Diversity in American Theatre

Question 1

Hispanic Americans

Answer 1

*roughly 17% of the American population today is hispanic
*Spanish, second to English, spoken in the US
*Cuban Americans:
~Maria Irene Fornes: avant garde (“Mud”)
~Nilo Cruz:
1. “Anna in the Tropics” (2003)
2. “Hortensio and the Museum of Dreams” (2001)
*Chicano: Luis Valdez- father of Chicano theatre
1. “Zoot Suit” (1978) based on profiling of Chicano Americans accused of a murder they did not commit
*Puerto Rican: Miguel Pinero- “Short Eyes” (1973)

Question 2

Asian Americans

Answer 2

• most notably David Henry Hwang
  
  1. “M. Butterfly” (1988)- deconstruction of Puccini’s famous opera Madame Butterfly
  2. “Chinglish”

Question 3

Disabled Americans

Answer 3

• Theatre by the Blind
• Deaf West (American Sign Language theatre troupe)
  
  1. Big River (2003) revival on Broadway with ASL

Question 4

Gay Theatre

Answer 4

• notable playwrights: Edward Albee, Oscar Wilde
• Stonewall Riots: 1968, the night Judy Garland died, drag queens fought back the police to stand up for gay rights in Greenwich Village, NYC
• Lillian Hellam “The Children’s Hour” (1934)- concerned the relationship between two women; the movie version did not even hint at the homosexual relationship
• Mart Crowley’s “Boys in the Band” (1968)- discussed the societal stereotype of gay people, and what is considered politically correct when talking about homosexuality

Question 5

CASTING- when does race, gender, sexuality, etc matter?

Answer 5

• color-blind casting: asking audience to ignore the race
• non-traditional casting: purposefully casting different race or gender, and wanting the audience to accept the change

*example: 1991 Miss Saigon, with entirely Asian cast. union said white Jonathon Price couldn’t play the role, calling it minstrelsy and taking away a role from an Asian performer. Hwang became extremely invoked in this debate