An interview with Nam Nguyen and Sai Lian Macikunas
The Ember Island Players Theatre, previously known as Hotake Theatre Company, is a student-run theatre company that aims to “produce and facilitate the development of theatrical and musical works led by artists who identify with the Asian and Pacific Islander diaspora.” The company was established in September 2018 and produced its first show, Yellow Face, in December 2018. The Strand sat down with Artistic Director Nam Nguyen and Co-Artistic Producer Sai Lian Macikunas to talk about their experience starting a new drama society at UofT.
TS: How did the Ember Island Players begin?
Sai: It had many beginnings. On my end, I pulled people together after seeing this year’s campus theatre season announcements. I was thrilled to see so many beautiful LGBT+ shows picked up but utterly crushed when I saw nearly every writer and director for almost every society was white. I went from upset, to sad, to angry, to productive—less out of specific, targeted spite and more out of righteousness. It’s possible almost no one except white people pitched shows, but that no society asks for people to consider more racially diverse works speaks volumes. It felt like a systematic error, and we’re falling through the gaps. It becomes a catch-22. No experience? No work. No work? No experience. Give Asian people visibility and opportunities to work. We aren’t going to be ignored, and we refuse to be shut out. It’s my form of protest.
Nam: That was the impulse for it for this year in particular. But it had been coming for a number of years because we were coming off some good years for Asian theatre artists on campus. We saw there was a potential for it, and we thought, “Let’s put something out there of our own.” No one’s going to do it for us, we’re going to have to put ourselves out there. We shouldn’t be waiting for other people to say “diversity, now.”
TS: What have you learned from putting on Yellow Face last semester? Sai, how was your experience as director?
Sai: Yellow Face was an absolute rodeo, our first attempt to get off the ground as a company. We picked such an ambitious show. I had a really hard time overall, but I do feel proud of the work we presented, the opportunities I was able to make in doing it, and some of the moments I created. As a company, we learned that we need to delegate work more efficiently and more in advance. We also learned that we need to keep a better eye on every part of our work. How we handled a specific scene in its historical context slipped through the cracks (a failing as much mine as the company’s), and we are still working on reconciling what we wronged regarding how we nearly presented a significant and traumatic period of Japanese-Canadian and Japanese-American history. We need to remember that how we handle and present every part of the stories we stage is significant, and though we have failed some, we have honoured others. What matters is that we stay as accountable for our failings as we do our successes. We need to stay critical, careful, and responsible for everything we do—good and bad.
TS: Can you talk about your UofT Drama Festival show, an other tries to speak?
Nam: We put out a call for very short plays and thought we’d assemble those and see what we got. Some are more like sketches. Wilf[red Moeschter] and I were working on this racism satire angle, and some of the other plays do that in a more subtle and dramatic way. Some plays are not about race at all, which I think is good, because though we did come with the mindset that we’re here as one group, the only thing we have in common is race—race as defined by the society we live in and not by anything that’s technically real. So, we also need to be representing ourselves in a way that’s not always about race.
TS: Nam, your original musical, A Perfect Bowl of Pho, debuted at the 2017 UofT Drama Festival. Now, it’s running at the Factory Theatre until February 10. What is that experience like?
Nam: I’m tired all the time, but it’s a good tired. We’re like an old married couple at this point; we don’t have to worry about anything going wrong. We know people will like it enough, so it’s about how much more we can push that. When we started, the original director, Abby [Palmer], and I were like, “Are we going to find the demographic we need to tell the story?” As soon as we put out the call, we found the people we needed. All you have to do is build it and they will come. That goes for any writer, any demographic, whatever story you’re telling. Drama Fest is such an accessible way to throw your hat in the ring. Now, Pho is open to a whole new set of people. It’s in a professional context, we’re getting paid, and we’re getting funding. For me, it was important to make sure the Vietnamese community at large also comes out: Vietnamese students on campus and on other campuses, but also my parents’ friends. I want them to feel like this is a place for them as well.
TS: What do you see as the future for the Ember Island Players?
Nam: We’re asking ourselves, “Is this just something that’s a reaction, or is it something that we hope is a part of the institution here as well?” The only way you can guarantee your own representation is to put it out there yourself. I’m really hoping we develop enough of something to pass on.
Sai: Currently, I see that we continue to push. My hope was to make a stand for the Asian people involved with theatre at UofT, and I hope to move forward with that goal. Ultimately, if people want to continue under this front, I will be glad to help them, but my hopes are more in line with bringing awareness to the idea that the art that we create and that pertains to us has relevance, beauty, and value. I’m uncertain if I see myself moving forward with the company, mostly because my goals are beginning to expand beyond UofT.
TS: How can people get involved with your company?
Sai: Reach out! If you want to help out, chat, or understand what we’re working on, feel free to talk to us. Even (or especially!) if you don’t have much experience, we’d love to help you build some.
Nam: We are also looking for crew for an other tries to speak.
TS: Any final thoughts?
Nam: I hope that people come see A Perfect Bowl of Pho as well as an other tries to speak. Keep supporting art that is more accurate to the representation that we want in our world, our country, our city.
Sai: The lack of racial diversity in campus theatre is symptomatic of a society and a community that doesn’t value the artistic contributions or labour of non-white people. We have existed for a long time, and so has our work; keep digging to find it and searching to experience it. Keep acting, keep creating, keep working, keep thinking, keep existing. I’m rooting for you.
an other tries to speak will be presented on February 7 at the UofT Drama Festival at Hart House Theatre. You can find the Ember Island Players Theatre on Facebook.
Interview has been edited for clarity and length.
