THE EMERGENCE OF SOUTH ASIAN VIRTUES IN AMERICAN THEATER
My father is a world music buff, loves going to the movies, and indulges in a range of entertainment shows, from the newest Cirque Du Soleil in Vegas to Lion King on Broadway. But he’s never been to the American Theater to see a play.
That is, until his son started working in theater.
Brown people are on stage now. South Asians are getting more well-rounded roles to play, and it’s only going to get better.
My most recent project gave me a role at one of the country’s premier regional theaters. However, the play — and by extension the role itself — is quite unsettling for many South Asians.
At the center of DISGRACED, a Pulitzer-prize winning play by Ayad Akhtar, is the character Amir: a brown-skinned attorney one step away from becoming partner at his law firm.
Amir Abdullah is raised a Muslim, but changes his last name to Kapoor to pose as Indian so as to not hinder his chances of climbing up the social ladder post 9/11. The ultimate self-made man, he owns an upscale apartment in the Upper East Side of New York City, is married to a beautiful, Caucasian painter, and has renounced his ties to religion and is happy drinking alcohol and eating pork; he’s living the American Dream.
Pitch Amir’s accomplishments to any South Asian you know, especially immigrants to America, and you’re met with a resounding seal of approval.
But this is a post-modern play, wrought with conflict and set within the context of a capitalist society. As tension escalates, Akhtar explores issues of assimilation, privilege, justice vs order, and the plight of minorities caught in a majority rule. And when things turn dark, South Asians seem to be the first to tune out.
SOUTH ASIANS AND OUR NATURAL HABITAT
Bear in mind that the term “South Asians” doesn’t refer to one single community of people with homogeneous backgrounds, religions and beliefs. So while I use the term ‘South Asians’ as a catch all, it doesn’t reflect the thoughts of every single South Asian in this country.
If the ultimate goal of theater is to ask difficult questions, it stands diametrically opposed to the purpose of entertainment for many South Asians — a chance to “turn off the brain” and bypass the struggles of real life rather than confront it. For my family, going to the movies means escaping reality. It’s not that we see Bollywood films enamored by their quality. In fact, we choose them primarily because they require less introspection; they don’t force us to face hard truths.
There’s a line from the play, where Amir’s wife Emily pleads for his help in helping an innocent man get out of prison: “We never talk about this…not really.” It’s an alarmingly relatable sentiment among South Asian families — my own included. Because of how we’ve been raised, there’s a reluctance to confront deep rooted discomforts that could potentially lead to painful conflict between us. The fear is that it will ultimately divide us.
WHAT NO ONE WANTS TO TALK ABOUT
There’s a through line of unease among brown-skinned people that if we show ourselves to be vulnerable, then others will regard us as weak. But in fact, the effect of telling stories centered around South Asian characters — be it tragedies or comedies or romances — is exactly the opposite.
During the run of the play in Minneapolis, MN, I witnessed an audience growing in diversity week after week. More and more immigrants came to see a story that touched a cord of resonance within them, even if they couldn’t always put words to the experience. I saw it in their eyes; felt it in the quiver of their voices as they approached the mic to share their own experiences, or when they shook our hands in a warm embrace after each and every show.
Before, South Asians were forced to take a backseat and accept what the industry put before us; now, we’re served diverse, flawed characters who deal with universal human problems, addressing conflict between identity vs duty, cultural tendencies vs religious prerogatives. At the core of these stories is the blurred lines between what it means to be successful and what feels like real success to each individual.
That’s nothing to be ashamed about, and it certainly doesn’t reflect on us as a people or as a culture. By exploring these issues on stage in the form of a story, we’re able to open up among ourselves in everyday conversation. The impact of theater is visceral — it’s encouraging South Asians to speak, to have a voice within the greater social context in which we live in.
A WAY FORWARD
My personal opinion is that a play like DISGRACED needs to exist, and it’s a gateway to more stories encouraging us to hold a mirror up to our real lives in self reflection.
Playwrights like Ayad Akhtar, Rajiv Joseph and Stephen Adly Guirgis — to name a few — are channeling their personal experiences and diverse backgrounds to bring stories woven into the social context of chasing the American Dream. We, as artists, are getting the chance to embody three- dimensional characters reflecting the kinds of people you see at work, at school or in your neighborhood.
I believe that is a good thing, and it’s an exciting time to be here. Theater is alive and evolving out of it’s comfort zone, and the audience with it.
“In a large theater it is the entire proscenium arch, so that no matter what you do, it becomes a theatrical event. When your image is so large and the audience has such an immediate perspective, the actor can enable the audience to experience his emotions in an intimate and personal way if he does his job right.”
Brando, Marlon. Songs My Mother Taught Me
