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Portland Center Stage

presents

Chinglish by David Henry Hwang

Artistic Director | Chris Coleman

(January 11 – February 9, 2014)

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PORTLANDCENTERSTAGE Presents

Chinglish by David Henry Hwang

Directed by

May Adrales

Scenic and Projection Designer

Timothy R. Mackabee

Costume Designer

Jeff Cone

Lighting Designer

Seth Reiser

Sound Designer

Casi Pacilio

Composer

Jana Crenshaw

Stage Manager

Mark Tynan

Production Assistant

Stephen Kriz Gardner

Casting

Harriet Bass

Cultural Consultant

Jane Chen

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CAST

Tina Chilip*................................... Xi Yan

Lily Tung Crystal*....................Hotel Manager/Prosecutor Li

Jeff Locker*..................................... Peter Timms

Rachel Lu*................................... Miss Qian/Zhao

Peter O'Connor*...................................... Daniel Cavanaugh

Yuekun Wu*...................................... Bing/Judge Xu Geming

Jian Xin*.................................. Cai Guoliang

Chinglish is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists

Play Service, Inc., New York.

Chinglish opened at The Longacre on Broadway on October 27,

2011 and was produced by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Jay

& Cindy Gutterman/Cathy Chernoff, Heni Koenigsberg/Lily

Fan, Joseph & Matthew Deitch, Dasha Epstein, Ronald & Marc

Frankel, Barry & Carole Kaye, Mary Lu Roffe, The Broadway

Consortium, Ken Davenport, Filerman Bensinger, Herbert

Goldsmith, Jam Theatricals, Olympus Theatricals, Playful

Productions, David & Barbara Stoller, Roy Gottlieb, and

Hunter Arnold.

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Chinglish was first premiered by the Goodman Theatre in

Chicago, IL (Robert Falls, Artistic Director; Roche Schuffer,

Executive Director) on June 18, 2011.

Chinglish was first developed at the Lark Play Development

Center, New York City in cooperation with the Public Theatre

(Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director).

Mandarin Chinese translations by Candace Chong.

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of

Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

There was the time I stood on a train riding from Pécs, Hungary

back to Budapest and couldn’t understand why the woman at the

snack station wasn’t providing what I wanted. I was convinced I

was saying, “I’d like a Snickers and a bottled water, please.”

After repeating it about five times, I had to revert to charades to

get satisfaction. Only when I returned to my seat and referred to

the dictionary did I realize I had actually been saying, “I’d like a

snickers and GOODBYE.”

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Then there was the time I was sitting in a temple in northern

Japan in November. I’d been invited as part of a delegation

planning a sister city exchange with Atlanta. We were watching

a famous Noh drama that was stretching well past hour three,

seated on cushions on a concrete floor, with no heat in the

building. I had a wicked sinus infection, but had been afraid to

take medication as I couldn’t figure out the contents on the box.

I was terrified of blowing my nose in public for fear of

offending our guests. So I just suffered.

Or the time, on a street in Moscow, when a gentleman dropped a

big wad of cash (oddly wrapped in plastic) and the man next to

me picked it up and said, “We split, 50/50, yes?” I said, “No –

we need to take it to the man who dropped it.” He repeated, “We

split 50/50, yes?” I repeated myself, as did he. Then he tried to

take my arm and pull me into a nearby alley. Smelling trouble, I

started saying loudly, “NYET, NYET, NYET,” and hurried back

to my hotel.

Translation: It starts with language, but extends well beyond the

literal language barrier into tradition, customs, habits. What is

considered respectful in one country (or state for that matter),

seems like you’re being a doormat in another. If I arrived at a

friend’s home in Atlanta bearing gifts (the way one is expected

to in Japan), they might be delighted, but they would also

wonder what the special occasion was. The discrete reserve of

the Swede feels remote, even rude, to the Latin American.

Trying to navigate our differences is challenging enough in one

language. Add in the complexity of a business deal, and the

customs that come along with it, and you have a recipe for

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disaster. Or comedy. It’s this material that David Henry Hwang

is mining so deliciously in Chinglish. It seems that we are all

constantly re-learning how little we understand about the

cultures, spoken and unspoken, around the globe. In Chinglish,

those differences are brought to the fore with great subtlety and

humor.

Enjoy the journey.

Chris

Tina Chilip

Xi Yan Tina Chilip is thrilled to make her Portland Center Stage debut

with her fourth David Henry Hwang play. She has previously

been in M. Butterfly (Guthrie Theater), Yellow Face

(TheatreWorks in California) and twice in Golden Child

(Signature Theatre in New York - dir. Leigh Silverman; and the

Cultural Center of the Philippines). Other New York credits: A

Dream Play (National Asian American Theater Company),

Flipzoids (Ma-Yi Theater Company), Joy Luck Club (Pan Asian

Repertory Theatre), Sweet Karma (Queens Theatre in the Park),

Twelfth Night (Leviathan Lab). Other regional credits: Trinity

Repertory Company, Marin Shakespeare Company and others.

TV: Royal Pains. Upcoming: The Intelligent Homosexual’s

Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures

at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the feature film Air

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Disturbance. Training: M.F.A., Brown/Trinity.

www.tinachilip.com

Lily Tung Crystal

Hotel Manager/Prosecutor Li

Lily is thrilled and grateful to be making her Portland Center

Stage debut. She is a native Californian who has performed with

theatre companies in San Francisco, New York and Shanghai,

including Magic Theatre, Crowded Fire Theatre, San Francisco

Playhouse, Playwrights Foundation, The New Group and

Women’s Project Theater. Favorite shows include: Private Lives

(Amanda), Grease (Rizzo), Cabaret (Lulu), Tough Titty (Rachel

Li/Rashida) and Songs of the Dragons Flying to Heaven

(Korean #2), for which she was nominated for a Bay Theatre

Critics Circle Award. Lily also created the role of Mrs. Park in

Jay Kuo’s new musical Worlds Apart and Tye Leung Schulze in

Tye, her solo show about the first Chinese-American woman to

vote. Lily is the founding co-artistic director of Ferocious Lotus

Theatre Company in San Francisco. Love and thanks to Mom,

Eric and Cole for making dreams possible.

www.lilytungcrystal.com

Jeff Locker

Peter Timms

Jeff is thrilled to be making his PCS debut, especially in a show

that hits so close to home! He was an actor and award-winning

TV/radio personality in Taiwan and China for 15 years, best

known for his portrayal of Bush in Golden Bell-winning

political satire show Mimics, Brindsley in Black Comedy

(National Theater Taiwan) and Paul in The Musical Story of

Teresa Teng (Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall). Hosting duties

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included the Golden Horse Awards (Chinese Oscars), Asia-

Pacific Film Festival, Fear Challenge (Chinese Fear Factor)

and Love Radio (EastRadio Shanghai). Jeff was also a best-

selling author of eight Mandarin books, lecturing throughout

Chinese Asia. He is a proud graduate of The Second City and iO

West. US credits include Second City Hollywood’s America:

Chin Up, Fly Down! and Dirty, Sexy, Funny, Jimmy Kimmel

Live!, Saving Face and vocal group Top Shelf. He can be found

mumbling to himself in actual Chinglish as he fights LA traffic.

www.jefflocker.com

Rachel Lu

Miss Qian/Zhao

Hailing from Taiwan, Rachel started playing the piano at the age

of five and dreamed of becoming a street musician in Paris.

Since graduating from Columbia University with an Acting

M.F.A., she has appeared on stage, films and commercials. She

is known for her role as the ambitious Tiger Mom on ABC’s

What Would You Do?, and she has recently played a

conspicuous fashionista in the feature film Yellow Fever. An

avid martial artist, Rachel co-wrote and co-produced the Kung

Fu parody Savage Lotus on YouTube. She is thrilled to be a part

of Chinglish! Rachel lives happily in New York City with her

dashing husband, Brendan, and their rescued pit bill, Penny Lu-

Walsh. Rachel strives for beauty and truth in everything she

does. Connect with her at www.RachelLu.com.

Peter O’Connor

Daniel Cavanaugh

Peter is thrilled to be working in beautiful Portland at PCS.

Theatre: Annie Baker’s The Aliens (West Coast premiere at San

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Francisco Playhouse; The Studio Theatre, D.C., dir. Lila

Neughbauer), Jailbait (Obie Award, The Cherry Lane, The

Cherry Pit), And Miles to Go (dir. Hal Brooks), so go the ghost

of mexico (Ellen Stewart Award, La MaMa, dir. Meiyin Wang),

Robert O’Hara’s Fuckmate, Laura Mark’s 50 Shades, Jon

Caren’s YES (Partial Comfort), O’Neill’s Beyond the Horizon

(Center Stage), Sexual Healing (The Mint), Balaton (Urban

Stages), Sexual Neuroses of our Parents (Wild Project), A Bitter

Taste, Echo Echo and Behind the Blind (Ensemble Studio

Theatre), Kidstuff, Letters to the End of the World (Theatre

Row), Shape of Things (New York Innovative Theatre Award

Nomination), Richard II, All’s Well That Ends Well, Ionesco’s

Killing Game. Film/TV: Viola (Golden Palm Award, Mexico

International Film Festival), P.S. I Love You, Alpha-beta, Sweet

Lorraine, As the World Turns (three year recurring), Mercy

(NBC), Ed (NBC), Book of Daniel with Aidan Quinn (NBC),

Law & Order with Jeffrey Tambor, Guiding Light (recurring)

and St. Michael in Grand Theft Auto IV. Education: University

of Norte Dame. Thank you May.

www.vimeo.com/peteroconnor.com

Yuekun Wu

Bing/Judge Xu Geming

Portland Center Stage debut. Off Broadway: The Dance and the

Railroad (Signature Theatre/Wuzhen Theatre Festival, China),

Clocked Out (Roy Arias Theaters). Selected New York credits:

Women: The War Within (Baryshnikov Arts Center), Love in

Tear and Laughter, Luo Shen: Legend of the Luo River (Theater

for the New City), Swoony Planet, The marriage of Figaro,

Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals, The Good Person of

Szechwan. The Subtle Body (Shanghai International

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Contemporary Theatre Festival). Film/Television: American

Dreams in China, Beijing, New York, The Flying Swordsman.

Training: A.R.T/MXAT at Harvard University, B.A. Fordham

University. Big thanks to May Adrales, our wonderful crew and

my family.

Jian Xin

Cai Guoliang

Jian worked as an actor for over fifteen years at the Tianjin

People’s Art Theater in Tianjin, China. Upon relocating to the

United States, he spent two years performing with Dongfang

Performing Arts Association in Chicago before settling in

Houston. Jian is an alumnus of the renowned Shanhai Theatre

Academy and currently teaches drama at the Oriental Art

Education Center in Houston.

“I like your smile, but unlike you put your shoes on my face,”

reads a sign situated near a lawn in China. “The little grass is

sleeping. Please don’t disturb it,” reads another similarly placed

sign. “Your careful step keeps tiny grass invariably green,”

reads a third. All three are attempting to communicate the same

message, which in America is crisply rendered as “Keep off the

grass.”

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Signs like these are a common sight in China, where tourists

puzzle and giggle over the mistranslations commonly known as

“Chinglish.” English-speakers are directed to “slip carefully”

(“don’t slip”) and to use the “deformed man’s toilet”

(“handicapped restroom”). They are informed that “the civilized

and tidy circumstance is a kind of enjoyment” (“don’t litter”).

Any native speaker of English can snicker at these

malapropisms, but most don’t know enough about Chinese

language or culture to understand the factors that result in

Chinglish signage.

In fact, as the character Daniel points out in Chinglish, “If you

are American, it is safe to assume that you do not speak a single

*&%^ing foreign language.” Though most Americans are

exposed to foreign languages during their school years, few

attain proficiency. And many monolinguals, who acquired their

native language in infancy and haven’t had a good reason to

think about language since, operate under what linguists call the

naïve lexical hypothesis: that is, they assume that differences

between languages lie solely in their vocabulary, and that each

word in a given language has an equivalent word in all other

languages. Both Chinglish (the linguistic phenomenon) and

Chinglish (David Henry Hwang’s play) are humorous but potent

reminders that there’s no such thing as a direct translation and

that language is usually more slippery than we expect.

Translators would do well to heed the Chinglish warning:

“slip carefully.”

An English speaker learning Mandarin Chinese will rapidly

discover that it differs from English not only in its sound system,

but also in its structure. Those who learned a Germanic or

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Romance language in high school will recall the arduous task of

conjugating verbs in past, present and future tenses. Mandarin

learners need not study up on verb tenses because Mandarin

doesn’t use them; it relies instead on other cues within a

sentence to indicate if something has already happened, is

happening presently, is expected to happen in the future or if the

speaker is using the verb as a command. Adding an ending to a

verb (such as -d or -ed to indicate past tense in English) would

be an unfamiliar concept for a Mandarin speaker. This

illuminates, for the English speaker, how someone might create

a sign that reads, “Be sloppily dressed excuse me for not

receiving,” when a more apt translation might be, “Entrance

may be denied to underdressed customers.” While “be sloppily

dressed” sounds like a command to English speakers, a native

Mandarin speaking translator could easily misunderstand the

relative subtleties involved in using verbs in English.

Another significant structural difference between the two

languages concerns plurals. In Mandarin, it is rare to combine

morphemes—units of meaning—to create more complex words.

The English word dogs contains two morphemes—dog, which

means furry quadruped, usually friendly, and -s, which means

that there are two or more of them. While English denotes

plurality by adding -s, Mandarin often goes without denoting it

at all—the listener must either infer it from contextual clues, or

proceed without knowing whether her neighbor is talking about

his single dog or his 50 dogs. If a speaker needs to make this

distinction clear, he or she can use words like some or many, or

can indicate a specific number, but this is often unnecessary.

This explains why a person might create a sign that says, “Don’t

forget to carry your thing,” when he is attempting to prevent

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foreigners from leaving their personal belongings behind: in

English, we draw a (key) distinction between “your thing” and

“your things,” but a Mandarin speaker could be hard-pressed to

see the difference.

Of course, good translation between the two languages is

possible, and the real causes of Chinglish signage are

carelessness and poor knowledge of English. Some companies

assign translation duties to the employee whose knowledge of

English is best—but the “best” English speaker in a company

may possess only partial proficiency. Unwilling to defy or

disappoint her superiors by revealing her lack of ability, this

employee will attempt the translation—with mixed results. In

some cases, companies rely on online translators, which tend to

create literal, dictionary-based translations that don’t take into

account connotations or multiple definitions of words. Nor do

such translators consider how each language uses metaphors and

idioms differently. It may make sense, to the Chinese mind, to

say that undisturbed grass is “sleeping,” but English doesn’t

normally utilize that metaphor, and an adept human translator

would find a more familiar phrase. (The opposite scenario—

English idioms sounding odd or unintelligible in Chinese—can

also be true. A literal translation of phrases like “bad egg” or

“nest egg” would surely prove either disastrous or amusing.)

In David Henry Hwang’s play, as in real life, many Chinese

people are ashamed of Chinglish and aim to eradicate it.

Certainly tourists would benefit from clearer signage, but would

also miss out on windows into the Chinese language—which,

though often comical, are thought-provoking insights into a

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culture that so often remains elusive and mysterious to

westerners.

This piece originally appeared in the playbill for the world

premiere of Chinglish at the Goodman Theatre in 2011.

David Henry Hwang

Playwright

David Henry Hwang’s plays include M. Butterfly (1988 Tony

Award, 1989 Pulitzer Finalist), Golden Child (1998 Tony

nomination, 1997 OBIE Award), Yellow Face (2008 OBIE

Award, 2008 Pulitzer Finalist), FOB (1981 OBIE Award), The

Dance and the Railroad (1982 Drama Desk nomination), Family

Devotions (1982 Drama Desk Nomination) and Bondage. He

wrote the books for the Broadway musicals Elton John and Tim

Rice’s Aida (coauthor), the revival of Flower Drum Song (2002

Tony nomination) and Disney’s Tarzan. In opera, his libretti

include Philip Glass’ The Voyage (Metropolitan Opera),

Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar (two 2007 Grammy Awards),

Unsuk Chin’s Alice in Wonderland (Opernwelt 2007 “World

Premiere of the Year”) and Howard Shore’s The Fly. Hwang

also penned the feature films M. Butterfly, Golden Gate and

Possession (coauthor). He serves on the Council of the

Dramatists Guild and was appointed by President Clinton to the

President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

May Adrales

Director

May Adrales is thrilled to direct Chinglish at Portland Center

Stage. A freelance theater director based in New York City, May

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has helmed several world premieres including JC Lee’s Luce

(LCT3); Katori Hall’s Whaddabloodclot!!! (Williamstown

Theater Festival); In This House at Two River Theater

Company; A. Rey Pamatmat’s Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit

Them (Actors Theatre of Louisville); Thomas Bradshaw’s Mary

(The Goodman Theatre); Tommy Smith’s The Wife (Access

Theater) and The Bereaved (Partial Comfort Productions). She

recently directed David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and the

Railroad at Signature Theatre and the Wuzhen International

Theater Festival in China, and Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop at

Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Upcoming Projects: Breath and

Imagination (Cleveland Playhouse) and Deathtrap (Pioneer

Theater). She is a Drama League Directing Fellow, Women's

Project Lab Director, SoHo Rep Writers/Directors Lab and

NYTW directing fellow, and a recipient of the TCG New

Generations Grant, Denham Fellowship and Paul Green

Directing Award. She proudly serves as an Associate Artist at

Milwaukee Repertory Theater. She is a former Director of On

Site Programs at the Lark Play Development Center and Artistic

Associate at The Public Theater. M.F.A., Yale School of Drama.

She is currently on faculty at the Yale School of Drama. Thank

you David, PCS and this amazing cast. www.mayadrales.net

Timothy R. Mackabee

Scenic and Projection Designer

Broadway: Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth (dir. Spike Lee). Off-

Broadway: Luce (Lincoln Center Theatre), Much Ado About

Nothing (Public Theater), Our New Girl (Atlantic Theatre

Company). Opera: Paul’s Case (UrbanArias), Tosca (Mill City

Opera). Regional: Dallas Theatre Center, Syracuse Stage, Yale

Repertory Theatre, Philadelphia Theater Company, Asolo

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Repertory Theatre, Triad Stage, Studio Theatre, Virginia Stage,

Syracuse Stage, Paper Mill Playhouse. Williamstown Theatre

Festival: 8 Seasons. Dance: Doug Varone & Dancers, Cedar

Lake Dance. Film/TV: Smash, The Today Show, Mike Tyson:

Undisputed Truth (HBO), Margot at the Wedding. Upcoming:

The Band’s Visit (dir. Hal Prince), Heathers: The Musical (New

World Stages). Education: North Carolina School of the Arts,

Yale School of Drama. timothymackabeedesign.com

Jeff Cone

Costume Designer

This is Jeff’s 16th season at PCS. In that time he has designed

costumes for over 75 productions. Of those shows, 49 have been

in the last eight seasons at the Armory. Favorite productions

include West Side Story, Cabaret, Alfred Hitchcock’s The 39

Steps, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Sometimes a Great

Notion, Snow Falling on Cedars, The Imaginary Invalid, Black

Pearl Sings!, Venus in Fur and Clybourne Park. Jeff received

Drammy Awards for his costume designs for Dirty Blonde, Act

A Lady and Shakespeare’s Amazing Cymbeline. In addition to

his resident costume designer duties, Jeff is happy to manage the

costume shop here at Portland Center Stage.

Seth Reiser

Lighting Designer Seth designs for theatre, dance, music and installations across

the United States. Recent Portland credits include, Eyes for

Consuela at Profile Theatre. Recent NYC credits include Come

and Back Again with David Dorfman Dance at BAM and now

touring; The Bad Guys at Second Stage; The Agony and the

Ecstasy of Steve Jobs at The Public Theatre; the Obie Award-

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winning production of The Lily’s Revenge at HERE Arts; Dutch

A/V at La Mama; Reggie Watts and Tommy Smith’s RADIO

PLAY at PS 122. Regionally his work has been seen at Trinty

Repertory Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Berkeley

Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, The Denver

Center Theatre Company, On the Boards, The Eugene O’Neill

Theatre Center, Woolly Mammoth, American Repertory Theatre

and PlayMakers Repertory Company. Seth received his M.F.A.

from New York University/Tisch. He lives in Rochester, NY

with his wife Mary and daughter Marion.

www.sethreiserdesign.com

Casi Pacilio

Sound Designer

Casi keeps busy with a variety of work and play in Portland and

around the country. PCS credits include The Mountaintop,

Fiddler on the Roof, Oklahoma!, The North Plan, Shakespeare’s

Amazing Cymbeline, Black Pearl Sings!, Opus, futura (with

composer Jana Losey), Ragtime (PAMTA Award 2010), The

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Alfred Hitchcock’s

The 39 Steps, Snow Falling on Cedars, Crazy Enough, The Little

Dog Laughed, Sometimes a Great Notion, Cabaret, The

Pillowman, I Am My Own Wife, West Side Story, Celebrity Row

and eight seasons of JAW. National shows: Holcombe Waller

Surfacing and Wayfinders; Hand2Mouth Theatre credits: Left

Hand of Darkness, My Mind is Like an Open Meadow (Drammy

Award 2011), Something’s Got Ahold Of My Heart and PEP

TALK. Other theatrical credits include Squonk Opera’s

Bigsmorgasbord-WunderWerk (Broadway, PS122, national and

international touring); I Am My Own Wife, I Think I Like Girls

(La Jolla Playhouse); Playland, 10 Fingers and Lips Together,

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Teeth Apart (City Theatre, PA). Film credits include Creation of

Destiny, Out of Our Time and A Powerful Thang. Recordings:

Glitterfruit’s fruit snacks.

Jana Crenshaw

Composer

Jana Losey Crenshaw is a singer-songwriter originally from

rural Pennsylvania, and currently planning her takeover of

Portland, Oregon. After losing her janallosey.com url to vicious

internet hunters from a galaxy far, far away, and suffering years

of the mispronunciation of her birth name, she is born again as

CHINA LUCY! With a history that includes Broadway,

international touring, a solo career, and a reality TV show,

China Lucy has recently resurfaced in the Portland music scene

with The Tuesday Project, a revolving band of local musicians

and artists of many flavors. Recent theater projects include:

composing the score for Hand2Mouth Theatre's production of

Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guinn; composing and

arranging for Liminal's recent production of Our Town at The

Headwaters Theatre; and transitional music and cues for

Portland Center Stage's futura. See more at China-Lucy.com.

Mark Tynan

Stage Manager

Imagine being in a room full of artists, watching the birth of an

idea, a movement given purpose, a sentence, phrase, scene, act

given life. Then imagine that room translating to the stage with

lighting, sound, costumes, scenery and props, then you can

imagine what Mark’s job is like. Special thanks to the

phenomenal PCS production assistants, Karen Hill and Stephen

Gardner, who help keep the vision attainable. Prior to PCS,

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Mark toured nationally and internationally with musicals

including Dreamgirls, The King and I with Rudolf Nureyev,

How to Succeed…, Grand Hotel, The Phantom of the Opera and

Rent. Other Portland credits include several summers with The

Broadway Rose Theatre Company in Tigard. Regional credits

include The Alley Theatre (Houston, TX), La Jolla Playhouse

(La Jolla, CA) and Casa Mañana Theatre (Fort Worth, TX).

Stephen Kriz Gardner

Production Assistant

Stephen is excited to be spending his first full season with

Portland Center Stage. Most recently, he was the production

assistant for PCS's Twist Your Dickens, The Mountaintop and

Somewhere in Time. In Portland, Stephen has worked as a stage

manager for Oregon Children's Theatre on Pinkalicious

(remount), The Magic School Bus: Climate Challenge and

Locomotion, as well as assistant stage managed Pinkalicious and

Duck for President. Stephen also stage managed Spring

Awakening with Live On Stage Theatre Company. His credits

outside of Portland include stage managing Black Comedy for

No Rules Theatre Company in Washington DC and assisting on

Camp Wanatachi at La Mama Experimental Theatre in New

York. He has been a production assistant on One Singular

Sensation: Celebrating Marvin Hamlisch, Sondheim! The

Birthday Concert and Company at Lincoln Center. His

internship credits include the Goodman Theatre on Candide and

A Christmas Carol, and Broadway's Wicked.

Jane Chen

Cultural Consultant

Jane Chen is originally from Nanjing City, China. The city has

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been known as a historical capital for six dynasties. Jane went to

Japan in 1996 to pursue her education. She obtained her B.A. in

Law & Policy from Tezukayama University in Nara, Japan.

After graduation, she worked for the Osaka City government to

promote international business in the city. In 2005 Jane moved

to Portland, Oregon for career advancement. She has worked for

local international business companies, such as KAI USA Ltd.

(Kershaw, SHUN Knives) and Leupold & Stevens. Specializing

in the fields of global procurement, sourcing, and supply chain

management, she has refined her in-depth understanding of

Asia-West economic and cultural exchange. This professional

background as well as her fluency in three languages (Chinese,

Japanese and English) has contributed to the successful ventures

of several American companies in Asian nations. Jane likes

running on the Wildwood trail in Portland – an activity she

considers the best means of meditation and escape from the

stresses of everyday life. Jane is also in the process of catching

up on American culture. She loves classic film noir and the films

of Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock and David Lynch.

Chris Coleman

Artistic Director

Chris joined Portland Center Stage as artistic director in May

2000. Before coming to Portland, he was artistic director at

Actor’s Express in Atlanta, a company he co-founded in the

basement of an old church in 1988. Favorite PCS directing

assignments include Fiddler on the Roof, Clybourne Park,

Sweeney Todd, Shakespeare’s Amazing Cymbeline (which he

also adapted), Anna Karenina, Oklahoma!, Snow Falling on

Cedars, Ragtime, Crazy Enough, Beard of Avon, Cabaret, King

Lear, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Man and Superman, Outrage,

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Flesh and Blood and The Devils. Chris has directed at theaters

across the country, including Actor’s Theater of Louisville,

Oregon Shakespeare Festival, ACT-Seattle, The Alliance, Dallas

Theatre Center, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, New York Theatre

Workshop and Center Stage in Baltimore. A native Atlantan,

Chris holds a B.F.A. from Baylor University and an M.F.A.

from Carnegie Mellon. He currently chairs the Creative

Advocacy Network board, and serves on boards for the Cultural

Advocacy Coalition and the Institute for Metropolitan Studies.

Chris’ favorite things about Portland: farmers markets, Timbers

games, Salt & Straw ice cream, dog parks, food carts and cars

that stop for pedestrians.

A few weeks before Chinglish had its world premiere at

Chicago’s Goodman Theatre in 2011, David Henry Hwang

spoke with the Goodman’s Associate Dramaturg, Neena Arndt,

about his writing process and the timeliness of the play.

Neena Arndt: In Chinglish, there’s a bilingual character, Peter,

who’s been in China for 20 years and knows the country very

well. Peter is from England, but says he feels more at home in

China—unfortunately, his Chinese colleagues don’t always

accept him as one of their own. In writing that character, what

issues about cultural identity were you aiming to explore?

David Henry Hwang: I’ve spent a good portion of my career

writing about the dilemma of identity as it relates to Asian

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Americans. I’m a Chinese American, and when I’m in China,

they certainly don’t consider me Chinese. And in America, there

are some questions about Asians and to what extent we are

either perpetual foreigners or “regular” Americans. The more

I’ve gotten a chance to travel and meet people in different parts

of the world, the more I realize that this is not a dilemma that is

unique to Asian Americans. Especially as the world grows

smaller and there’s more transnationalism and more people

relocating across borders, this sense of dislocation and insecurity

about identity applies to a lot of people. And I think Peter was

an opportunity for me to explore these sorts of feelings of

identity confusion but with the shoe on the other foot. Having

spent some time with the ex-pat community in China, I would

say it is more difficult for someone like Peter to be accepted as a

Chinese person in China than it is for a Chinese American to be

accepted as an American.

NA: One of the other major themes of the play is the difference

between the American ideal of marriage, which dictates that

marriage should be based on romantic love and open

communication, and the Chinese ideal of marriage, which relies

on different values altogether. Can you speak about that cultural

difference?

DHH: In a way I would say it’s not even an America versus

China difference, as much as it is a new-world versus old-world

difference. If you talk to people from Europe, they have a much

more practical notion of what marriage is supposed to be—that

it’s essentially an institution. It’s a partnership; the romance is

going to fade and you don’t necessarily go from one marriage to

another trying to chase romance. I think that’s something that

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older cultures, like China’s, tend to realize more. The emphasis

on romance as an integral part of marriage is a relatively new

idea in China. Whereas in America, I feel that romance is sort of

our secular religion. Like, “All you need is love.” As our

attachment to traditional religion has diminished, I feel as if

what’s taken its place is this humanistic religion of romantic

love, which is what all our songs and movies are about. In the

Middle Ages all art was to glorify God, and now, all our art—at

least all our popular art—is to glorify romantic love.

NA: One problem the characters face with the cultural center is

making sure that all the signs are translated into English

properly—which is often not the case in China.

DHH: Yes. And those mistranslations have been very much in

the news—particularly in China. As they were gearing up for the

Olympics there was a desire to get rid of all the Chinglish. And

then there started to be a certain number of counterarticles

written about how Chinglish is actually very interesting and we

should preserve it. So that was in the air during a lot of the time

that I’d been going over. And then as I started to think about

writing a play about doing business in China, I went to a brand-

new cultural center. It was made out of beautiful Italian woods

and had a Japanese sound system—but all I noticed were the

mistranslated signs and how ridiculous they were. It seemed like

it would be fun to use that as the jumping-off point for a play

about doing business in China.

This piece originally appeared in the playbill for the Goodman

Theatre’s 2011 production of Chinglish.

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Berry Wealth Strategies:

It is our founder’s 16-year-old daughter who is responsible for

Berry Wealth Strategies’ sponsorship in Portland Center Stage

and this performance of Chinglish. Her passion for theatre,

especially musicals, blossomed into a love affair with the

performing arts that is now shared by the entire family. So when

Berry Wealth Strategies began looking for a venue to express

our appreciation for the trust our clients place in us, the decision

was an easy one. Enjoy the performance.

NW Natural:

What a season!

This year, Portland Center Stage transports us to a tiny village in

the Ukraine; to Memphis in 1968; to 16th Century Venice; to

Massachusetts in 1892 – and to the original New York Macy’s

at Christmas time.

In this production, we see colliding cultural changes in Asia

through the eyes of a modern businessman.

Theater brings the world to us – and with it, the full spectrum of

human experience. PCS, thanks for expanding our horizons and

strengthening our emotional connections to people around the

globe.

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- Gregg Kantor, President and CEO, NW Natural

Marcy & Richard Schwartz

As a person who did business in Japan for many years, I am

keenly interested in the interactions and insights of Chinglish.

Despite lots of excellent coaching from my Japanese clients, I

was never comfortable about how to curb my American instincts

and act appropriately during my Asian trips. To this day, I am

sympathetic to our protagonist’s situation.

Richard and I are delighted to support the production of

this terrific play at PCS, both as an opportunity to strengthen

connections among cultures in our community and share lots of

laughs with you at the same time.

Jan and John Swanson:

Anyone who has traveled and tried to communicate while

possessing minimal knowledge of another language will love

this play. The foibles of the interpreters are hysterical. We

laughed out loud while reading the script. Hope everyone enjoys

the performance as much as we have enjoyed sponsoring it.