Philip Kan Gotanda is the author of one of the largest canon of Asian-American-themed-work. Based in San Francisco, CA, Gotanda is not only a playwright but a director, musician, composer, filmmaker, actor, teacher, and author as well. While he tends to focus on the Asian American experience, Gotanda aims to share stories of all people and experiences. Especially stories where the boundaries of identity are blurred.

Yankee Dawg You Die 1988

Synopsis

Many claim this to be one of Gotanda’s most notable works, as it dives into the prejudice and racism against Asian-Americans head on. Originally written in 1988, then published in 1991, this play tells the story of two Asian American men and their struggle to make it as actors in Hollywood. Vincent Chang, an older “accomplished” actor with an Oscar nominee meets young Bradley Yamashita, a trained up and coming actor with a political agenda. The clash of of their experience comes to a head when Yamashita accuses Chang of encouraging the Asian American stereotype by accepting any role offered to him, therefore ruining chances for future Asian American actors to play real roles. Chang however criticizes Yamashita’s lack of respect for those who paved the way for the chance for Asian American art to even exist. The play tackles multiple themes including Asian male masculinity, whitewashing in Hollywood, smashing stereotypes, and the lack of Asian American role models for young people to look up to.

How this play can be used

As this is a play with only two characters, this could be very meaningful in a scene study exploration or a play analysis of any kind. Also, since the play is so brazen in its criticism of prejudice in the arts it could be a great entry point to discussions on casting, filmmaking, theatre-making, and how racism can be prevalent in all of these settings.

Activity

Gotanda revisited this play later on in his career, choosing to rewrite the story from a different perspective. His one-act Natalie Wood is Dead (which is one half of his collection Under the Rainbow) shares the same dilemma of Asian American actors trying to have a career in Hollywood, though this time from the female perspective. Gotanda refers to Natalie Wood is Dead as a companion play for his original piece.

Since Yankee Dawg You Die is such a wonderful source for a scene study, or play analysis setting, the conversations of the material could be developed further with studying Natalie Wood is Dead alongside the original. These two plays could be juxtaposed in many different ways:

~ Students can read both plays and have a facilitated discussion of the similarities/differences

~ Actors working on one script can explore the companion to further develop their character

~ These two plays (or selections from each) could be presented in performance alongside each other to provide a holistic view of the "stereotypical" Asian American actor

The possibilities are endless...

Discussion Questions

What does "Asian American" mean?

What do the stereotypes used in Yankee Dawg You Die reveal about this experience? Are they effective or are they too jarring?

How does the "voice" change from Yankee Dawg You Die to Natalie Wood is Dead?

Many playwrights attempt to offer a variety of perspectives and experiences in their body of work. Is Gotanda successful in achieving this?

Under the Rainbow: Natalie Wood is Dead, White Manifesto or Got Rice? (2005)

Synopsis

A collection of two one-act plays, Under the Rainbow, is a wonderful example of Gotanda exploring different perspectives. The first one-act, Natalie Wood is Dead, is a “companion” play or re-imagining of his earlier work Yankee Dawg You Die but from women’s perspective. Gotanda himself describes it as a “female counterpart.” The second one-act in this collection, White Manifesto or Got Rice?, is essentially a 60 minute monologue of a white man educating his audience on seducing Asian women. The only other characters in this piece are two showgirl-esque women in the background who occasionally interject in a dream like state.

How can this play be used

This collection could be studied in the context of its predecessor Yankee Dawg You Die, but it could also stand on its own as a jarring outspoken piece revealing the ugliness of racism.

After the War Blues (2014)

Synopsis

A play with music done at UC Berkeley in 2014 in collaboration with director Steven Anthony Jones. This 2014 work is an adaptation of his 2003 play After the War, originally commissioned by the American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco, CA.

Gotanda shares the story of Japanese Americans who return home from the internment camps following WWII, only to find that African American communities have moved into their homes while they were gone. The setting is a Rooming House owned by a 2nd generation Japanese immigrant, Chet Monkawa, a blues musician. His counterpart is Earl T. Worthing, an African American male living at the house with his young daughter and sister in law. The main conflict in the play comes from the competition of ownership, both over the property and the women; Lillian Okamura, a young Asian American woman who used to be involved with Chet’s brother but is actually interested in Chet, and Mary Louise-Tucker, a young white woman who has history with both Chet and Earl.

How this play can be used:

Heated and complex arguments about identity and sense of home are juxtaposed with simplistically content moments in life to offer an insightful perspective on intersectionality in history. This is also a play that is full of Blues music, and the controversy over who it belongs to, providing opportunities for students and/or audiences to engage in the music of the time period as well.