INFO
| Name | Premiere Season of Scenes from a Yellow Peril |
| Year | 2022 |
| Playwright | Nathan Joe |
| Start Date | 21 June 2022 |
| End Date | 3 July 2022 |
| Organiser / Venue | ASB Waterfront |
| Director(s) | Jane Yonge |
| Producer(s) | Auckland Theatre Company SquareSums&Co Oriental Maidens |
| Key Cast | Uhyoung Choi 최우영 Amanda Grace Leo 梁宿娴 Louise Jiang 江欣玥 Nathan Joe 周润豪 Zephyr Zhang 张挚 Kenji Iwamitsu-Holdaway 岩満 健司 Rhohil Kishore J.Y Lee 이종윤 Daniel Mitsuru McKenzie 石本 完 |
| Creative Team | Production Designer: Rachel Marlow and Bradley Glenhill Sound Designer: Kenji Iwamitsu-Holdaway 岩満 健司 Costume Designer: Steven Junil Park 박준일 Dramaturg and Production Uncle: Ahi Karunaharan அகிலன் கருணாகரன் |
| Artform | Theatre |
| City | Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland |
ABOUT
First read at Fresh off the Page 2018 followed by a performed excerpt at TedxAuckland in 2019 and a staged reading at The Civic Theatre as part of Auckland Arts Festival 2021, Nathan Joe’s Scenes from a Yellow Peril had its world premiere with Auckland Theatre Company in 2022 — a moment that also marked the first time the company had presented an Aotearoa East Asian play. A structured “doom scroll” in fourteen chapters collaging poetry, live interview, song and monologue, Scenes is a fierce, winking exploration of East Asian experience, identity and privilege in Aotearoa.
"I never imagined Auckland Theatre Company would ever stage one of my plays,” Joe told the Asia Media Centre at the time. “Especially not this one. But here we are. Now I'm finally writing about horny Asians. Just kidding (mostly)."
In an interview with Stuff, director Jane Yonge observed that while the original script was pessimistic, it had evolved to a more empowering position. “I was really drawn to his poetry,” she said, speaking about her decision to direct the work. “[I] felt that was where the power and energy sat in the piece.” In an interview with NZ Herald, she went on to say “The visual imagination of this work is so important because Nathan paints worlds through words”, emphasising also the importance of giving the audience permission to laugh. “To really sit with this isn't to feel guilty or outraged. It's actually to feel a bit sad about the state of things, but with a lot of laughter along the way."
The production received positive critical responses, with NZ Herald calling it “bold, entertaining [and] challenging” with a cast that “are simply flawless”, and Rat World praising director Jane Yonge for sustaining “the messiness of sadness and rage” through the 80-minute performance.
Since its premiere, Scenes from a Yellow Peril has been read at Tauranga Arts Festival 2023.
Length 1 hour 20 min (no interval)
