| Piccadilly Revisited: A Journey into the Inner Landscape of Anna May Wong |
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| Sunday, 07 March 2010 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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For the hundreds of people that braved the chilly September night last year and attended the work-in-progress of Piccadilly Revisited, they would have witnessed the beauty and star qualities of Anna May Wong as her projection flickered gracefully on the side of the Royal Festival Hall. With the dark undertone that played as accompaniment to the black and white silent film, it almost felt as if the co-writers David Tse Ka-Shing and Alice Lee had released the spirit of Hollywood's first Chinese star to haunt over Southbank. What was the response from the work-in-progress performance of Piccadilly Revisited last year at Southbank? AL: People that I spoke to on the day were very intrigued by the life of Anna May Wong and what her struggles were. They enjoyed the music and the mood it created; however some commented were that it was slightly monotone. DT: An official from London 2012 loved it, and most of the people I spoke with, plus email and facebook comments afterwards, were extremely positive. There was one negative FB comment, but since this was only work-in-progress for both the music and script, we took that on the chin. Did the audience provide much feedback? DT: Most of the feedback was similar to what the Creative Team collectively discussed at our evaluation - try to lighten and vary the mood of AMW's life, both musically and in the text. AL: Some people sent us emails but I mostly just spoke to my friends and people around me. The feedback that I got was that they couldn't wait to see the final production.
What is the main message that the writers want to deliver in Piccadilly Revisited? DT: Piccadilly Revisited is an homage to anextraordinary woman, talented, intelligent and progressive. She achieved remarkable success and influenced western perceptions of Chinese people more than any other Hollywood star, paving the way for Lucy Liu and Zhang Ziyi, but at huge personal cost. We hope our intervention will liberate her ‘hungry ghost' spirit from the Orientalist prison of some of her old work, including certain aspects of this silent British film, and give her a voice. AL: It is a celebration of the life and work of Anna May Wong. We wanted to pay tribute to the first international Chinese Hollywood film star, the struggles and injustice that she overcame and the legacy she left behind. We also want to examine how far the entertainment business has come in terms of stereotyped casting.
How did you two collaborate on the ideas in writing the script? DT: We met regularly and brought our research, our passions and insights to the table. We responded to the film, Piccadilly, and imagined how AMW might have felt during the process of making it. We set AMW's life in the context of American history, and it's relation to the modern world. Once the groundwork was done, the storyboard continued to evolve as one of us rewrote, and invited the other to respond. After viewing some of the surreal video footage, the style of writing became more poetic to support the overall tone of the production. AL: We basically discussed, discussed and discussed. We would bounce ideas off each other. It's like passing on the baton again and again, until we were both happy with what we got.
Alice, you once played Anna May Wong in your solo show in Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2008. How much of that experience did you use in the writing for Piccadilly Revisited? AL: The materials that I researched and collected really helped us kick off the process in terms of building up the foundation, from there it was a matter of layering on bricks and mortar and sometimes destroying what we had built and starting again as fresh and better ideas come up. From the feedback that I got for the solo show, I learned that audiences want to go on a journey and discover for themselves, and so we were very insistent on, as clichéd as this sounds, to show and not tell. I feel a very strong affinity with Anna May Wong, shewas like the sister or role model I never had when I was growing up. I have a strong understanding of her character as I have now lived with her for a few years, and the more experience one has, the more you understand; it is about humanity after all. For example, how we shared a traditional upbringing in our Chinese families, while being exposed to Western values and ideologies. As Anna May Wong would say, sometimes it's like the cat and dog fighting in her head. Despite Anna May Wong's strong performance in the film Piccadilly, there wasn't much room for sympathy towards her character. Do you think this film was an appropriate choice in portraying Anna May Wong's life in Hollywood, her success and eventual recognition on the Walk of Fame? AL: Piccadilly really showcased AMW's talents despite the restraints put on her character. As you can see, she outshone her co-stars, Gilda Gray and Jameson Thomas, who were supposed to be the leads in the film, because her acting was much more natural and graceful than the others. I think there isn't any film that one can use really to boil down any actor's success, it's the whole body of work that they've done in their lifetime that counts. In Piccadilly, Anna May Wong plays the character Sho Sho, who mirrors her own life, rising from obscurity to become a star. DT: I disagree that AMW's character in Piccadilly isn't sympathetic. Perhaps on paper it wasn't. But through her beauty, grace and charm, she imbues Sho Sho with a humanity and playful sensuality that makes you like her immediately. You understand why she dumps the poor Chinese character, Jim, in favour of the rich white character, Valentine. In 1929, having a powerful, white Svengali-figure was probably the only way that a poor Chinese woman could "make it" in showbusiness in the West. Piccadilly was made in London, and is the perfect vehicle for British East Asian artists to reinterpret AMW's Cinderellla-like life story.
More importantly, did the inter-weaving between film and performance work in this cross- artform production? DT: I start rehearsals on 8th March for 3 wks, so we'll discover whether this cross-artform piece works when we play it in front of an audience on 30th- 31st March at the Linbury Theatre, Royal Opera House. Certainly the co-writers have carefully incorporated all the artists' contributions, and as the director, I've been busy during pre-production, negotiating with artists to ensure that there is a considered interplay between film, music, video, design, dance and theatre. AL: Well,we shall see! I think it's a really brave project, all credit to David forcoming up with the idea. We certainly have tried to incorporate the brilliant contributions from the artists of all art forms into our writing, with the goal of letting each art form shine in its own right and yet creating a harmonious whole. I guess it's a bit like an orchestra, sometimes the focus is on the piano solo, sometimes the violin and sometimes the wind instruments, but in the end, it's a complete piece of music, it's about getting the right balance. One criticism I read on the Chinatown Arts Space facebook page was that, there was too much focused on Anna May Wong's struggle with yellowface casting, racism and lack of opportunities in Hollywood. Were changes made in the script to address this? DT: Racism and ‘yellowface' casting impacted so much on AMW's career, contributing to her bouts of depression, addiction to alcohol and early death, that it would've been churlish to ignore it. After the evaluation, the co-writers have increased AMW's interior life, and toned down some of the cultural politics without diluting the overall narrative thrust. The premiere will further benefit from a live actress bringing enormous emotional range, humour and joy to a story that is full of sadness and tragedy. AL: I guess I would say it was more factual in the work in progress and we have made the adjustment to make it more about how she feels, getting more into her inner landscape.
What other changes and additions were made to the final version of the script? AL: Wow, there are so many changes we made. With each art form coming to fruition, we have to take into account what they have achieved and tweak the script accordingly so we don't end up repeating the same idea in different forms. The whole project is about collaboration with different art forms, letting each one inspire the other. The work in progress only had the music and the voiceovers, but now that we also have dance, video and drama involved, the script becomes a different animal altogether. DT: The biggest recent changes were made in response to ‘fitting in' the various video sequences. The actress involved has also made requests either to replace a word or swap phrases around. No doubt the script will continue to evolve during rehearsals; such is the collaborative process of making this work.
David, as the director, you made a decision to have two people involved in the creative process for each artform (ie. co-writers, co-composers etc). Can you tell me more about this? DT: At the heart of Chinatown Arts Space's work has been the spirit of collaboration. Two artists from each artform were approached, so that collaborators would have another specialist to bounce ideas off. Adjustments were made to the Creative Team until everyone was happy with the process. A NY-based video artist became involved after an alternative pairing didn't work out, and I became a co-writer for similar reasons. It was important for the co-collaborators to push each other out of their comfort zones, encouraging greater risk-taking. I hope this process will generate some refreshing new work that will surprise even an old hand like me! Finally, what can the audience expect to see at the full production of Piccadilly Revisited? AL: I don't know what the audience should expect, but I hope after seeing the show, the audience will share our love and admiration for Anna May Wong and will be intrigued enough to continue discovering and sharing that discovery with people they come across. DT: Something exciting, magical and enchanting. Something dark, surreal and disturbing. Something amusing and witty, challenging and uplifting.
Piccadilly Revisited, a multi-media celebration of the life and loves of Anna May Wong, Hollywood's first Chinese film star, will be performing at the Royal Opera House, Linbury Studio Theatre 30-31 March 2010. For bookings, visit: www.roh.org.uk Read more about the life and times of Anna May Wong, click here .
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