary cultural appropriation is back in conversation.
Which of your plays would you most like to see produced?
Herschel: Portrait of a Killer, because it features sea lions and requests a scale orca whale puppet for one particular punchline.
What are your main influences for your writing?
I started out in sketch and improv, which more than anything have informed my aesthetic. I spend a tremendous amount of time online and would be lying if I didn’t admit to pulling most of my recent ideas from Twitter.
Do you have an established writing process or do you approach each project differently?
I usually spend months “cheating” on another script in progress with research on the next play. Then I drag myself through a rough draft by writing in bursts, skipping around the chronological
Which other playwrights have inspired you?
Lately, many of my fellow Ma-Yi Lab cohort, such as Lloyd Suh’s Charles Francis Chan Jr.’s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery, Carla Ching’s Nomad Hotel, Lauren Yee’s Cambodian Rock Band, Rehana Lew Mirza’s Hatefuck, Mike Lew’s Teenage Dick … I could keep going. Also, Mfoniso Udofia’s 9-play Ufot Cycle, which apart from Taylor Mac might be the most ambitious project in theater.
What is your favorite play written by another playwright?
I can’t isolate a single play, but I did traumatize a bunch of Australians on a dive boat by answering this question with a breakdown of Jennifer Haley’s The Nether.
What was your catalyst for writing Colonialism is Terrible, But Pho Is Delicious?
A Bon Appetit video from a white American chef who claimed that if you ate pho with sauce you’re “doing it wrong,” and a blog post from a writer who claimed he found a way to “improve” bibimbap with a bundt cake pan.
When choosing the title of your play, were there any images and thoughts that you wanted to attempt to create within audiences’ minds? If so, what were they?
Far too many people compartmentalize colonialism like racism, in that they think it mostly takes the form of overt brutality. But it’s more pervasive and complicated than that and manifests in ways that are well-intentioned and seemingly benign.
Why did you choose “pho,” in particular, to take on the subject of colonialism (and not another dish)?
My original idea was to use bánh mì because the French influence is more apparent, but my major source thought that the sandwich wasn’t nearly as iconic. As in you’re not going to go into a Vietnamese restaurant and judge it on its bánh mì, unlike pho.
For Act One and Two, there was a balance of ethnicities between the characters, but Act Three moves away from that. Was the previous intentional? And why?
The first two acts take place in Vietnam where the locals are interacting with colonial powers, so that’s why the Asian actors are playing Vietnamese characters and the white actors have French/American roles. The third act takes place in present day and is meant to show different sides of the appropriation question as it relates to eater culture. The third act configuration allows me to reflect a greater range of what some POCs may face when both chefs and friends from different backgrounds take an interest in the foods they grew up with. I also wanted to keep the cast as a four-hander.
What’s your view on the possibility of stopping colonialism and neo-colonialism?
There’s no stopping neo-colonialism. That would take reserves of moral courage, empathy and nuance on a global scale, and we can’t even apply that at the city level. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to mitigate the damage. Then again, you’re talking to a guy who used to sell TVs and phones for a multinational conglomerate for a living, so what do I know.
What are you hoping to learn from Colonialism is Terrible, But Pho Is Delicious appearing in #BAPF2018?
I’m still trying to thread the needle between hitting and chord and coming across as didactic, so we’ll see where I’m at with sticking the landing.
What do you want audiences to take away from your work?
That I’m more interested in interrogating systems than people.
Which other #BAPF2018 play are you most excited to see? And why?
I’m going to disqualify House of Joy after enjoying several presentations of it, so based on blurbs I’ll go with suspension, because it reminds of me of a black alternative to Shadowrun. And if you look up Shadowrun you’ll get a window into my teenage soul.
What do you consider the major milestones of your artistic career?
I’ve never had a production of any of my full-length plays, so for now I’m just excited to be invited to developmental spaces like ACT’s New Strands Festival and The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep.
What has been your most ambitious undertaking as an artist?
Writing a race comedy with the intention of serving multiple audiences at the same.
What’s next?
Until some brave artistic director is interested in using their Asian slot on a guy with a short track record, I’m working on a play about German board game designers in the ’90s. That, and scuba diving with sharks in the Galapagos.
Don’t forget to book your tickets to see Colonialism is Terrible, But Pho is Delicious on Sunday 7/22 at 6pm and Saturday 7/28 at 4pm.
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