A Korean American playwright has withdrawn permission for his play Jesus in India to be produced by Clarion University in Pittsburgh because three roles written for Indians were filled by White actors, reports the
Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
Lloyd Suh is a second generation Korean American raised in Indiana. His plays include American Hwangap, The Wong Kids in the Secret of the Space Chupacabra Go!,Great Wall Story, The Children of Vonderly, Masha No Home and others.
In an email to the play’s director earlier this week he wrote “Your citing of ‘color blind casting’ as an excuse for selecting White actors to portray non-White characters is a gross misunderstanding of the practice, and denies the savage inequities that exist in the field at large for non-White performers, both in professional and educational settings.”
Suh demanded the play which was set to open this weekend be recast. The University said that would be impossible and shut down the production. Suh has returned the $500 he received for the rights to the play.
The performers expressed disappointment.
“[Mr. Suh] said he saw a picture … all he saw was the color of my skin,” said one of the White actors, Logan Honsaker. “All he knew was our race, and he said no.”
Suh’s plays have been produced by Ma-Yi, The Play Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre, La Mama ETC, Magic Theatre (SF), Denver Center Theatre Company, East West Players (LA), and internationally at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila, and with PCPA in Seoul, Korea.
From 2005-2010, Suh served as Artistic Director of Second Generation and Co-Director of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab. He has been Director of Onsite Programs at the Lark Theatre Company in New York since 2011.
