CULTURE AND IDENTITY: LANGUAGE USE IN INTERCULTURAL THEATRE by Anna Caitlin Holman B.A., Butler University, 2008 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Theatre) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) April 2017 © Anna Caitlin Holman, 2017 ii Abstract In the practice and production of intercultural theatre, language has held a variety of functions. However, the connection between language and culture in the theoretical models of intercultural theatre has been largely unexplored. The theories of linguistic anthropologists Dell Hymes, Richard Bauman, Joel Sherzer, and Charles Briggs postulate that language is a fundamental component of culture and that performative events present ideal sites for analysis. Mary Bucholtz, Kira Hall, and Norma Mendoza-Denton theorize that identity is a performative act of the self and other through language. Given these theories, this research asks: how does language function as a property of culture and identity in intercultural theatre? To answer this question, I have examined the role of language in two intercultural theatre productions which previewed in Vancouver, Canada in 2016. The analysis of these two works, Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera and Lady Sunrise, includes live and video-recorded performance analyses, script analysis, and interviews with the participating artists. This thesis demonstrates that language in intercultural theatre both informs cultural representation and influences the identities of the performers and their characters. With these findings, this research suggests that future models of intercultural theatre frame culture within a linguistic context. iii Preface I, Anna Holman, am solely responsible for the design of the research program for this thesis, the acquisition of data through interviews and texts, and the analysis of interview, text, and performance data. Colleen Lanki is responsible for the performance recording of Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera used in the analysis. Lanki recorded a workshop stage reading of Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera on January 23, 2016 at the Vancouver Opera O’Brian Centre for her own records. This research is being conducted with the approval from the University of British Columbia’s Behavioral Research Ethics Board (BREB), under number H16-01338. iv Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Preface ........................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... vi Glossary ....................................................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... viii Dedication ..................................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1: Introduction ................................................................................................................1 1.1 Definitions....................................................................................................................... 4 1.2 Linguistic Theories of Culture and Identity .................................................................... 8 1.3 Intercultural Theatre and Langauge ...................................................................................... 15 1.3.1 Language Use in Practice .......................................................................................... 16 1.3.2 Language Use in Intercultural Theatre Models ........................................................ 22 1.4 Biases, Scope, and Chapter Outline ............................................................................. 25 Chapter 2: Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera ..................................................................29 2.1 Language Use in Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera .......................................... 35 2.1.1 Language as Culture ................................................................................................. 37 2.1.1.1 Translation and Content of the Libretto ............................................................. 38 2.1.1.2 Cultural Hybridity in the Score .......................................................................... 42 2.1.1.3 Cultural Hybridity During the Rehearsal Process .............................................. 46 2.1.2 Language as Identity ................................................................................................. 48 v 2.2 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 49 Chapter 3: Lady Sunrise ..............................................................................................................53 3.1 Language Use in Lady Sunrise ..................................................................................... 55 3.1.1 Language as Identity ................................................................................................. 56 3.1.2 Language as Culture ................................................................................................. 64 3.2 Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 68 Chapter 4: Conclusion .................................................................................................................71 4.1 Functions of Language as Culture and Identity ............................................................ 71 4.1.1 Linguistic Theories and Intecultural Theatre ............................................................ 76 4.1.2 Language and Intecultural Theatre Models .............................................................. 77 4.2 Practical Applications ................................................................................................... 77 4.3 Future Research Directions ........................................................................................... 80 4.4 Significance and Contribution ...................................................................................... 82 Works Cited ..................................................................................................................................84 vi List of Figures Figure 1 Pavis’ Hourglass Model ................................................................................................. 23 Figure 2 Lo and Gilbert’s Model of Intercultural Theatre.............................................................24 vii Glossary CULTURE is a semiotic system consisting of layers of meaning that can be interpreted and socially communicated LANGUAGE is a property of culture which acts as a tool of communication LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY is work that attempts to answer the research questions of anthropology by focusing on the structure, use, development and/or evolution of language IDENTITY is the social positioning of self and other, and is a social and cultural product of linguistic and other semiotic practices INTERCULTURAL THEATRE is a hybrid derived from an intentional encounter between cultures and performing traditions SOCIOCULTURAL LINGUISTICS is the broad interdisciplinary field concerned with the intersection of language, culture, and society SOURCE LANGUAGE is language that is unfamiliar to the majority of the target audience SOURCE CULTURE is culture that is unfamiliar to the majority of the target audience TARGET AUDIENCE is the audience for whom the show is being performed viii Acknowledgements I am very grateful to my supervisor, Dr. Siyuan (Steven) Liu, for his kindness and encouragement. Thank you for inspiring many moments of reflection and new avenues of inquiry. Mostly, I thank you for teaching me that there is always room for optimism in academia. I would also like to thank my second reader, Dr. Daisy Rosenblum, for introducing me to the field of linguistic anthropology. Thank you for your patience, attentiveness, and insightfulness. Dr. Kirsty Johnston, thank you for the lessons you have taught me about theatre and life in general. Stephen Heatley, Dr. Hallie Marshall, and all the wonderful people in the department of Theatre and Film at UBC, thank you for all that you do. To the artists of Lady Sunrise and Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera, thank you for taking the time to assist me with this research. Your insights were invaluable. Special thanks to Colleen Lanki for our many conversations, your encouragement during stressful times, and your fearless dedication to your art. Finally, none of this would have been possible without the immense love and support of my parents. Thank you for giving me a love of theatre, cultures, languages, and adventure. ix Dedication To my parents 1 Chapter 1: Introduction “What is intercultural theatre?” This is the question I am most often asked when I explain that intercultural theatre is my area of research. I usually encounter this question in situations where a lengthy answer would be impractical, such as right before my bus stop, on the ski hill chairlift, or in noisy social gatherings. My answer usually includes the words “hybrid,” “performance/theatre traditions,” and “other cultures.” However, this off-the-cuff definition does not speak to my frustration with trying to define “intercultural” without the word “culture.” Nor does it reveal the difficulty other intercultural theatre scholars have had in defining it as well. Patrice Pavis in his introduction to The Intercultural Performance Reader, for example, allocates the first seven and a half pages to its definition. Other introductions to intercultural theatre focus as much on what does not qualify as what does. This is because the difficulty of defining intercultural theatre lies in the term itself. The word “theatre” conjures a myriad of images, and “inter” means between, but what is culture? How do we define a genre of theatre that occurs between the nebulous concept of cultures? In the spring of 2016, while studying at the University of British Columbia, I took an anthropology seminar on the topic of Language and Culture. During this course, I was introduced to certain theories of linguistic anthropologists and the idea that culture both informs and is informed by language. Culture and language are simultaneously distinct and yet impossible to fully separate. The fields of Linguistic Anthropology and Sociocultural Linguistics have also produced theories about language and identity which contend that identity is created through linguistic practices rather than an innate part of human psychology. Identity, therefore, is a cultural practice as well. How then, could this concept of language as a property of culture and identity be applied to intercultural theatre? 2 Language use in intercultural theatre has had a variety of functions, but it’s fundamental connection to culture and identity has been relatively unexplored in the current intercultural theatre models. Intercultural theatre scholar Rustom Bharucha goes as far as to say that language is “perhaps the greatest casualty of intercultural performance” (“Foreign Asia” 22). This statement will be further contextualized in the following literature review, but mentioning it here speaks to the larger tendency of language to be undervalued in intercultural theatre theory. Could language’s primacy in cultural understanding, according to certain theories of linguistic anthropologists, be similarly applied to the study of intercultural theatre? What does analyzing language use in intercultural theatre then add to the understanding of culture and language in performance? These questions are summarized in my main research question: how does spoken language function as a property of culture and identity in intercultural theatre? It is therefore the purpose of this thesis to analyze spoken language use in two intercultural theatre case studies in order to analyze the relationship between language and culture, and language and identity in intercultural theatre. The first case study, Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera combines the languages, music styles, performance traditions, and practitioners of Japanese noh with western chamber opera. The second case study, Lady Sunrise, is a contemporary reinterpretation of a Chinese spoken-drama play written in the 1930s and is set in present-day Vancouver, Canada. These two case studies (produced by Tomoe Arts and the Vancouver Arts Club, respectively) were workshopped and presented as staged readings in Vancouver in 2016. Both productions incorporated at least two different spoken languages into the performance and the casts were comprised of a variety of language speakers. 3 If the theories of linguistic anthropologists are correct in their contention that language and culture are indelibly linked, then it stands to reason that a change of context of either the language or the culture will impact the understanding of the other. According to particular linguistic anthropology theories on language and identity, the languages in these productions should also influence the identity of the characters and the participating artists. Intercultural theatre productions, such as the case studies analyzed in this thesis, provide unique opportunities to observe these theories in practice because they routinely recontextualize performance traditions and the languages with which they are associated. Analyzing intercultural theatre using these theories affords new insights into the way language and culture are manifest on stage and engenders new lines of inquiry. How does the artist’s perception of their own or another’s culture change with the presence of the accompanying language? Why does the character speak in a certain language and what does that say about the character? What communication issues arise during the rehearsal process in which two or more languages are present? What role does language play in the aesthetic of intercultural theatre? What role does language play in interpersonal power dynamics during rehearsal? Does positioning Japanese noh in an English language and western instrumentation context modify the cultural attributes of the performance tradition? What does an English adaptation of a Chinese spoken-drama play convey about Chinese-Canadian culture or Chinese culture? In this introductory chapter I will explore the theories of linguistic anthropologists such as Dell Hymes, Richard Bauman, Mary Bucholtz, and Kira Hall on the connections between language and culture, and language and identity in performance. I will then present a selection of scholarly discourse on language use in intercultural theatre and the intercultural theatre models of Patrice Pavis, Jacqueline Lo and Helen Gilbert, and Daphne Lei. Lastly, I will provide 4 potential biases, the scope, and chapter breakdown of this thesis. However, before delving into the theoretical background of this research a definition of terms is needed. Given that defining intercultural theatre is what led me to this research, it seems an apt place to begin. 1.1 Definitions The following terms have multiple (and sometimes hotly contested) meanings, therefore, these definitions should be understood as specific to this study or function as working definitions. It is also my hope that this research can speak to a wide range of readers interested in the topic of language in intercultural theatre, whether they be academics or practitioners in any number of disciplines. Therefore, in this section I will address all of the following terms: linguistic anthropology, sociocultural linguistics, language, culture, identity, and intercultural theatre. Linguistic anthropologists and sociocultural linguists provide several of the theories used in this research, namely the concepts of language as a reflexive property of culture, and identity as a communicative practice. As such, just as “intercultural theatre” will receive a definition, these two fields should be defined as well. “Linguistic Anthropology” is understood as having a variety of definitions. The term itself has several alternatives including “ethnolinguistics,” “anthropological linguistics” (Duranti 1-2) and “the anthropology of language” (Enfield et al. 3). Alessandro Duranti describes linguistic anthropology as “the study of speech and language within the context of anthropology” (2). Enfield, Kockelman, and Sidnell present linguistic anthropology as a multi-disciplinary sub-field of modern American Anthropology which can be 5 framed in several different ways.1 For the purposes of this research, LINGUISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY will be understood as “work that attempts to answer the research questions of anthropology by focusing on the structure, use, development and/or evolution of language” (Enfield et al. 3). Mary Bucholtz and Kira Hall consider linguistic anthropology to be a subfield of SOCIOCULTURAL LINGUISTICS, which is the “broad interdisciplinary field concerned with the intersection of language, culture, and society” (586). What then, is language? The idea of language is a complex phenomenon and this simplified definition does not encompass the depths of meaning this term can hold. LANGUAGE will be defined as a property of culture which acts as a tool of communication (Duranti xv).2 Defining “culture” from this definition of language is equally challenging as “culture” has many debatable meanings. Theatre scholars and linguistic anthropologists alike cite several common understandings of the term: culture is opposed to or distinct from nature; culture is transmitted or socially distributed knowledge; culture is a system of practices or something one performs (Pavis “Introduction”; Duranti; Knowles “Inter·Cultural·Performance”). This research looks to anthropologist Clifford Geertz’s explanation of culture for a working definition. For Geertz, culture is the context within which behaviors, processes, events, and institutions can be described. It is a system of inherited, embodied symbols that can be used to communicated, perpetuate, and develop knowledge about life. CULTURE, then, is a semiotic system consisting of layers of meaning that can be interpreted and socially communicated (Geertz 5, 14, 89). Identity 1 One of which is described as bringing together “Jakobson-inspired understandings of the importance of reflexivity; practice theory-inspired notions of the dialectal relations between linguistic practice (parole, interaction, discourse), language structure (grammar, code, langue), and language ideology (culture, worldview, beliefs and values); and a principled, and often relatively conservative, vision of the social sciences” (Enfield et al. 3). 2This definition of language will refer only to spoken language. 6 will also be viewed as a semiotic system that is socially communicated. Norma Mendoza-Denton asserts that identity is not an inherent part of the human psyche but “an individual and collective level process of semiosis” (“Language and Identity” 475). Mary Bucholtz and Kira Hall share this definition with Mendoza-Denton and it will serve as this thesis’ definition as well. IDENTITY is “the social positioning of self and other,” and is a social and cultural product of linguistic and other semiotic practices (Bucholtz and Hall 585-586). Finally, I come to the crux of this research: defining “intercultural theatre.” For the moment, my working definition is taken from Jacqueline Lo and Helen Gilbert’s “Toward a Topography of Cross-Cultural Theatre Praxis” which states that INTERCULTURAL THEATRE is “a hybrid derived from an intentional encounter between cultures and performing traditions” (36). This definition encompasses the most salient points from other scholars’ definitions: intercultural theatre is intentional, involves cultures and/or performing traditions, and produces a hybrid creation. In Pavis’ aforementioned introduction in The Intercultural Performance Reader, he offers this definition: “[intercultural theatre] creates hybrid forms drawing upon a more or less conscious and voluntary mixing of performance traditions traceable to distinct cultural areas” (8). In Women’s Intercultural Performance Holledge and Tompkins choose not to define “intercultural theatre” but they define “interculturalism” as “the meeting in the moment of performance of two or more cultural traditions, a temporary fusing of styles and/or techniques and/or cultures” (7). Ric Knowles states that the “intercultural” of “intercultural theatre” “keeps the focus on the spaces between cultures, broadly defined, as sites, however vexed, for potential negotiation, exchange and the forging of new and hybrid subjectivities” (“Inter·Cultural·Performance” 3) or “a site for the continuing renegotiation of cultural values and the reconstitution of individual and community identities and subject positions” (Theatre 4-5). 7 Lastly, Daphne Lei’s definition from her 2011 article “Interruption, Intervention, Interculturalism: Robert Wilson's Hit Productions in Taiwan” states that it is “a specific artistic genre and state of mind that combines First World capital and the Third World raw material and labor, and western classical texts with eastern performance traditions” (571). However, Gilbert and Lo acknowledge that interculturalism “evades any neat definition” (37). This is due to an inexact understanding in the previously mentioned definitions of what is meant by “cultures,” “cultural areas,” or “sites.” Gilbert and Lo divide intercultural theatre further into three subcategories: transcultural, intracultural, and extracultural. They contend that transcultural performance’s aim is to transcend culture in order to display human universality. Intracultural theatre, a term which Rustom Bharucha coined, occurs in performances within the nation-state. Extracultural theatre occurs in performances “conducted along a West-East and North-South axis” (Lo and Gilbert 37-38). Lei also uses this dualism, as does Richard Schechner who also refers to intercultural theatre as occurring along East-West and North-South axis (Schechner “Interculturalism” 48). Ric Knowles describes theatre as always having been intercultural in his book Theatre & Interculturalism and the cultures he cites as having long-standing exchanges are tied to nations and/or continents. What is problematic about these definitions of intercultural theatre, including the working definition, is that they rely on geographically bounded distinctions such as national boundaries or global axes. Using geography to divide culture implies that the “culture” of “intercultural theatre” runs concurrently with these arbitrary lines. It also frames intercultural performance as potentially contentious and intrinsically mired in hegemony and appropriation. Only Holledge and Tompkins define culture through Jonathan Friedman’s idea of “identity spaces” (4), but identity and culture both share connections with language, especially in performance situations. How then, might language and 8 language’s relationship with culture and identity instead of geography be used to reframe our understanding of intercultural theatre? 1.2 Linguistic Theories of Culture and Identity Within the last seventy years the fields of linguistic anthropology and sociolinguistics have presented several dominant theories about the relationship between language and culture and language and identity in performance. Here performance is used to refer to “a specially marked, artful way of speaking that sets up or represents a special interpretive frame within which the act of speaking is to be understood” (Bauman and Briggs 73). The theorists cited in this research use performance as the connection point between these theories. This connection can be understood as an analysis of the performance of culture and the performance of self through language. The performance of culture through language will be explored through the work of linguistic anthropologists and folklorists Dell Hymes, Richard Bauman, Joel Scherzer, and Charles Briggs. Performance of self (identity) will then be presented through the work of linguistic anthropologists/sociocultural linguists Mary Bucholtz, Kira Hall, and Norma Mendoza-Denton. Their research shows not only that language, culture, and identity are reflexively connected, but that analyzing language in performance is an ideal method for understanding these connections. In the 1960s, linguistic anthropologist Dell Hymes published “Toward Ethnographies of Communication.” In this work, Hymes sought to promote the anthropological nature of the research when studying language and culture, or in other words, ethnography over linguistics and communication over language. This approach was in response to past linguistic and ethnographic endeavors; linguists studied written transcripts (all that was available before reliable audio and 9 video recording) rather than seeing the communication event in person. Hymes believed that without the context of these events vital information was lost. Ethnography of communication (sometimes called ethnography of speech), therefore takes into account not just individual aspects of linguistics, sociology, or anthropology, but analyzes language within the context from which it arises. “The ethnography of speaking centers on the premise that social life is discursively constituted, produced and reproduced by situated acts of communication that are cross-culturally viable and to be discovered through ethnographic investigation” (Bauman “Performance” A Companion 98). Through this theory, the interrelationship between culture and language can be discovered through ethnographic means, and patterns which only appear due to cultural context are revealed. Hymes also contributed to ethnopoetics, a method of ethnographic research which focuses on the entextualization (process by which a text can be recognized by performers and audience as belonging to an artful whole) of folklore in performance. Hymes and others sought to transcribe performed folklore in such a way as to retain the cultural understanding of not just the words but of the context. The way in which the stories are told is just as important as the words themselves and vice versa. Much of Hymes’ work focused on recontextualizing indigenous folklore as a performative event using ethnopoetics. For example, In Vain I Tried to Tell You: Essays in Native American Ethnopoetics and his later text Now I Know Only So Far: Essays in Ethnopoetics present folktales primarily from the Chinookan peoples in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia. His method of transcribing these folktales in their original languages and in the English translation reveals their linguistic and cultural patterns. It is evident that the text collections for Takelma, Kathlamet, Clackamas, and Wishram constitute a great part of all that can be known about the language and the way of life of 10 the people identified by those names. The texts, as intended by those who recorded them, document both linguistic and cultural content. Indeed, they display ways of speaking, of narrating, that are themselves simultaneously linguistic and cultural. (Hymes In Vain 8) His observations can be applied to theatrical performance as well. “But especially in an oral tradition performance is a mode of existence and realization that is partly constitutive of what the tradition is. The tradition itself exists partly for the sake of performance; performance is itself partly an end” (Hymes “Breakthrough” 19). Performance traditions are communication events that emerge from and are a part of the culture. Specific linguistic patterns can be determined because theatrical performance is repeatable and has set cultural standards associated with it. Japanese noh, for example, has linguistic patterns which are specific to Japanese and noh culture. These patterns can be determined, even with slight variations due to an individual performer’s proclivities, because noh is repeatable. Hymes, however, would caution against only looking at the text of a noh play in order to understand its cultural properties. In order to recognize how the language functions as a property of culture, it needs to be observed within context. Richard Bauman, who studied with Hymes, also saw the value of analyzing language and culture in performance contexts. Bauman, along with collaborators Charles Briggs and Joel Sherzer, reiterated that performance cannot be separated from its context. Analyzing the language and the way it is performed therefore allows an analysis of the culture. Performance can also aid in stressing the “cultural organization of communicative processes,” or the agency of the performers and their audience being studied, in order to challenge western conceptions (Bauman and Briggs 61). Relevant to this research are two key concepts from Bauman’s theories on language, culture, and performance: performance is emergent (it is a cultural event that in its 11 enactment reinforces and reinvents the culture), and performance is reflexive (the performers have a responsibility to their audience because the audience is evaluating their competency). “Texts both shape and are shaped by the situational contexts in which they are produced” (Bauman and Briggs 76). This is what Bauman and Briggs refer to as the emergent property of performance. The performer is not restricted to the traditions of that performance style but can develop their own interpretations within the form. This is because performance is a social activity. The interplay between performer and audience allows the language and culture to continue to evolve. It also allows for performance variations within a community depending on the situation and who is performing. In this way, even within a society that shares a common language, there is room for adaptation and change. Bauman and Sherzer describe this as “the interplay between resources and individual competence, within the context of particular situations” (7). This can be applied to theatrical performances as well which are subtly different every time they are performed. It also, in a broader sense, allows traditional performance methods to change with the society and culture.3 Of the reflexive property of performance Bauman says, “It is part of the essence of performance that it offers to the participants a special enhancement of experience, bringing with it a heightened intensity of communicative interaction which binds the audience to the performer in a way that is specific to performance as a mode of communication” (Verbal Art 43). Performers assume responsibility for their presentation to the audience and the audience, in turn, evaluates the performers’ competency. The audience is tasked with judging the performer’s ability to meet their expectations. This judgment of the performer and their accountability to the 3 For more on Bauman and the emergent quality of performance, see Verbal Art As Performance, “Commentary: Foundations in Performance,” and “Performance” in Folklore, Cultural Performances, and Popular Entertainments. 12 audience is possible because every society possess specific linguistic references and styles, easily discernable to members of that society (Bauman and Sherzer 15). The performance is linked to those linguistic reference points and through a continued performance tradition, creates new references. The tradition influences the performer’s training and the performer modifies the tradition. Cultural representation in performance is therefore presented in its reflexive intersubjectivity. Sociocultural linguists and linguistic anthropologists Mary Bucholtz, Kira Hall, and Norma-Mendoza Denton’s research on language and identity supports the theory that identity is formed through communication. They argue that identity is primarily a product of the way in which speakers use language in social situations. These discursively constituted identities both conform to broader cultural identities and are specific to the interactions in which they occur. They are also “relationally constructed” through aspects between the speaker and audience like “similarity/difference, genuineness/artifice, and authority/deligitimacy” (Bucholtz and Hall 585). For this research, I will focus on two main concepts of identity and language as a communicative process: it is emergent, and that usage is relational to other speakers’ identities. Expanding on Hymes, Bauman, and Briggs’ studies in the emergent property of performance, Bucholtz and Hall state: “Identity is best viewed as the emergent product rather than the pre-existing source of linguistic and other semiotic practices and therefore as fundamentally a social and cultural phenomenon” (588). In other words, identity is not fixed; it is created primarily from past and present social interactions. For example, in her “Race and the Re-Embodied Voice in Hollywood Film,” Bucholtz explores European-American teenage boys’ use of “blackvoice” (a derivation of African-American speech) in order to appear more powerful and masculine. Norma Mendoza-Denton’s Homegirls: Language and Cultural Practice Among 13 Latina Youth Gangs looks at the way in which Latina teenagers use language to identify with certain cultural groups. Kira Hall’s research looks at how gender and sexuality are constructed through language in the Hijra culture in India (Bucholtz and Hall; Hall “Go Suck”; Hall and O’Donovan).4 These identities are created through social interaction and communicated through choices in language. The second element of identity as performance that pertains to this research is the idea that identity is not created in a vacuum; it is always related to the cultural and social understanding of the speakers. “Identities are intersubjectively constructed through several, often overlapping, complementary relations” (Bucholtz and Hall 588). Bucholtz and Hall provide three categories of these relations: similarity/difference, genuineness/artifice, and authority/deligitimacy. Similarity/difference, or adequation/distinction, means identifying with a certain group regardless of differences or claiming to be distinct from that group despite similarities. Genuineness/artifice or authentication/denaturalization refers to which languages and which speakers are considered “authentic.” This authenticity unfolds during social interactions in which both the speaker and their audience evaluate their belonging to a group based on language choice. Lastly, authority/deligitimacy or authorization/illegitimation occurs when institutionalized power constructs or dismisses identities. All three identity relationships can be seen in Bucholtz’s “From Mulatta to Mestiza” in which she looks at the act of “passing,” or “the ability to be taken for a member of a social category other than one’s own” (351). In this study Bucholtz shows that language is often the primary means by which hegemonic ideas about identity can be maintained or disrupted and how ethnicity or gender can be expressed and 4 Hijras are a category of transgendered individuals in Hindu-speaking India who identify as neither man nor woman. 14 authenticated. Bucholtz found that the connection between language and ethnicity is so strong that speakers could pass for a member of that ethnicity through language when they could not pass physically. Inversely, lack of ability to speak a language was enough to be considered an outsider despite physical appearance, ethnic background, or cultural knowledge. Speakers also chose to hide their multilingualism in order to identify with a more socially prestigious group. The speakers in these social situations presented their identity through language which leant them credibility in that choice. The theories of the linguistic anthropologists and sociocultural linguists presented in this section provide several avenues of inquiry for intercultural theatre. The first comes from Bauman’s theories in which performance is a cultural act where the performer has a responsibility to the audience. Are intercultural theatre artists beholden to their audience? Do they have a responsibility to perform in such a way that their audience can understand and evaluate their competency? Secondly, Hymes and Bauman’s work focuses on evaluating language and performance within the community from which it is derived. What happens to performance and language when taken out of their customary context, as is the case in intercultural theatre? What new linguistic reference points are created when performance traditions from two or more cultures are combined? If language is informing culture and vice versa what happens when the language is changed but the performance tradition stays the same? Does language reshape the performance? Using Bucholtz, Hall, and Mendoza-Denton’s theories of identity as a social product of communication, what does language choice tell the artist/audience about the character’s identity? How do the characters utilize language to construct identities for other characters? What do the artists say about their own identities in regards to linguistic capabilities? What do they say about other artists’ identities because of language 15 competence? Combining linguistic theories with the field of intercultural theatre has already provided a wealth of questions for this thesis, many of which will be addressed in the two case studies. How then, have intercultural theatre scholars addressed the function of language? 1.3 Intercultural Theatre and Language Given the connectivity between language and culture and language and identity presented in the aforementioned theories, it is surprising that language does not take on a larger role in the theoretical models of intercultural theatre. It is also surprising given that the critical discourse of intercultural theatre productions often mentions the utility of language and the repercussions directors and producers experience when they ignore it. The subsequent two sections provide examples of the critical discourse on language use in intercultural theatre, followed by an examination of the theoretical models of intercultural theatre. For the purposes of this research, and given that the two case studies are contemporary works-in-progress, I will confine this brief review of language in intercultural theatre to the works of Peter Brook and onward.5 Peter Brook’s 1985 play and subsequent 1989 film Mahabharata serves as a starting point because of the polarizing academic discourse it generated. This time period (1990-present) also establishes Patrice Pavis, Helen Gilbert and Jacqueline Lo, and Daphne Lei’s theories of intercultural theatre that are currently in use. 5 For further reading on language in intercultural theatre prior to 1985, see such works as Chang’s “‘China Mania’” about the translation of Orphan of China from Chinese to French to English in the 1700s; Kato’s “W.B. Yeats and the Noh” about Yeats’ 1921 Dreaming of the Bones, and English adaptation of the Japanese noh play At the Hawk’s Well; Du’s article about S.I. Hsiung who translated and adapted the Chinese play Lady Precious Stream for the London stage in 1934; Bentley’s “Introduction” to Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle about translating the play (originally a Chinese play) from German to English in the 1940s. Although these articles are not specifically concerned with language, they do make mention of language in terms of translation and aesthetics in order to appeal to a western audience. 16 1.3.1 Language Use in Practice In the practice of intercultural theatre language has held a variety of functions, whether intentional or not. The following articles explore both the intended effects of multiple language use in intercultural theatre productions and the unintended consequences that arise when language is not taken into consideration. These critical reflections of intercultural theatre indicate that language has strong connections to culture and identity. These connections can either be used to good effect in the production, or create challenges for the artists when overlooked. In Brook’s Mahabharata, for example, Rustom Bharucha’s main assertion is that the Mahabharata cannot be removed from its Indian and Hindu context. He sees language use in this production as problematic due to issues with translation and communication. The translation of the Mahabharata into English and French was for the benefit of the French and English speaking audiences, but, as Bharucha argues, it aided neither the audience nor the actors. “Their voices are reduced to accents, almost incomprehensible at times, which distract attention from their presence on stage” (Bharucha “Peter Brook's” 81). He points out that translating the text into French and English homogenized the cast and negated the intention of presenting multi-cultural voices. Although Bharucha does not discuss the issue in these terms, translating the Mahabharata from Sanskrit into English and French also removed it from its cultural context and overlaid it with the contexts associated with English and French. Bharucha’s 2001 article, “Consumed in Singapore: The Intercultural Spectacle of Lear,” looks at director Ong Keng Sen’s Lear which was performed in Singapore.6 Japanese playwright Kashida Rio wrote the script which was then translated into Mandarin, Bhasa Indonesian, and 6 Based on William Shakespeare’s King Lear 17 English (111). In this production, produced by the Japan Foundation Asian Center, different artists from multiple Asian performance traditions portrayed the main characters.7 Bharucha cites that Ong, in deliberate contrast with Brook’s monolingual Mahabharata, chose to have each actor perform in the language associated with their performance tradition. However, Bharucha writes that the presence of subtitles, especially English subtitles, was “somewhat counterproductive: the significance of English overpowered the echo chamber of the ‘other’ languages vocalized on stage” (112). However, Bharucha does not provide a practical solution to these language problems. If Brook’s monolingual choice was reductive, appropriative, and caused communication problems, and if Ong’s use of subtitles was counterproductive to having multiple languages on stage, then how should language be used in intercultural productions? In “Foreign Asia/Foreign Shakespeare: Dissenting Notes on New Asian Interculturality, Postcoloniality, and Recolonization,” Bharucha confronts what he calls “Asiacentricity” which disregards crucial cultural elements of Shakespeare’s works, including language. This is parallel to western intercultural directors’ inattention to foreign language which Bharucha considers “the greatest casualty of intercultural performance” (22). He argues that just as western directors have unsuccessfully dealt with the linguistic aspect of foreign culture (grammar, metaphor, and semiotics), so too have Asian directors. Shakespeare [in Asian intercultural theatre] is reduced to paraphrase and banality … This reduction of language has a long history in intercultural experimentation, incorporating only experiments in nonverbalism, enforced monolingualism, and the juxtaposition of 7 For example, a Japanese noh actor played King Lear and a Chinese jingju actor played Goneril 18 different languages, with no attempt to establish a mode of communication or translation between performers from different countries and traditions. (22) These issues speak to the problem of language not being recognized as a fundamental element of culture. Claire Conceison’s analysis of The Joy Luck Club in 1993 at the Shanghai Centre Theatre in her article “Translating Collaboration: ‘The Joy Luck Club’ and Intercultural Theatre” also touches on the issue of language, again as a problem of translation and communication. The production was based on American author Amy Tan’s novel of the same title about relationships between Chinese mothers and their American daughters. Conceison argues that in intercultural work the importance of translation is often overlooked and seen as a “burden or annoyance rather than a key that opens doors” (“Translating” 156). During the rehearsal process, Conceison states that she and the other translators for the production became facilitators and negotiators between the two languages, Chinese and English. Despite their role as mediators, and the long hours expected of them, so ill-considered was their position as translators that they received no pay for the project. She also notes that the lack of linguistic consideration during the translation process led to misunderstandings between the American and Chinese artists and difficulties in staging the play. “The English script is translatable into virtually any language but Chinese, and yet, shockingly, no one realized this” (Conceison “Translating” 158). This is because in English, the mothers are written to have Chinese accents which give them an identity as immigrants. The misunderstandings that occur between the Chinese mothers and Chinese-American daughters are highlighted through their language use. In the Chinese script the mothers spoke without accents because they were speaking “their” first language. The cultural attributes of the English script were lost once it was translated into Chinese. 19 In “International Casting in Chinese Plays: A Tale of Two Cities,” Conceison investigates how language affects the identity of the character. This article reports on Chinese plays performed in China in which a reverse translation occurs. Conceison terms this translation event “invisible English” (“International” 282). “Invisible English” occurs when the actors are speaking Chinese (for a Chinese audience) but the location of the play is set in an English-speaking country. This requires any non-Chinese characters to be played by foreigners who speak perfect Chinese in order to maintain the illusion that everyone onstage is speaking English. One way around this issue is to have every actor on stage speak in their native language and create the impression that all the characters can understand one another. The audience then becomes the assessor of how successful the performers are at this illusion. Jane Wilkinson addresses language in translation in her article “Staging ‘Swissness’: Inter- and Intracultural Theatre Translation.” She argues that translation is not only occurring between cultures, but within them as well. Her case studies present three productions where the text has been translated from “Hochdeutsch,” the standard form of German spoken in Switzerland, into a local dialect of German. Wilkinson describes this practice as being politically motivated in order to assert an identity associated with the dialect (74). Here, like Bharucha, Wilkinson is identifying intercultural and intracultural theatre through geo-political boundaries; theatre between Switzerland and Germany is intercultural, theatre within Switzerland is intracultural. Daphne Lei’s analysis of Orlando in “Interruption, Intervention, Interculturalism: Robert Wilson's Hit Productions in Taiwan” also takes language into consideration. It is interesting to note that Lei’s model of intercultural theatre (which will be analyzed in the next section) assumes a hegemonic East-West connection and yet her examples of this hegemony are 20 linguistic in nature. In the Taiwanese production Orlando linguistic problems arose when an English translation replaced the Chinese script, written by a jingju playwright for a jingju performer.8 “Although Wang [the playwright] did her best to edit the translation to comply with jingju style, linguistic complexity (classical or colloquial, rhymed or unrhymed)-a major concern for the Taiwan side in the initial brainstorming session-had to be largely neglected” (Lei 576-577). This caused confusion for the performer and audience alike and asserted an English dominance over the Taiwanese artists. In contrast, Julie Byczynski contends that language can speak back to institutions of power in “‘A Word in a Foreign Language’: On Not Translating in the Theatre.” This can be seen when foreign dialogue is left untranslated. One of her case studies, the Canadian play Mother Tongue, uses Cantonese, English, and American Sign Language (ASL) but the lines in Cantonese and ASL are left untranslated. “In the theatre, where one language is normally shared by actors and audience, dialogue spoken in minority languages can function in ways that upset the position of the dominant language as dominant” (Byczynski 68). This, Byczynski argues, is because even individual words or phrases are inseparable from their cultural context (70). The 2010 British Columbia productions Jade in the Coal and The Gull were particularly concerned with managing language issues. Siyuan Liu writes in his article “Jade in the Coal and the Performance of Theatrical Interculturalism” that director Heidi Specht had three requirements for the production: that it be set in Cumberland, BC Chinatown, that it was a collaboration of western spoken-drama and Cantonese opera, and that it was bilingual (197). 8 Jingju is more commonly known as Beijing or Peking opera and is a traditional Chinese performance style. 21 Language is also key in Sarah Waisvisz and Brenda Carr Vellino’s article “The Steveston Noh Project: The Gull as Intercultural Redress Theatre” about the 2006 Steveston, BC Canadian noh play The Gull. The production was bilingual, Japanese and English, and language often functioned as an insight into the characters and their identity. Her [The Mother/Gull] speech reveals both her vulnerability to systemic misunderstanding and her resistance to neo-colonial erasure of her particular linguistic and cultural identity. In contrast, the brothers have partially lost their ancestral language and with it part of their connection to their mother and heritage. (Waisvisz and Vellino 122) Both of these productions sought collaboration with the different theatrical traditions: spoken-drama and jingju, and spoken-drama and noh. The bilingualism was intended to facilitate this artistic exchange and appeal to a diverse audience representative of the cultural and racial communities in the Vancouver area. Lastly, Mariko Anno and Judy Halebsky explore the work of Japanese noh actor Matsui Akira in their 2014 article “Innovation in No: Matsui Akira Continues a Tradition of Change.” Anno and Halebsky discuss Akira’s decontexualization of traditional noh practice, what that has meant for him professionally, and what that has meant for intercultural theater. They report that he has taken part in intercultural English versions of noh plays where he experimented with creating new movements outside the conventional noh cannon. Experimenting with the noh performance tradition and incorporating narration in the target culture’s native language are ways in which Akira is changing noh to fit a particular audience. Anno and Halebsky state that Akira believes that changing the language or body movement does not change the fact that he is performing noh (129). 22 These last four articles show that when language is taken into consideration in intercultural theatre, it proves to be an effective method of conveying culture and identity. It also illustrates the emergent property of performing intercultural works in that they can continue to change and adapt, particularly in communities with diverse audiences. 1.3.2 Language Use in Intercultural Theatre Models Intercultural theatre models are a relatively new addition on the subject. Gilbert and Lo in 2002 cite Pavis’ 1996 work which referenced Erika Fischer-Licht’s 1990 article which said that it was still too early for a comprehensive theory (Lo and Gilbert 37; Pavis “Introduction” 1; Fischer-Licht). Nevertheless, the models since this time have been an attempt to create a more comprehensive unified theory of intercultural theatre. These theories, however, continue to position intercultural theatre along geographic boundaries, either nation-states or global axes (East-West, North-South) with language hardly taken into consideration as the underlying connection between the culture and how it is performed. Patrice Pavis’ 1996 theory of intercultural theatre, the “hourglass” model (see fig. 1), posits that in an intercultural theatre production the source culture (the top bowl of the hourglass) flows downward into the target culture (the bottom bowl). Here “source culture” refers to the culture that is unfamiliar to the target audience. The target audience is comprised of members of the “target culture” and are the people for whom the show is being performed. As the source culture moves towards the target audience it passes through several filters including “anthropological codifaction,” the adaptors’ perspective, preparatory work of the actors, and choice of theatrical form (Pavis Theatre 179). Although Pavis is concerned with intercultural work from an anthropological perspective, there is no mention of language in this model. He 23 defines culture as “a system of symbols by which man confers significance upon his own experience” and yet he refers to the case studies in this text as occurring between western and foreign cultures (Theatre 9). Fig. 1 Pavis’ Hourglass Model Source: Lo, Jacqueline and Helen Gilbert. “Toward a Topography of Cross-Cultural Theatre Praxis.” The Drama Review, vol. 46, MIT Press, 2002, p. 42. Helen Gilbert and Jacqueline Lo, in developing their own model of intercultural theatre, approach language as often acting as a tool of hegemony. Their model from 2002 (see fig. 2) presents intercultural theatre along a continuum between the source and target cultures. 24 Fig. 2 Lo and Gilbert’s Model of Intercultural Theatre Source: Lo, Jacqueline and Helen Gilbert. “Toward a Topography of Cross-Cultural Theatre Praxis.” The Drama Review, vol. 46, MIT Press, 2002, p. 45. These cultural interactions operate along a West-East and North-South axis (38). The production takes place somewhere along this continuum, not wholly belonging to one culture or another, but a hybrid of the two. They offer a number of questions on the subject of language, but these questions mainly concern how language can be used as a tool of hegemony rather than connecting it to culture and identity. “The fact that English has become the lingua franca in an increasingly globalized arts community gives its native speakers considerable power to substantiate their views and/or secure their particular agendas” (Lo and Gilbert 46). Gilbert and Lo suggest that the language used for the text, rehearsal, performance, and audience comprehension all contribute to appropriation and hegemony between artists. 25 Daphne Lei’s Hegemonic Intercultural Theatre (HIT) model, presented in 2011, is predicated on the division of East and West. Lei argues that this form of intercultural theatre (the capitalistic West mining the East for aesthetics and labor) is the most dominant form of intercultural theatre in the world today. Therefore, Lei contends, practitioners of intercultural theatre should take advantage of this hegemony in order to revitalize the flow of culture or reconnection of cultures from the East to the West. She advocates for using this model to create intercultural theatre in which interventions (like involvement from the local cultures) can restore the natural flow of cultural exchange (Lei). The difficulty with this model is that it confines intercultural theatre to an appropriative East-West exchange. Future intercultural productions may not necessarily conform to this model. These three oft-cited models of intercultural theatre present the exchange of culture in performance as occurring between the East and the West. Although this has been the case for many intercultural productions, with all the hegemonic issues therein, it divides culture into either “Eastern” or “Western” with slight variations within these larger categories. Just as intercultural theorists have purported to be moving away from the idea of tying culture to national boundaries, perhaps it is time to move away from connecting culture to global axes as well. 1.4 Biases, Scope and Chapter Outline In utilizing the theories of certain linguistic anthropologists and sociocultural linguists in order to reframe conceptions about culture and identity in intercultural theatre, it should first be noted that these theories are wholly western in their conception. Hymes, Bauman, Bucholtz and the others previously mentioned are western scholars. As a western scholar myself, it is 26 important to acknowledge that this thesis is being presented from within this context. James Brandon, in “A New World: Asian Theatre in the West Today,” cautions western academics, particularly non-practitioners, to be aware of their own biases when looking from the outside-in perspective in regards to culture and performance. The linguistic theories used in this research are the product of extensive ethnographic research, but the researchers themselves were still in many ways non-practitioners of the performances they were observing. Nevertheless, it is not uncommon in the discourse of intercultural theatre to use theories from various fields of anthropology. Pavis cites anthropologists Lévi-Strauss’ structuralist theory in his definitions of culture (“Introduction” 3). Holledge and Tompkins use Friedman’s theory of identity spaces (4). Marvin Carlson’s 2006 Speaking in Tongues: Language at Play in the Theatre is an effort to bring language back into the focus of theatre and performance studies. In this text, Carlson uses sociolinguist Roy Harris’ theory of integrationism. Harris’ integrational contends that “language” is a myth and that events such as theatre should be explored as a “contextualized communication situation” (Carlson Speaking 6). As these scholars have shown, using anthropological or linguistic theories can create new avenues of understanding and analysis. The scope of this thesis has already been touched on in the definition for language. Language can have many different definitions, particularly when speaking in theatrical terms. Only spoken, rather than gestural, language will be examined. The semiotics of gestural communication is an equally fascinating area of study, but would require its own theoretical framework and could easily constitute a thesis of its own. “Languages of the stage,” which are tied to the semiotic theory of theatre and include acting methods and staging practices (Carlson Speaking 3), are also outside the scope of this project so as to focus specifically on how spoken 27 language functions in intercultural theatre. The analysis of Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera, one of the case studies for this thesis, will include the music styles of Japanese noh and western chamber opera. The text of this case study (the libretto) is generally not spoken but sung which requires the musical component to be examined as well. Generally, however, only the spoken language of the two case studies will be taken into account. This research will also primarily focus on language use in rehearsal and performance solely between the artists. Another critical area of research is the audience’s relationship to language (which will be touched on briefly with the second case study). I would like to dedicate a future study to both sides of the reflexive performer-audience relationship with language. This will allow the focus of this thesis to be on language use by and for the artists. The body of this thesis will include two chapters (chapters Two and Three), in which the two case studies will be analyzed and a fourth chapter for conclusions. Chapter Two will address and analyze language use in Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera, libretto by Colleen Lanki and score by Farshid Samandari, a work-in-progress which had a stage reading in the spring of 2016 in Vancouver, Canada. The theories of language in connection to culture will be the main focus of this chapter. The third chapter will focus on the second case study Lady Sunrise by Marjorie Chan, another work-in-progress which had stage readings in 2014 and 2016, in Vancouver and Toronto. This case study will primarily emphasize language and identity. Both case studies demonstrate the connections between language and culture as well as language and identity in performance, but each case study will serve to specifically highlight one of these relationships. Chapter Four will offer conclusions from the analysis of language use in the two case studies, practical applications of the conclusions, and future avenues of inquiry. 28 Intercultural theatre offers artists and audiences of diverse cultures the opportunity to gather together for the purpose of creating art. This thesis will explore how language is tied to culture and identity in such hybrid performance encounters. Perhaps language is the key to answering the question, “What is intercultural theatre?” 29 Chapter 2: Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera previewed at the O’Brian Centre for Vancouver Opera on January 23, 2016. Its title, Kayoi Komachi (Lady Komachi Visited) is derived from the noh play of the same title. This workshop production was the result of a collaboration between artists of various disciplines and languages. In 2015, Canadian composer Farshid Samandari and Colleen Lanki, a Canadian-born performer, scholar of Japanese theatre arts, and director of many previous fusion plays, began conceiving of a chamber opera that was a merging of western opera and Japanese noh. Lanki and Samandari had previously worked with Yamai Tsunao, a professional noh actor from the Konparu School, who was brought on to play the role of Fukakusa. Lanki had also worked with a number of western opera artists who were invited to participate (Lanki Personal Interview). Lanki’s libretto and Samandari’s score called for an opera soprano as the role of Komachi, a mezzo-soprano as the Counselor, a tenor and bass as the Male chorus, a noh performer as the role of Fukakusa, and two noh artists for the noh chorus. Instrumentation included parts for percussion, violin, viola, cello, and flute (Kan’ami et al.; Samandari). Although the score asked the musicians to occasionally mimic the sound of traditional Japanese instruments, no Japanese musicians or instruments were used. The score was written in western music notation and the music director for the preview performance was Canadian Eric Wilson. The cast included Yamai Tsunao (noh actor), Heather Pawsey (opera soprano), Melanie Adams (opera mezzo-alto), Joseph Bulman (opera tenor), Alan MacDonald (opera baritone), and Muraoka Kiyomi and Kashiwazaki Mayuko (Japanese noh actors) (“Performances”). The artists rehearsed for one week in January of 2016 which culminated in the preview performance for an audience of over one-hundred people. 30 The libretto of the chamber opera was based on two noh plays attributed to Kan’ami and Zeami,9 Kayoi Komachi (Lady Komachi Visited) and Sotoba Komachi (Komachi on the Stupa), as well as several poems by Ono no Komachi. Ono no Komachi, the subject of Kayoi Komachi and Sotoba Komachi, was a 9th century Japanese poetess about whom little is known. Her poetry and presumed beauty, however, inspired various legends and several noh plays (Teele et al. 27-28). Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera used four of Ono no Komachi’s poems: waka #554, waka #822, waka #1030, and waka #797 translated by Sonja Arntzen (Kan’ami et al. 1).10 The poems are a reflection on life, love, the desire and longing for past lovers, and the emptiness they feel at the lover’s absence. The noh play Kayoi Komachi, also called The Nightly Courting of Komachi or Komachi and the Hundred Nights, tells the story of an old woman who each day brings fruit and firewood to a priest. One day the priest asks for the old woman’s name but she is too ashamed to tell him and she disappears before his eyes. The priest realizes that the old woman is really the ghost of Ono no Komachi. He begins to pray for her spirit but a man enters and orders him not to pray for Komachi lest her spirit be allowed to reach salvation. The man is the ghost of Fukakusa no Shi’i no Shōshō, Komachi’s thwarted lover. Fukakusa tells the priest of his one-hundred-night courtship of Komachi. On the hundredth night, in some versions of this legend, Komachi rebuffs Fukakusa’s love; in others, Fukakusa dies before seeing her. His love was so strong for Komachi that in this story, Kayoi Komachi, his spirit is haunting her even after death. The play ends with 9The plays of Kan’ami (1333-1384) and his son Zeami (1363-1443) are often attributed to both because of the difficulty in proving authorship of the early noh plays. Zeami most likely wrote his own plays as well as revising and performing his father’s. See Brazell “Kan’ami”; Brazell “Zeami”; Keene and Royall 4. 10 Waka refers to the oldest form of Japanese poetry, specifically written in Japanese rather than Chinese (“Waka”). 31 the priest aiding Komachi and Fukakusa in relinquishing their attachment to one another (Kan’ami “Komachi and the Hundred Nights”). In Sotoba Komachi (Komachi on the Stupa), Komachi is again depicted as an old woman. Upon finding her sitting on a stupa beside the road, two traveling priests engage her in a religious discussion. Although the priests believe she is mad, Komachi wittily proves herself to be well-versed in Buddhist teachings. In the second half of the play the ghost of Fukakusa possesses Komachi’s body and begins to speak through her to the priests. The chorus reveals that Fukakusa’s hatred and obsession for Komachi is the source of her madness (Kan’ami “Komachi on the Stupa”). Director Colleen Lanki assembled short sections of these two noh plays (translated by David Crandall) and the four waka and interwove them to form the libretto. Farshid Samandari then composed the score. The process was a collaboration between Lanki, Samandari, and the singers in which the libretto and score were adjusted to complement each other. The traditional noh roles were also adjusted slightly to complement the casting of noh actors and opera singers of both genders. These traditional noh roles (played by men) consist of the shite, the main role, the waki, a supporting role (usually a priest), and the ji-utai, the chorus. Certain plays also feature a tsure, or companion role to the shite. In the original Kayoi Komachi and Sotoba Komachi the waki are traveling priests. In Kayoi Komachi, the shite is Fukakusa, Komachi’s lover, and Komachi is the tsure. In Sotoba Komachi the shite is Komachi and the tsure is a second priest or attendant. During Komachi’s possession the shite acts as both Komachi and Fukakusa (Teele et al. 75). In Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera the noh role titles are only used for specific characters. Yamai Tsunao, who plays Fukakusa, is a professional shite actor but his character is simply referred to as Fukakusa in the score and libretto. Opera artist Heather Pawsey’s character Ono no Komachi is referred to as Komachi. Melanie Adam’s character is 32 called waki in the libretto and Counselor in the score. The chorus is divided into the male opera singers and the female noh artists. The male opera singers are referred to as Male chorus in the libretto and simply Chorus in the score while the female noh artists are called Female chorus in the libretto and Ji in the score. In Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera, Komachi is a tormented modern-day woman unable to write poetry. During a visit with a Counselor, she reveals that the spirit (or perhaps memory) of her lover is haunting her. Her lover Fukakusa enters, and their mutual obsession and hatred for one another is exposed. As in Sotoba Komachi, Fukakusa possesses Komachi and their identities become confused and indistinct. The opera ends with Komachi and Fukakusa relinquishing their attachment to one another, as occurs in Kayoi Komachi, and Komachi is finally able to write her poems. The goal of combining the two performance traditions in this noh opera is mirrored in its casting and narrative. The English-speaking artists played traditionally Japanese characters and the characters of Komachi and Fukakusa merged with one another and then came to an amicable parting of ways. The opera opens, after a short musical introduction, with the Male chorus singing the line “Ono no Komachi.” The female noh artists (Ji) then join the Male chorus and together they sing the lines from Ono no Komachi’s poem #554, the men in English and the women in classical Japanese (Lanki “Kayoi” 2:11). This opening introduces the idea that this opera will include both opera and noh, English and Japanese. The two choruses function as narrators at this point, introducing the sounds of both culture’s performance traditions and an introduction to the story of the opera. During this introduction, Pawsey as Komachi enters and sings in English about being “pressed so hard by this desire” (Lanki “Kayoi” 5:00). This reveals that Komachi is a modern English-speaking woman who is struggling with her desire for someone or something. 33 The choruses then take on the more traditional noh role of introducing the waki, or Counselor in this production (Lanki “Kayoi” 6:30). The Ji sings the waki’s lines in classical Japanese which translates as: “my humble hut lies in the shallow hills but I take deep refuge from this earthly world” (Kan’ami et al. 2). The waki is shown not to be a priest as it would be traditional in noh but a modern-day counselor who has come to aid Komachi with her troubles. The choruses, Komachi, and the Counselor then explain Komachi’s story: she is the great poetess Ono no Komachi and she has been bringing gifts of firewood and fruits. She has fallen into misery because without her lover she is nothing but “an empty husk” (Kan’ami et al. 7) This occurs during an aria entitled “Komachi’s Id” (Samandari 32) which reinforces the idea that this modern-day Komachi is working through her own personal demons with the help of a modern-day counselor. Together, in English, Komachi, the Counselor, and the Male chorus uncover that her lover has broken Komachi’s trust and he is the source of her present state. The use of only English and opera style speaks to Komachi’s identity as a contemporary western woman. The Ji do not sing during this section but the Male chorus reaffirms Komachi’s thoughts. This function of the chorus is adopted from traditional noh performances in which the chorus often expresses the main actor’s thoughts and finishes their lines (Keene and Royall 10). Fukakusa, Komachi’s lover, enters and the Male chorus and Ji join him in Japanese doing noh-style chant. Yamai’s noh-style movement, costuming, and chant indicate that Fukakusa is a Japanese character and will be performed with many noh cultural attributes. “The Night of No Moon” piece begins Fukakusa’s story about coming to Komachi every night and his longing for her. It is unclear whether this is the memory of Fukakusa or his actual spirit haunting Komachi. During this piece, Fukakusa and the Ji chant in Japanese; later Komachi and the Male chorus sing the English translation. At this point in time, the Male chorus is only slightly still aligned 34 with Komachi. Their part remains in English but now they are taking on the thoughts of Fukakusa. Komachi sings, “I want him here, this night of no moon. I want him here” but the Male chorus sings, “I want her here, this night of no moon” [emphasis mine] (Samandari 58). In the following section Komachi and the Counselor sing, “no chance he’ll come,” but the Male chorus switches pronouns to indicate they represent Fukakusa’s thoughts, “no chance she’ll come” (Samandari 60). Just as in Sotoba Komachi, Fukakusa begins to possess Komachi. This possession becomes clear through the use of the languages and musical styles. The next piece begins with Komachi’s lines from Sotoba Komachi while underneath, in English, the Male chorus sings “evil, evil” (Samandari 63). It then seems as though the madness of possession has overtaken Komachi, represented not only in her words but in the simultaneous lines of the Ji singing in Japanese and noh style, “madness consumes me again/また狂乱の心つきて” (Samandari 63). Here the Ji is indicating the mingling of Komachi and Fukakusa’s spirits. The English and Japanese, opera and noh are also mixed. Komachi then lets out a hideous cackle, glissandoing from her operatic singing style into a “guttural tone” in the noh register and sings, “In my voice a monstrous change!” (Samandari 65). At this point Komachi has forgotten who she is. The Ji accompanies her in Japanese as she sings in English, “I must go to Komachi’s house” to which the Counselor replies, “But you are Komachi?” (Samandari 68-69). Fukakusa then begins to sing in noh chant with the Male chorus accompanying him in English, saying that he must go to Komachi’s house. The singing then begins to overlap with Komachi in English and the Ji echoing her thoughts in Japanese. The Male chorus switches back and forth between English and Japanese echoing Fukakusa’s thoughts. Through the languages and the musical styles, the choruses, Komachi, and Fukakusa all work together to reinforce the narrative of Komachi’s possession. 35 The possession scene climaxes with Yamai performing a noh dance to musical accompaniment after which the reconciliation between Fukakusa and Komachi begins. All the artists sing the line, “How dark the night/あら暗の夜や” in their respective styles and languages (Samandari 124). Fukakusa makes the first gesture towards reconciliation when Yamai switches into English and an operatic style of singing. The section ends with the Male chorus, in English, singing, “you did not wait for me” (Samandari 133) and Fukakusa and Komachi, also in English, “and so my heart bled to dust” (Samandari 135). Komachi, realizing she has to reconcile with Fukakusa, repeats the line in Japanese in the noh singing style (Lanki 55:25-55:45; Samandari 136). The chorus returns to its original role as narrators and Fukakusa exits the stage. The opera ends as it begun, with the mixing of the two choruses in their respective languages and styles. The following analysis explores how language functioned in Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera as a property of the culture as seen in the libretto, score, and rehearsal process. Language as a property of identity will be briefly examined as it pertains to both the artists involved in the production and the characters of the opera. Along with examples of the connection between language and culture, this case study also shows the emergent and reflexive nature of language in performance, the responsibility a performer has to their audience, and identity as a communicative event. 2.1 Language Use in Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera In order to combine Japanese noh with western opera using artists from both traditions, the languages associated with those cultures also needed to be incorporated. This resulted in a co-mingling of five “languages” associated with the Japanese-speaking and English-speaking cultures. The three spoken or sung languages were Japanese, English, and classical Japanese. 36 Noh is performed in classical Japanese, which the average Japanese speaker can no longer understand. For the purposes of this study, the two musical styles of noh and western opera (modern staff notation) will also be considered languages because of the differences in their notation and implementation. As Lanki explained, probably no one in the production understood every language (Personal Interview). Samandari, the composer, did not speak Japanese and was only familiar with western music composition. The music director, Eric Wilson, also was not trained in noh nor spoke Japanese. The musicians played western instruments and read from a western notated score. The opera artists from Canada spoke English and sang in English with the occasional line in Japanese. The two women noh artists spoke modern Japanese and performed the opera in classical Japanese, as did Yamai, although he also had several lines in English. A translator was hired for the production because the noh artists did not speak English and the opera artists, musicians, music director, and composer did not speak Japanese. As the analysis of the score will show, the singers occasionally also sang in each other’s styles as well. The two participants who came closest to understanding the various languages were Lanki and the rehearsal translator Minoru Takano who both spoke English and Japanese and had training in western music and noh. In order to accommodate all of the artists involved and the potential mixed audience, the opera needed to capture the essence of the original Japanese in the English lines and also retain enough of the classical Japanese noh scripts. The source plays, Kayoi Komachi and Sotoba Komachi, were chosen because they still exist in the modern noh repertoire (Lanki Personal Interview). The western musicians could follow the score with its familiar staff notation and lines written in English or rōmaji (Romanized Japanese). The noh performers, who only had 37 basic skills in reading western staff notation, could incorporate sections from the noh plays which were already part of their repertoire without having to depend on the score. During rehearsals, the performers spoke either English or modern Japanese. The performance itself was a blending of the classical Japanese from the waka and noh plays, and English. Analysis of the artist interviews, score and libretto, and performance footage showed that language held many functions during the process of rehearsing and performing Kayoi Komachi: a noh chamber opera. 2.1.1 Language as Culture Amid the many cultural, linguistic, and performance dissimilarities involved with Kayoi Komachi, there was a unity of purpose in trying to create a hybrid noh chamber opera. It was also a unifying idea amongst the artists interviewed that language was important to that hybridization process because language is a part of the culture. As noh artist Mayuko Kashiwazaki explained, Japanese culture would not be the same without Japanese language (Email Interview) . The poems of Ono no Komachi, like those used in the opera, emphasize this point; it is only reading them in Japanese that their complete meaning can be understood. A translation of her poetry into English represents only the surface level of understanding and not the double meanings embedded in the original Japanese. Of this opera’s libretto, soprano Heather Pawsey said, “There’s a certain formality to the writing [of the libretto] and to the structure of the writing that I would instantly say, this is not Italian opera in English translation, or French. It’s not western opera in translation. This is definitely from another culture” (Personal Interview). She described the English translation as expressing “restraint” and being “spare,” and “elegant.” Both the English-speaking and Japanese-speaking artists recognized that there was a different cultural 38 “feel” to this opera that conveyed a hybridity of the cultures. The hybridization of culture was expressed through language in the translation and content of the libretto, the music composition, and the participation of native speakers during the rehearsal process. 2.1.1.1 Translation and Content of the Libretto The hybridization of the culture through language began with the translation process. Significant consideration was taken in deciding on the translators and the most appropriate translation of every word. David Crandall was asked to translate the noh plays because of his experience as a scholar of noh and a practicing noh artist (Lanki “Layers”). His translation work includes Matsui Kesako’s book Kabuki: A Mirror of Japan, he studied noh chant and dance in Japan with Sano Hajime of the Hosho school, and is the founder of Theatre Nohgaku in Boston which trains students in noh techniques and produces noh plays (“Members: David Crandall”). Sonja Arntzen did the translations of the poetry because of her expertise in Japanese waka poetry. Arntzen is a professor Emerita in East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto and her publications include The Sarashina Diary: A Woman’s Life in Eleventh-Century Japan and Ikkyū and the Crazy Cloud Anthology: a Zen Poet of Medieval Japan (“Sonja Arntzen”). Lanki also mentioned that Arntzen’s translations were particularly appropriate because she wanted a woman’s sensibility to read in the translation of Ono no Komachi’s poetry (Personal Interview). Despite the involvement of expert translators, certain elements of the original Japanese culture and meaning had to be changed in the English version. For example, the literal English translation of one line became, “large small mandarin oranges, kumquats,” which takes on a very different, and perhaps comical, connotation than intended in the original Japanese when sung (Lanki “Layers” 9). In order to solve this issue Samandari simply kept the line in Japanese which 39 the noh chorus sang. The inclusion of so many cultural and performance experts meant that decisions on the translation and wording of the libretto could be made collaboratively between the translators, composer, artists, and director. The libretto was written in English, rōmaji (Romanized Japanese), and Japanese (kanji and hiragana). The Japanese was written on the right of the page or just below the English and rōmaji. On the left was the rōmaji with an English translation underneath. Notes on who is singing what section and at what time were written in English above each section. Often the opera singers’ lines in English and the noh performers lines in Japanese mirrored or repeated one another. For example, the opening line of the libretto is “ito semete koishiki toki wa/いとせめてこひしきときは” which translates as “very pressing, torturing, yearning time” (Kan’ami et al. 1). In the score, the Japanese noh chorus (Muraoka Kiyomi and Kashiwazaki Mayuko) begin singing the line in Japanese. Several measures later the male opera chorus (Joseph Bulman and Alan MacDonald) join in singing, “pressing, torturing, yearning” (Samandari 5-9). In the libretto, it is written as: Male chorus sing fragments of English – Female chorus chant Japanese ito semete いとせめて very pressing, torturing koishiki toki wa こひしきときは yearning (perfective ki) time (topic marker) The male opera singers only sang the English lines while the noh chorus sang in Japanese. The rōmaji above the English lines was given so the English-speakers could follow what the noh artists were singing. This concurrence of languages appears several times throughout the opera in which both English and Japanese are sung simultaneously, or slightly staggered. What is sung in 40 one language is often sung in the other at the same time, or nearly the same time. The artists also sing in one another’s languages. The opera singers, in the roles of the Male chorus, the Counselor, and Komachi, all have at least one line in Japanese. The Male chorus especially sings almost as much in Japanese as they do in English. For example, the Male chorus sings, “I must go to Komachi’s house” and then in Japanese, “mo-to-ni-ka-you” (to go back to), and then in English again, “must go, must go” (Samandari 70-71). Yamai, the noh artist playing Fukakusa, sings the following lines in English, “How dark the night!” and “And so my heart bled to dust” (Samandari 126-128, 135). The role of Fukakusa is sung almost entirely in Japanese, which allows the English lines to indicate his possession of Komachi and their shared thoughts. As with the example of the “large small mandarin oranges, kumquats” line, the retention of both languages allows the cultural specificity inherent in each line to remain unchanged while allowing the audience to understand the entire narrative. The only exception to understanding the narrative could have occurred if an audience member only spoke Japanese and was not familiar with the classical Japanese used in Kayoi Komachi and Sotoba Komachi. Given that this production was held in western Canada, it was assumed that the audience would be comprised of people who spoke at least some English. Lanki wanted both the sounds of the Japanese and English to be heard in the opera (Personal Interview). An unexpected benefit for bilingual Japanese/English speakers was the ability to understand the opera on both cultural and linguistic levels. Rehearsal translator Minoru Takano remarked that participating in Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera was an enlightening experience for him because of the presence of the two languages. He recalled that during rehearsal the opera artists asked him for the meaning of a few of the Japanese lines. However, the lines were in classical Japanese and it was not until they were translated into English that he 41 could understand their full meaning. He also felt that the opera was a worthy project because noh as an art form is declining in popularity in Japan. Takano himself, a native of Japan, came to the project and had previously studied noh with Yamai because he wanted to learn more about his culture’s traditional performance styles (Personal Interview). Creating an opera in both Japanese and English allowed Takano and the other Japanese audience members to understand and experience their own cultural traditions in a new way. The use of both languages in the libretto also benefitted the participants because it gave them a solid foundation from which to start. In choosing two plays from the existing noh repertoire, the noh artists were assured at least one point of familiarity in a rehearsal process where very few other people would be able to communicate with them directly. They came into the project familiar with the narrative and language of the original noh plays. They could also read and follow along with the libretto. For opera singer Joseph Bulman (Chorus), the presence of the Japanese language “provided a sense of home for the Japanese performers” (Email Interview). Heather Pawsey also felt this same sense of familiarity when singing in English. Although all the opera singers had experience singing in other languages and felt quite comfortable doing so, English was the language which they felt the most connection. As Pawsey explained: [W]hen I sing in English, as opposed to any of the other languages … you know I’ve said I love language and I’ve spent my life reading poetry, and text and language is very important to me and the communication of emotion and ideas … so when I’m in English that’s obviously the most accessible, it’s right here. I don’t have to think to express that emotion. I know what I’m saying. (Personal Interview) 42 This intimate connection the artists had with their native languages was retained in the creation of this opera. This allowed them to explore the unfamiliar music styles and languages from a familiar foundation. In the libretto, the English and Japanese are side-by-side. Understanding what their foreign counterparts were singing became demystified and more readily approachable because both languages were present. The interviews with the English-speaking opera singers also presented the idea that language is a gateway into another culture. Both the opera singers and the English-speaking audience members were able to understand what the noh artists were singing because what was sung in Japanese was repeated or said simultaneously in English. So too could the Japanese noh artists and the Japanese-speaking audience members be invited into the culture of chamber opera. These two groups, noh enthusiasts and opera aficionados, may never have encountered one another had it not been for the creation of this noh chamber opera. For Pawsey, accessibility for the audience was of great importance. She described the presence of English as “a door the audience can go through” (Personal Interview). Bulman also described the inclusion of English as “an invitation to English audiences to witness the Japanese culture in a way that is more familiar to us as a western audience” (Email Interview). Melanie Adams also remarked that the inclusion of English made the opera more accessible to a primarily English-speaking audience (Personal Interview). Members from both cultures could find familiar material in the production as their entry point and then enjoy the unfamiliar cultural and linguistic elements. 2.1.1.2 Cultural Hybridity in the Score The mixing of music styles also aided in the representation of culture. As both the English-speaking and Japanese-speaking artists described, their music styles begin with 43 language. For example, the vocal music of noh, Utai, was specifically developed to articulate the beauty of the Japanese language (Kashiwazaki). As mezzo-soprano Melanie Adams stated, “Words are always important. [T]he music should come from the words … the words should always be the thing that everything else stems from” (Personal Interview). After the initial libretto was created, Samandari composed the score with the aim of integrating the noh music, a style based on Buddhist chant, with western opera motifs (Lanki “Layers”). This meant that the sounds of both western opera and noh were present in the opera. Although the Japanese artists mostly sang in noh style and the western artists in opera style, they did sing in each other’s styles on occasion. For instance, towards the end of the opera, Yamai sang in an operatic style and Pawsey sang in a modified noh style (Lanki “Kayoi” 55:00-55:45). The Male chorus and Adams also sang in a modified noh style. Bulman cited that the language combined with the music was the most technically challenging element of the production for him. “The number one challenge is always learning the subtleties of how to produce the language vocally and stay true to the subtle phonations of the language while producing a technically solid sound” (Bulman). Added to the difficulty of singing in other languages and styles was the difficulty of the opera score itself. As a modern opera, it was replete with key changes, tempo changes, and dissonant harmonies. The further addition of traditional noh or operatic vocalization to the mix presented a daunting challenge for all the artists involved. Although mixing the music styles of opera and noh was a key component of this opera, it was also one of the project’s more difficult aspects. Both the Canadian and Japanese artists wanted the opera to be both a blending of opera and noh while maintaining the integrity of each performance tradition. Communicating this desire involved not only translating between 44 Japanese and English, but also translating the specifics of each performance style and musical notation of that style. “It is impossible to translate all the allusions and inter-textual references … but even the quality of the sounds and rhythms were challenging” (Lanki “Layers” 9). The libretto may have provided an entry into the opera for both groups of artists, but the score was only truly accessible for the western opera singers. Not only was the score in western staff notation, the kanji/hiragana from the libretto could not be used. The only written languages in the score were English and rōmaji which put the Japanese noh artists at a decided disadvantage. Samandari had not studied noh musical style. He chose segments of noh chant that fit best with the existing score after listening to recordings of noh performances (Lanki “Layers” 11). The final product was an unusual but arresting mix of the two styles. However, the process was difficult and did not produce as integrated results for the Japanese artists. Lanki and Kashiwazaki believed that the musical representation of noh in the opera could have been integrated to better effect had more of the western artists understood, or “spoken” this language. Even more could have been done to give full expression to how and what the noh artists were singing (Lanki Personal Interview; Kashiwazaki). The context of the original noh plays is fundamental to the way in which it is sung or performed. In Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera the sections from the noh plays which the noh artists were singing had been taken out of their original context. The Canadian opera singers did not have this problem as they were learning completely new material. There was no predetermined way in which the opera artists needed to sing their parts. In noh plays, the vocalizations are comprised of three main types or modes: inflected speech (performed without musical accompaniment), melodic mode (used for lyric passages), and dynamic mode (indicating aggressive emotions). These two sung modes can then be broken down even further depending on the narrative or emotional content of 45 the scene. “The delivery of the vocal styles, which interprets the role and the character, is accomplished through speed and pitch contrasts” (Teele et al. 77). For example, in the original noh play Kayoi Komachi, the character of Komachi sings the shidai, an introductory song with specific musical accompaniment. She then switches to sashi, which is sung in an “arrhythmic recitative style” used to introduce or describe a scene (Teele et al. 138, 229). For an audience member well-versed in the conventions of noh, the way in which the lines are sung impart crucial information. For example, a line in tsuyogin style is very different from a line in yowagin style; the first indicates strong emotions and the second indicates reflection on the part of the character (Teele et al. 230). Even without knowing this cultural information, a western audience member would most likely be able to tell the difference between the two, and intuit their emotional meanings because of the way they are sung. Despite having noh artists performing in Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera, the cultural information embedded in the tradition was obscured because the western artists did not speak the language of the noh music. Takano, the rehearsal translator, cited this as the most challenging aspect of translating for him, I did remember, the noh artists … they had to adjust themselves into the western style music, especially the rhythm, because in traditional noh performance music score there’s no notion or idea of the same rhythms, similar to western ones. So, they once told me ‘it’s almost impossible!’…because Farshid [Samandari] wrote the music in the western way, so their singing parts were put into the music score, but according to them they have their own rhythms. (Personal Interview) Although generally pleased with the outcome of the opera, noh artist Kashiwazaki felt that the opera could be fuller and more interesting with the addition of more noh music elements (Email Interview). 46 Lanki cited this difficulty with mixing the musical styles, and the fact that rehearsals were held in English, as contributing factors to cultural hegemony. This project, like past intercultural works between Eastern and Western countries, had to contend with the historic power differential between the two cultures and languages. “When you don’t understand a language at all you just don’t even hear it” (Lanki Personal Interview). This could be said for the music of noh as well. Samandari was not fully aware of the different ways noh could be used, so the most effective or appropriate method was not always utilized. At times the noh artists were not given enough time to have the directions from the music director translated to them and then be able to work through their own parts. Without a score to follow and minimal communication from the composer and music director, the Japanese performers were often at a disadvantage. 2.1.1.3 Cultural Hybridity During the Rehearsal Process Despite the challenges that arose from the hybridization of the musical styles, the artists interviewed were delighted at the opportunity to meet and work with people from a different performance tradition. Communicating between languages during the rehearsal process was not seen as a challenge to the process so much as an impediment to getting to know one another. The artists felt that the inclusion of performers from both traditions allowed the opera to be presented in a professional light without anyone taking on the responsibility of learning an entirely new performance style. They also felt that the project, and future projects like it, are important to the development of respect and interest of other performance styles within the global artistic community. It was also important to the artists that each art form be presented with a large measure of authenticity and professionalism. Both Adams and Pawsey remarked that they were relieved 47 to not be expected to do the noh style movements and that their singing in the noh style would be an approximation (Personal Interviews). We kept it minimal simply because … to expect any of us to learn to sing noh or to expect any of our Japanese colleagues to learn to sing western opera … it’s just not going to happen … If we’re going try this experimentation with the styles, we need to keep it in really close parameters so that nobody’s put in an awkward or unprofessional place. (Pawsey) Bulman wrote that the inclusion of both opera and noh artists provided an authenticity to the music styles and the qualities of the languages. It also provided a more “honest presentation of intercultural artistic expression” (Email Interview). The artists were also able to learn from one another in a way that would not have been possible without the physical representation of both cultures. Adams recounted that during the rehearsal process, in order to get a feel for the noh style of singing, the three noh artists (Yamai, Kashiwazaki, and Muraoka) surrounded her and sang so she could feel how they sang. “We all said the line together [and] it was a really neat experience … That sound quality, I think, is really hard to get unless you are a scholar of that … It was extremely effective” (Adams). Pawsey also enjoyed experiencing noh from professional noh artists, “It was fascinating watching them and just where in the body the vibrations were coming. They used a lot of their chest. It sits here a lot *gesturing at chest.* And then watching … we western-trained singers … were looking at their throats going, ‘How do they do that?’” (Pawsey). Kashiwazaki also enjoyed learning more about the opera singing style, “The vocalization method of opera sounds so soft and reasonable … I thought we might be able to apply it to Utai” (Email Interview). The artists believed that while translating between languages during the rehearsals was sometimes constraining, the presence of 48 both groups of professional artists was worth the communication difficulties. In all the interviews, the artists remarked how grateful they were to have the opportunity to do intercultural work with the artists from another culture. 2.1.2 Language as Identity Although the analysis of this case study is focused mostly on language as a property of culture in intercultural theatre, there were a few examples of language as identity. Language as identity in terms of characters was sparse because the production only has three named characters: Komachi, the Counselor, and Fukakusa. As mentioned previously, the dominating language and music style for each of these three characters helped establish their identities as English-speaking or Japanese, respectively. However, the cultural identity of the characters was less emphasized than the performers’ identity as a noh artist or opera singer. This effect was most likely due to the absence of spoken lines in the opera. All of the language was sung in the noh or opera style. The inability to separate the language the characters were using from the music style served to heighten the culture of the performance tradition and the artists’ identities as performers of that tradition. Language in this case study also informed the identity of two of the participants in an important way. Lanki and rehearsal translator Minoru Takano were the two contributors to the project who were able to understand the most in terms of language, music, and culture. Lanki, a Canadian-born performer, director, and producer, spent time in Japan learning the Japanese language and traditional performance styles. She also has experience with western music and singing (Lanki Personal Interview). Takano, a Japanese-born graduate student at the University of British Columbia, speaks both English and Japanese and has studied both noh (with Yamai) 49 and western music (piano and violin) (Personal Interview). Due to their ability to understand much of what was being said and expressed through the music, these two became identified as cultural bridges and advocates. The other artists involved in the production recognized Lanki and Takano as having an important function. In the interview with Takano he said, “Colleen said I am like a bridge between [the two].” Heather Pawsey remarked several times that it was due to Lanki’s sensitivity and knowledge about noh that allowed a respectful and amiable environment during rehearsals (Personal Interview). Adams also remarked that while she was not comfortable performing the traditional noh movements, it was not due to her identity as a non-Japanese person. “It’s so much more moving than trying to teach [noh to] someone who’s not Japanese, unless it’s someone like Colleen who’s really got a really strong interest in noh” (Adams). Both Lanki and Takano’s ability to speak the languages allowed them to be more than mere translators. As Claire Conceison indicated, translators are also mediators (Conceison “Translating Collaboration” 158). Takano and Lanki’s identities as cultural and linguistic negotiators allowed both the Canadian and Japanese artists to be heard and understood in rehearsal. The other participants in the project appreciated Lanki’s advocacy for more equality for all the artists involved. 2.2 Conclusion Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera presented various ways in which language was used as a product of culture and identity. The approach to the translation process was one of understanding the cultural information embedded in the language. The translators were experts in Japanese, noh, Japanese poetry, and English. This allowed a translation that mirrored the cultural attributes of the original source text without losing too much of what needed to be communicated 50 in the process. The equal distribution of English and Japanese in the libretto gave both English and Japanese speakers a familiar foundation from which to start and then a gateway into the other language and culture. It also allowed Japanese speakers like Takano a greater appreciation of classical Japanese texts. Integrating the two musical languages, or styles, was the most challenging aspect of the production. The western music notation often caused the cultural information of the noh style to be lost or overshadowed. The artists, however, felt that the challenges they faced in mixing the two music styles and communicating between languages was worth the opportunity to collaborate with artists from a different culture and performance tradition. The inclusion of both cultures and languages necessitated the presence of Lanki and Takano who became cultural and linguistic negotiators and advocates. Finally, this opera used language as a unique narrative device, providing identity for the characters based on the languages and musical styles they used. This case study also highlights the key performance properties that the linguistic anthropologists like Hymes, Bauman, and Bucholtz have identified. Hymes and Bauman’s study of the reflexive nature of performance is evident in the artists’ desire to give competent performances. The artists interviewed stressed the importance of having professionals of both noh and opera present in order to give an expert performance of each tradition. They also felt that the multiple languages helped the audience members understand the piece, whether they spoke English or Japanese. This reflexive nature of performance is also seen in how the piece was created. Knowing that the audience would most likely understand only one of the languages present Lanki, Samandari, and the translators crafted the opera so that the lines were repeated in English and Japanese. The interconnection between the prospective audience and the performers shaped, in large part, the languages chosen and the way in which the performance traditions were 51 hybridized. This hybridization touches on Bauman, Sherzer, Briggs and Hymes’ emergent quality of performance. In creating this noh opera, the artists are both commenting on the cultural traditions of the two art forms while simultaneously creating new methods of performance. This opera represents new ways in which opera and noh might be performed. Bucholtz, Hall, and Mendoza-Denton’s theories of identity through communication can be seen in Lanki and Takano, as well as in the characters of Fukakusa, Komachi, and the Counselor. Language aids in establishing the identities of the three named characters as belonging to either an English/opera culture or Japanese/noh culture. The merging of Fukakusa and Komachi’s identities is accentuated through the use of the choice of chorus (one accompanying the character in English, the other in Japanese) and by switching the dominant language and performance style of the character. With Lanki and Takano, their ability to speak to all the members of the production granted them a unique status. They became mediators and cultural advocates. Lanki’s ability to speak Japanese gave her additional authority on noh in the eyes of the English-speaking artists. The presence of Japanese-speaking noh performers and English-speaking opera singers also established legitimacy (the ability to skillfully perform the represented art forms). The artists interviewed never questioned the other artists’ competence, which may be due their language proficiency. Overall, the use of multiple languages affected the representation of culture and identity in Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera. The ability of this production’s creators to use language as they did is due in no small part to the nature of noh and opera performance. Noh not only allows for lines to be repeated or reiterated (such as when the shite begins a thought and then the chorus repeats or reaffirms it), but the music produces another level of emotional understanding. This occurs in opera as well where the lines can be sung in repetition for 52 understanding or dramatic effect and the music engenders insight into the characters’ thoughts and feelings. The presence of music to add emotional understanding and the capacity of the lines to be repeatable in English and Japanese added to the overall understanding of this noh opera. The specific uses of language in this production may not be applicable to other intercultural productions for this reason. However, this case study does demonstrate that language is connected to culture and identity and can be used to great effect for the representation of both. The participants in this case study felt that they had achieved their goal of combining noh and opera and that the process had been stimulating and valuable. Noh artist Kashiwazaki likened the creation of Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera to a Japanese snack food called kakinotane choko, a rice cracker covered in chocolate: The combination doesn’t sound harmonious at all, but, it tastes yummy. Noh as well as opera belong to theatrical drama, but the way of expressing of noh differs from that of opera. However, I think things [that are] different from each other fit better than similar things if each goes along well with one another. I have [this impression of] the Kayoi Komachi project. It hasn’t yet arrived at the stage of kakinotane choko, but I believe it would eventually become [so]. (Email Interview) 53 Chapter 3: Lady Sunrise The spoken-drama play Lady Sunrise held its most recent stage reading on October 30, 2016 at BMO Theatre Centre in Vancouver, Canada. The Vancouver Arts Club presented this play as part of its ReACT series for new plays in progress. Previously, the play workshopped at the University of British Columbia in January of 2014 and at the Cahoots Theatre in Toronto in September 2014. Chinese playwright Cao Yu’s 1935 play Sunrise was the inspiration for Marjorie Chan’s contemporary interpretation Lady Sunrise. The cast of the 2016 stage reading was comprised of professional Asian-Canadian actors Jemmy Chen, Donna Soares, Grace Fatkin, Evelyn Chew, Laara Ong, and Sarah Roa, and was directed by professional Vancouver director John Cooper (ReACT). Cao Yu’s Sunrise is the story of Chen Bailu, a courtesan living in China during the 1930s. Unable to resign herself to a traditional life of marriage and motherhood in the countryside, Bailu moves to the city. There, mounting debt and lack of options for unmarried women entrap her just as surely as married life in rural China had. Bailu lives in a hotel where she entertains men in order to pay her expenses. A large cast of eclectic characters come and go from the hotel throughout the night on which the play takes place. These characters include Fang Dasheng and Pan Yueting, Bailu’s love interests who embody the light and dark sides in Bailu’s world. Of principal importance to Lady Sunrise are the characters of Madame Gu, a rich widow; Mrs. Li, who, at her husband’s insistence, gambles at Mahjong every night; Wang Fusheng, a status-seeking hotel servant; Pipsqueak, a young girl sold into prostitution; and Cuixi, an older prostitute who befriends Pipsqueak. Cao Yu’s Sunrise explores the themes of the disparity between the rich and the poor in Bailu’s world (the poor only seem to grow poorer while the rich get richer), the moral versus the immoral characters, physical labor done in the light (daytime) 54 versus non-physical work and shady business dealings done in the dark (night), and becoming trapped in one’s circumstances (Cao). Marjorie Chan’s all-female Lady Sunrise sets the play in modern-day Vancouver, Canada. The play, told through a series of monologues from Asian or Asian-Canadian characters, centers around the character of Penny who calls herself Lulu. Penny, once a semi-famous actress and model, has fallen onto hard times. Unable to find work, she has become a mistress for wealthy men like Franky Pan (who is mentioned but not seen onstage). Tawny Ku, a Hong Kong born widow who Penny calls Auntie Ku, advises her to take the same path she did: use her position in entertainment to marry a rich man. Auntie Ku’s banker, Vivian Wong, is a humorless business woman driven to succeed at all costs who finds Auntie Ku and Penny ridiculous. Penny and Vivian also cross paths with Charmaine and a girl named Sherry. Charmaine owns a massage parlor that is a front for a prostitution operation and Sherry is one of Charmaine’s prostitutes. Penny, desperate for money, goes to a casino where she meets the character of dealer Li Wang. Dealer Li later encounters Sherry, the child prostitute. Together, the six women talk about their struggle to survive as immigrants or minorities in a modern western society. The stage reading on October 30, 2016 played to an audience of about eighty people. After the reading, Dr. Siyuan Liu gave a brief description of Cao Yu’s Sunrise and then there was a talkback with the audience. This case study will include an analysis of the interviews with Marjorie Chan and the actors involved in the 2016 reading, a script analysis of the most recent draft of Lady Sunrise (draft 4.1), analysis from the rehearsal on October 29, 2016, and an analysis of both the live and video-recorded performance and talkback on October 30, 2016. It should be noted that the rehearsal and stage reading occurred over a brief two-day period. The actors interviewed were in the very early stages of conceptualizing their characters. Further 55 rehearsal would undoubtedly change their impressions of their characters and issues such as language could be addressed in more detail. 3.1 Language Use in Lady Sunrise Unlike Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera, Lady Sunrise was predominantly an English-language production. Marjorie Chan’s script was written entirely in English and the rehearsals were conducted in English as well. Although certain members of the cast could speak Cantonese or Mandarin, all the cast members were fluent in English. Chan’s script suggests certain lines to be done in Mandarin or Cantonese. During the October 29 performance two characters spoke a few lines in Cantonese. For example, in Scene 5 Chan indicates that Charmaine’s first few lines could be done in Mandarin/Cantonese “if possible/desired” (Chan Lady Sunrise 15) which actor Evelyn Chew performed in Cantonese (Lady Sunrise). These few suggested Mandarin/Cantonese lines are the only times in the play in which the characters speak a language other than English. Despite this scarcity of linguistic hybridity, language is nevertheless an important consideration of this play. The lack of multiple language use is as interesting a consideration as its inclusion. Playwright Marjorie Chan stated that the milieu in which she works is primarily that of an English language playwright and that her primary concern is to tell the story through the characters. For Chan, the audience therefore determines the language of the play in order to communicate the story effectively (Audio Interview). However, this nearly exclusive use of English speaks both to how culture is represented and, more notably, how identity is expressed in the characters. The following analysis will consider the identities of the six characters and the five actors interviewed in relation to language. It will then briefly examine language use as a property of culture. 56 3.1.1 Language as Identity Several of the main themes of Lady Sunrise cited during the rehearsal and talkback of the October 2016 stage reading included survival, power, what the characters say versus their reality, and that “Asian-Canadian” can have many different meanings (Cooper; Lady Sunrise). These themes can all be explored under the subject of identity. The language choices, the suggestions for added Mandarin/Cantonese, the way in which their English lines are written to be read with an accent for several characters, and the actor’s interpretation of those choices aid in informing the characters’ identities. Penny (or Lulu), the protagonist of Lady Sunrise, is described in the list of characters as “a Chinese-Canadian woman, born in Canada, with family from Hong Kong, fluent in both cultures. A bon vivant girl in ‘entertainment’” (Chan Lady Sunrise 2). This description already provides a wealth of information about Penny: she is not Chinese or Canadian but Chinese-Canadian. Chan highlights that Penny’s family is originally from Hong Kong and that she has maintained enough ties with her Chinese heritage that she is “fluent” in both the Canadian and Hong Kong cultures. For Penny, this hybrid identity creates a lack of complete belonging to either culture. The play begins with a prologue, a flashback to Penny competing in the Miss Sunrise Pageant. She says, “My name is Lulu and I’m from Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.” In the stage directions, it then says, “She repeats in some version of Cantonese or Mandarin” (Chan Lady Sunrise 3). Here there are multiple dichotomies at play. Penny first introduces herself in English although the directions to repeat the line in Chinese indicate that the Miss Sunrise Pageant may be an Asian-Canadian pageant. By introducing herself first in English and secondly in Chinese, she is subtly asserting her Canadian language and culture over her Chinese 57 background. However, she repeats the line in Chinese showing that that part of her identity is still of some value to her. What is of special interest is the direction to repeat the line in either Cantonese or Mandarin. If Penny’s family is originally from Hong Kong, it would make more sense for her character to repeat the line in Cantonese. Repeating the line in Mandarin (eschewing practical reasons, such as having an actor who can only speak that dialect) implies that Penny’s Chinese identity is disjointed as well. Although unlikely, it could also imply that Penny is from a mainland Chinese family that has come to Canada by way of Hong Kong. It is also possible that Penny is comfortable speaking both Cantonese and Mandarin, but for the sake of the pageant has chosen to use Mandarin. During the stage reading on October 30, Chen chose not to repeat the line in Chinese which shifted Penny’s character to appear more Canadian than Asian (Lady Sunrise). The actor’s preference in language for the line reveals a great deal of information about Penny’s identity as more Canadian than Asian but still struggling to find her place in either culture. Actor Jemmy Chen also considered Penny as identifying as both Canadian and Chinese. “I think she somedays will feel like, I’m totally local. I’m totally Canadian. I’m one of ‘them.’ And then somedays it’s like, no, I need to fight against this and I was in Hong Kong. I was doing really well there. I was part of the mainstream. So, I think, either way she can identify with both and she’s constantly switching between the two” (Chen). This identity switching occurs in what Penny says and how she says it. For example, she explains that she prefers to be called Lulu instead of her English name, Penny. “It says ‘For Penny.’ That’s my real name, my old name. They don’t even have pennies anymore anyway, that’s how extinct my name is, okay?” (Chan Lady Sunrise 5). However, her language choice in this line is colloquial English and she mistakenly says “my real name,” then corrects herself to say “my old name.” Interestingly, in the 58 script the character is listed as Penny, not Lulu. At the end of the play, Penny realizes that she has been using fame and beauty to define herself, but without those two things she does not know who she is or what her purpose in life should be. “I missed my life, I think...I remember, I remember now. Pennies aren’t extinct, they’re obsolete! Obsolete. But I still have one, I do, somewhere…I do…This bag, there’s nothing in here. Nothing. Just a fucking lip-gloss” (Chan Lady Sunrise 42). Calling herself Penny instead of Lulu would mean accepting the reality that she no longer has a career and that she is “obsolete.” Finding nothing in her bag, however, shows that she does not even have her old identity anymore, just the remnants of her identity as the famous Lulu. Chen also brought some of her own identity to her portrayal of Penny. A native Mandarin speaker, Chen stated that she wanted to bring Mandarin in for Penny’s character because it “gives her more color and authenticity too. Because she is Chinese and she has Chinese blood flowing in her, I think it’s a good thing that she speaks her mother tongue” (Personal Interview). Penny’s struggle to belong to both cultures and find her own identity resonated with Chen. “You always struggle to find your own place in the society because you are different. You don’t feel like so much of an outcast, but you also don’t feel like you’re in mainstream. So, a lot of times you’re trying to find your place in the society, like, ‘Who am I? What do I want to be? What do I want to do with my life?’” (Personal Interview). The language choice in Chan’s script and Chen’s portrayal of Penny both aid in reflecting this conflict of the character’s identity. Tawny Ku and Vivian Wong are scripted to speak entirely in English, although it is assumed they can speak Chinese as well. The character of Tawny Ku, also called Auntie Ku, is described as a “wealthy Hong Kong ex-pat, who lives life very full” (Chan Lady Sunrise 2). Modelled after Cao Yu’s Madame Gu, Auntie Ku is also a wealthy widow who was once an 59 “entertainment girl” like Penny. The character’s name, “Ku,” also reflects her Hong Kong heritage. In Mandarin, the character’s name is Romanized as “Gu,” but “Ku” is the Cantonese Romanization. Actor Grace Fatkin stated that because Ku was born and raised in Hong Kong she would most likely be completely bilingual in Cantonese and English. She also thought the way Chan had written the cadences of Auntie Ku’s monologues was fitting for a speaker from Hong Kong (Fatkin). Chan stated that she wrote Auntie Ku’s character to speak English without an accent in order to maintain the character’s lively nature. “Auntie Ku[’s] English is probably very good, but she likely would speak with an accent and she maybe wouldn’t be as fluent as she is in the play. So, to make her less fluent speaking with an accent really changes a kind of veracity of energy and character of that particular person” (Audio Interview). Grace Fatkin’s portrayal of Auntie Ku’s was well-spoken and not afraid to say what was on her mind (Lady Sunrise). Auntie Ku’s unaccented, cadenced English aided in depicting her identity as a lively, well-off Hong Kong matron. Vivian Wong, also called Banker Wong, only uses her identity as an Asian-Canadian to advance her career. “I may be Chinese, and maybe when we meet, we speak in Cantonese or Mandarin-okay, fine-still doesn’t mean a thing. It doesn’t mean we have instant connection or history. It doesn’t work that way.” In the next line, she then disassociates herself from her Chinese identity saying, “Chinese people, they have some entitlement, let me tell you” (Chan Lady Sunrise 24). Laara Ong, who played Banker Wong, drew from her own experience as an Asian-Canadian to affirm that Wong only uses her Chinese identity to her own advantage: She doesn't speak Chinese in the play. She speaks Chinese with her parents and if needed in business. She doesn't identify with being Chinese. It is only a tool if it is advantageous to her job. She isn't sentimental or nostalgic. For me, sometimes I will 60 speak Chinese to a person of Chinese descent to make them feel comfortable, to build a sense of familiarity. But I don't think Banker Wong cares to make anyone feel comfortable. (Email Interview) Like Auntie Ku, Banker Wong’s use of English identifies her character as a woman who uses whatever means she can, including language, to advance her wealth and position in society. She speaks English as a symbol of her status and power. The characters Charmaine and Sherry highlight this use of language as status. While Banker Wong and Auntie Ku speak perfect English, Charmaine and Sherry’s speech is heavily accented and shows that they are not fluent English speakers. This indicates not only their position in society in comparison to Wong and Ku, but also their relationship to their non-Canadian origins. Chan lists Sherry as “a young teenaged girl from South East Asia, trafficked for sex work” and Charmaine as “a middle-aged Mainland Chinese woman, who manages a ‘massage parlour’” (Chan Lady Sunrise 2). In Sherry’s first scene she is following Penny, wishing she could be more like her. Penny has all the symbols of status that Sherry wants: nice clothing, hairstyle, makeup, and she speaks prefect English. Penny however uses these status symbols, including language, as a way of lying to herself. Sherry points out that Penny is also a prostitute but she has better material objects and wealthier clients. Like her status symbols, Penny’s language use is full of excess which almost masks the substance of her monologues: “I went, I went to try and find that girl. I went to find her … I went, I wanted to, I dunno. I thought, I thought, I could help her. That’s what I thought, that’s what I wanted to know…If I can....If I am still worth something....That I’m something” (Chan Lady Sunrise 41). Sherry speaks imperfect English but she is much more to the point and also has a much stronger grasp of her own identity. “I am not so much, not so strong, no family. But me? Me? But I am not nothing. 61 My eyes, can you see, still something! I AM SOMETHING!” (Chan Lady Sunrise 13). Charmaine states that she tried to help Sherry learn English because, “when she came here she hardly spoke. Okay, not a word” (Chan Lady Sunrise 31). Charmaine specifically does not say that Sherry did not speak a word of English (although it is implied) but that she did not speak “a word.” It is only when Sherry learns English that is she considered to be able to speak at all. For Charmaine, language is about power and power through identity. She needs to speak English in Canada in order to communicate with her clients, but she also believes that only people who speak Chinese can be considered Chinese. When talking about Penny she says, “That little bitch, she can hardly speak Chinese, how can she be Chinese? Little Hong Kong Canadian bitch.” She also states that, like her, only Chinese people from mainland China are Chinese, The way I see it, there is only one real kind of Chinese. A person from China. If a person is from China, then they are Chinese. You are from somewhere else than I don’t think you’re Chinese. Like Chinese from Taiwan, or Chinese from Canada, or from gawd. the Philippines, you’re not, you’re not. I don’t know what the heck you are, but you’re not Chinese. (Chan Lady Sunrise 32) Charmaine lacks status in English-speaking Canada, but she considers herself a “real” Chinese person because she is from China and speaks the language. She uses this ethnic and linguistic purity to justify her belief that she is superior to Penny. This emphasizes Penny’s own struggle with identity as someone who is neither completely Canadian nor completely Chinese. Actor Evelyn Chew who played Charmaine found the language aspect to be a challenging part of the process. The rhythm and cadence of Charmaine’s speech indicates that she speaks in accented English. For Chew, it was important to perform the accent correctly for the sake of verisimilitude. She found herself giving Charmaine a Cantonese accent, however she felt that the 62 character identified as northern mainland Chinese which meant the character would have had a Mandarin accent. I’m very aware that I don’t speak Cantonese and I know people always assume I speak Cantonese or Mandarin just because I live in Vancouver. So, I guess that’s why I was a little worried about which dialect I was doing or which accent I was doing and then doing it well. And I kind of lose it and I kind of go into my Malaysian accent … Ideally, I wish I could do more of a Mandarin accent. (Chew) The language in the script and how the actor chooses to speak it is a significant influence on Charmaine and Sherry’s identities. It speaks to the power differentials inherent in the language and the characters’ connection to their cultural identities. The character of Li Wang, or Dealer Li, embodies the theme of contradiction in this play. Many of the characters assert their thoughts or identity as absolute, but in reality, are projecting this self-confidence to mask their own insecurities. For Penny, Dealer Li represents what could have happened had she chosen to get married and have children. Li’s husband, a gambling addict, committed suicide, leaving Li to raise their two children by herself. Li then takes a job working as a dealer at a casino. When Penny comes to the casino in a desperate bid to earn money, Li pities her for needing so much money to continue her rich lifestyle. Penny, however, is scornful of the idea of marriage. The irony is that they are both reliant on what they consider weakness in others: Penny is reliant on men and Dealer Li on the gambling industry. Dealer Li is also scripted to speak a few lines in Mandarin or Cantonese as she is speaking to her children over the phone. This occurs in Scene 14 while she is waiting on the SkyTrain platform on her commute home from work (Chan Lady Sunrise 39). According to actor Donna Soares, this meant that Dealer Li “values keeping the language alive. That’s how she speaks with her family. That’s 63 probably because she grew up that way, speaking Cantonese in the home” (Personal Interview). Soares stated that the use of Cantonese also creates connections with the audience. “I think it adds a different flavor to it and adds another layer, even if they don’t understand it. And then for anyone who does know the language I think it’s nice to hear your own language on the stage, especially when you don’t necessarily see yourself reflected very often onstage” (Soares). The irony of this scene is that Dealer Li is speaking these lines to her children at home while ignoring the physical presence of the child Sherry, who is about to commit suicide. Dealer Li speaking perfect English and Cantonese versus Sherry’s broken English reinforces their differing cultural and social status. Sherry becomes an “other” to Li with her use of imperfect English. During the stage reading, Soares spoke the opening lines of this scene in Cantonese, which served to emphasize these two characters’ disparate social standing and lack of cultural connection. Chan’s language choices in Lady Sunrise offer insights into the characters’ identities and the larger themes of the play. One audience member during the talkback mentioned that the use of accented English was an interesting way to portray status and that using Cantonese in the show helped emphasize the diversity of the diasporic Asian-Canadian community (Lady Sunrise). The six characters could be said to exist along a spectrum of identity based on language. On one side are the characters that most strongly identify or are presented as Asian: Charmaine and Sherry. In the middle are Penny and Dealer Li who struggle to find or maintain a balance between their Canadian and Chinese identities. On the other end of the spectrum are those characters who use English to identify as powerful women with high social standing: Auntie Ku and Banker Wong. Through the characters’ individual identities, the language can then highlight the themes of Lady Sunrise: power, survival, the façade of confidence, and that Asians in Canada are not a cultural or linguistic monolith. 64 3.1.2 Language as Culture Unlike the linguistic spectrum associated with the six characters’ identities, language use separates the cultures represented in Lady Sunrise into the dichotomy of the marginalized and the mainstream. The characters struggle with their own marginalization as Asians in western Canada while in turn, marginalizing other Asians in order to appear more mainstream. This play questions what is Canadian and what is Asian and who belongs to which culture. It also questions what is meant by “Asian-Canadian” with the understanding that the Asian-Canadian community is not comprised of one single culture. The use of language in the fall 2016 stage reading of Lady Sunrise reveals the multicultural aspect of the Asian-Canadian identity through the failure of the characters to relate to one another. The six characters in Lady Sunrise attempt to create connections with each other and yet all of them fail to do so. The use of monologue rather than dialogue emphasizes their emotional remove from one another. In the two scenes in which the characters speak directly to one another, they only antagonize each other. In Scene 5, Banker Wong and Charmaine meet outside Charmaine’s massage parlor. Charmaine speaks to Wong in Chinese, which immediately eliminates any chance of connection between the two because, as Wong explains in Scene 9, speaking Chinese does not mean they have anything in common. Wong mocks these kinds of encounters saying, “‘Maybe we came from the same village…’ let’s be clear, my family didn’t come from a village” (Chan Lady Sunrise 24). This encounter ends with Charmaine swearing at Wong and Wong running away from Charmaine. Scene 14 also begins with the first few lines spoken in Chinese. Dealer Li is speaking Chinese on the phone and Sherry interrupts her in accented English. Speaking different languages at the beginning of their encounter again creates disconnection. Just before Sherry commits suicide, Li (talking about Sherry) says, “Stupid 65 druggie. Gawd they gotta clean this city up” (Chan Lady Sunrise 40). Li has no empathy for Sherry, despite her history dealing with her husband’s addiction and suicide. Sherry, rather than asking Li for help, begs her to leave. The “othering” represented in the language at the beginning of the scene develops into the characters’ refusal to see and understand one another, culminating in Sherry’s suicide. In Scene 12, Charmaine explains the cultural divide separating the more affluent Asians in the community from those like herself who she considers “real Chinese.” The scene takes place after Penny has come to her massage parlor in order to help Sherry. Penny speaks to Charmaine in English, which Charmaine points out she has only learned in order to serve her customers. Penny’s language choice immediately sets herself apart from Charmaine who says: Like that bitch, that little bitch, she wants to make it different okay. Very clear she is different than us, than Mainland Chinese, real Chinese. She wants to make everyone know, she is not THAT kind of Chinese…My kind? My kind of Chinese. Dirty. Hungry. Everyone kind of thinks, we do anything for a buck, you see. No, we do what we have to, okay? We get it done. We get it done. (Chan Lady Sunrise 32) A few lines later she says that she does not owe Penny an explanation for Sherry’s treatment because Penny is not a friend nor her family. She is “just another little rich bitch.” The use of language in these scenes symbolizes the divide between the characters and illustrates the cultural “otherness” they have created between themselves. Even the relationship between Auntie Ku and Penny is shown to have been built on false pretenses. Auntie Ku takes an interest in Penny because she believed Penny was like her and unlike Ku’s estranged daughter. However, Ku’s cultural background as an immigrant who recovered her husband’s fortune after he died sets her apart from Penny who was born in Canada 66 with all the privileges that upbringing afforded her. At the end of the play, Ku realizes that Penny is not the person she thought she was. “I look in her eyes. I looked at her for the first time, and for the first time, I could see her clearly. I didn’t see someone I liked, I didn’t see someone who wanted my help, not really. I didn’t see someone who wanted to do better, who wanted to fight. I didn’t see me. The thing is, no one helped me. I figured it out on my own” (Chan Lady Sunrise 29). During the talkback after the stage reading, Evelyn Chew (Charmaine) and Grace Fatkin (Auntie Ku) both spoke about the “otherness” within the Asian-Canadian community. Chew stated that Lady Sunrise asks what it means to be a “real” Chinese person. Fatkin, whose family is Singaporean Chinese, said that her parents refused to move to Richmond, British Columbia because there were too many Hong Kong Chinese moving there (Lady Sunrise; Personal Interview). One audience member said that Lady Sunrise reflected the diversity within the diasporic Chinese-Canadian community which often goes unacknowledged or even unobserved (“Lady Sunrise ReACT” 1:11:30). However, many audience members during the talkback said that the play could easily have been speaking about any immigrant community or could even have been a narrative of the indigenous population. While these comments speak to the relatability of the characters and the many immigrant and diasporic narratives inherent in Canadian culture, it also indicates that the culture of Chinese Canadians or Asian Canadians is not a focal point of this play. During the talkback, the audience was more focused on the issues of feminism that the play addresses. The “otherness” that the characters created between themselves ironically Canadianized their culture. When the Chinese-Canadian or Asian-Canadian identity is no longer perceived as a monolith, the idea of Asian-Canadians coming from one culture is also dispelled. Exposing this community’s socioeconomic and cultural 67 diversity removes much of this perceived “otherness” when looking from the outside in. During the talkback, one audience member remarked that even though the characters were Asian-Canadian, their economic and social diversity made them even more relatable. This comment was met with general agreement from the other audience members (“Lady Sunrise ReACT” 1:14:13). Depending on the intentions of the playwright and director, this vagueness about the Chinese or Asian culture of the characters could be rectified with a more concrete understanding of how language is being used in Lady Sunrise. The use of more lines in Chinese could cue the audience to the specific Asian-Canadian, or Chinese-Canadian cultures represented on stage, rather than a general immigrant-Canadian culture. In an interview with Marjorie Chan, she stated that because the audience for Lady Sunrise was most likely going to be primarily English-speaking, the use of characters speaking entirely in Chinese would be distracting and that the character’s language is only a small part of the overall narrative. She also suggested that perhaps the characters are actually speaking in their native languages (for example, Auntie Ku is actually speaking Cantonese) but because the performance is done in an English-speaking theatrical setting, the actress is scripted to speak the lines in English (Chan Audio Interview). This interpretation, however, is at odds with the use of accents for some of the characters and not others. Sherry and Charmaine’s accented speech signals their identity as recent immigrants which contrasts with the other four women who appear to speak perfect English. If Auntie Ku is speaking in Cantonese, represented by unaccented English for the sake of the English-speaking audience, why would Sherry and Charmaine choose to speak accented English? This question, and the previously mentioned imprecision of cultural specificity for the audience, could be 68 clarified with a definitive stance on what languages the characters are speaking and why they choose to speak those languages. 3.2 Conclusion The 2016 October preview of Marjorie Chan’s Lady Sunrise shows that language choice both intentionally and unintentionally impacts the representation of the characters’ identity and culture. It also speaks to the identity of the Asian-Canadian community in western Canada and the identity of the actors involved in the production. The characters’ identities were augmented in their language choices and what they said about speakers of English or Chinese. This resulted in the characters existing along a language/identity spectrum. On one end were the characters who spoke accented English (Sherry and Charmaine) and they had the strongest connection to their sense of identity and their identity as Asians. In the middle of the spectrum were Penny and Dealer Li. Penny struggled as someone who was neither fully Asian nor Canadian but Asian-Canadian. This difficulty in finding her identity was represented in choosing the name Lulu over Penny, only to discover at the end of the play that without “Lulu’s” fame or her English name, she had no identity at all. Dealer Li’s denial of her identity as someone who enables gambling addicts, the very thing that drove her husband to suicide, also presented itself at the end of the play. She became so consumed with speaking to her children (in Cantonese) that she failed to communicate with Sherry (speaking in English) which resulted in Sherry committing suicide. On the far end of the spectrum were Auntie Ku and Banker Wong who used language as a symbol of empowerment and status, with Wong refusing to identify as Chinese unless it helped in her business dealings. Culturally, language divided the characters into those who were marginalized (Sherry and Charmaine) and 69 those who were more mainstream (Penny, Li, Ku, and Wong). However, even among the mainstream characters the socioeconomic divide between them emphasized the diversity within the Asian-Canadian community in Vancouver. Many of the characters in Lady Sunrise conform to Bucholtz, Hall, and Mendoza-Denton’s theories of identity as communication. Banker Wong refuses to speak in Chinese because she does not want to be associated with the Chinese community. As Bucholtz explains, bilingual people may choose not to speak or understand a language that may impose a problematic identity onto the speaker (“From Mulatta” 363). Penny uses language in order to conform to whatever group she finds herself, whether it be the Hong Kong community or the Chinese-Canadian group. This active construction of her identity allows Penny to “pass” in any situation, but it causes her to feel as though she has no set identity. The character of Charmaine is explicit in her thoughts on the connection between language and identity. For Charmaine, a person who looks Chinese but does not speak the language lacks legitimacy and the authority to speak for the community. Language was also a consideration for the identity of the actors involved in this production of Lady Sunrise. As Donna Soares said, “I just think it’s great that we are supporting a work that has an all Asian cast, which is not something you see very often, an all-female cast is not something you see very often, written by a Canadian Asian female playwright. I think there are a lot of good things. I think it’s important to support this kind of work” (Personal Interview). The characters’ identities as Asians allowed the cast to be comprised of Asian-Canadian women. The various linguistic capabilities of the cast also emphasized the diversity of Asian-Canadian community. Although they identified themselves as Asian, not all the actors identified as Chinese or Mandarin or Cantonese-speaking Chinese. This affected the portrayal of their 70 characters’ accents and choice of language for their non-English lines. Interestingly, this seems to be at odds with Bucholtz’s theory of “passing” in this context. One of Bucholtz’s main points is that an ability to speak the language often grants membership into an ethnic community where physical appearance alone may not (“From Mulatta” 355). However, the actors for Lady Sunrise were cast not on linguistic ability, but partly on physical appearance and their identity as, broadly-defined, Asian-Canadian. It may be an avenue of future research to explore “passing” physically versus “passing” linguistically and culturally in the casting of intercultural theatre. Although Lady Sunrise was primarily an English-language play with limited use of other languages, the way in which those other languages and accented English were used provided a great deal of information about the identity and culture of the six women characters. The six actors brought their own linguistic abilities and cultural knowledge to the process which, along with the way in which their characters were scripted to speak, played a decisive factor in the identities of the characters they portrayed. 71 Chapter 4: Conclusion This research set out to examine language in intercultural theatre using the theories of linguistic anthropologists Hymes, Bauman, Bucholtz, Hall and others. The two case studies, Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera and Lady Sunrise demonstrate that language choice impacts the representation of culture, the identities of the artists involved in the productions, and the identities of the characters. The interrelationship of language and culture and language and identity in these case studies also suggests that intercultural theatre could depart from a geographic point of reference and be reframed through language. This final chapter will present this thesis’ conclusions, practical applications, future directions, and overall significance. 4.1 Functions of Language as Culture and Identity The representation of culture and identity through language took on a variety of forms in the two case studies. Its strategic use in Kayoi Komachi produced new methods for combining multiple languages in rehearsal and performance as well as the effect language has on narrative structure. Lady Sunrise revealed that even minimal use of multiple languages has an effect on the identity of a character in the script and the actor’s subsequent interpretation of that character. Although both case studies faced linguistic challenges, the addition of those languages and language speakers enriched the participating artists’ experiences and the productions as a whole. The first chapter of this thesis introduced a number of questions about the function of language in the practice of intercultural theatre which this chapter can now begin to answer. The creators of Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera, namely director Colleen Lanki, translators David Crandall and Sonja Arntzen, and composer Farshid Samandari took language into consideration from the beginning of the project. This was due to their goal of combining not 72 just the performance traditions of western chamber opera and Japanese noh, but to bring together professional artists from those theatrical forms to perform the roles. The Japanese noh artists had limited English and the western chamber opera artists had similarly limited Japanese. They could only speak to one another through the rehearsal translator or Lanki. Although at times problematic, the presence of multiple languages and language speakers in this production allowed for the language to be used in beneficial and unique ways. The languages became instrumental to the representation of both cultures and the telling of the opera’s narrative because the creators’ foreknowledge of the challenge and potential of language. Having worked with intercultural and interlingual productions in the past, Lanki was well-versed in the problems that could arise during a production due to language differences. As Helen Gilbert and Jacqueline Lo discussed in their theory of intercultural theatre, language could become a tool of hegemony. Cognizant of this, Lanki sought to be a bridge between the Canadian and Japanese artists in order to mitigate the difference of power between the majority English speakers and the minority Japanese speakers. “I think [this production] was well planned and well laid out. I don’t think it ever can be a hundred percent [equal]. I’ve worked on lots of bilingual projects, lots of multilingual projects and they’ve been fantastic but so incredibly challenging. The only one in the past for me that’s worked [was when] almost everyone in the room was bilingual” (Lanki. Personal Interview). The greatest challenge to the production was hybridizing the musical styles of western opera and noh because they do not share the same notation system, rhythms, or tonal structure; they are, in essence two different languages. Not having trained in noh, both the composer and music director were not always able to fully incorporate the most appropriate use of the noh music into the score. The Japanese artists 73 therefore took on more of the responsibility of integrating the two forms than was expected of the Canadian opera artists. Despite these challenges, the use of multiple languages was a benefit to this opera. The artists felt more connected to the original culture of their character when singing in the accompanying language. Heather Pawsey, for example, felt most connected to the Japanese culture of her character, Komachi, when she was singing in noh chant. Also, as the interviews with the artists revealed, the presence of professionals from both art forms was a highlight of the production. It ensured that the performance traditions of opera and noh would be presented to their best advantage. The artists also enjoyed learning from one another and being part of a production that brought different cultures together for the purpose of creating art. The presence of Japanese and English in the libretto acted as a gateway for members of both cultures; there was something familiar to lead audiences and artists alike into the production. When asked if performers have a responsibility to their audience in this kind of multi-lingual work, the artists interviewed unequivocally answered “yes.” Hearing both languages as part of the performance was also beneficial to presenting the piece as not just opera and not just noh, but a noh opera. It invited audience members who might only be familiar with one of those performance traditions to hear and appreciate the other. Lastly, the mixing of the languages worked alongside the narrative to represent the identity and culture of each character, a unique application of language to performance. The October 2016 script and stage reading of Lady Sunrise demonstrated that language can provide information about culture and identity even when use of a second language is minimal. The actors’ own ethnic and linguistic backgrounds helped shape the identities of the characters they were playing with slight cues from the script. There was, however, some 74 confusion on the part of the actors and the audience regarding cultural representation in this play. A clearer understanding of why the multiple languages were used in the production and for what purpose on the part of the playwright and director could alleviate this confusion. For example, actor Jemmy Chen who played Penny wanted to incorporate Mandarin into Penny’s character when the script prompted her to speak in Chinese. A Mandarin speaker herself, Chen saw the character of Penny as coming from China and being confused about her identity as a Chinese Canadian. The character description for Penny, however, indicates that she was born in Canada and that her parents are from Hong Kong, which most likely means they are Cantonese speakers. The script then advises the actor playing Penny to repeat an introductory line in Cantonese or Mandarin. This causes some confusion as to Penny’s identity as well as the purpose of having this line in Chinese at all. Actor Evelyn Chew experienced similar difficulties with language for her character who is written to speak with a Chinese accent. Chew felt the character should be from northern China but believed her accent sounded as though she was from Hong Kong. The audience members who participated during the talkback also mentioned that they felt the narrative was ambiguous and could have been that of any Canadian immigrant or minority story. One audience member also stated that they enjoyed hearing the lines in Chinese because it indicated the characters’ cultural heritage and status (Lady Sunrise) and actor Donna Soares wished there could have been more in the script (Personal Interview). Depending on the intentions of the director and playwright, the use of language in future stagings of this play could be accentuated in order to clarify the character’s identities and specify the culture being presented. Despite these issues, language was able to convey a wealth of information about the characters’ identities and culture in relation to one another. The six women appeared along an 75 identity spectrum based on their language choices. Sherry and Charmaine who speak imperfect English identify most closely with their Asian ethnicity and are the most transparent about their and the others’ identities. In the middle of the spectrum are Penny and Dealer Li who speak perfect English but are also scripted to speak in Chinese. Both characters struggle with their identities in different ways because they do not accept themselves or their own actions. On the far end of the spectrum are Banker Wong and Auntie Ku who use language to promote their own wealth and status. Culturally, the characters are divided into those who appear to conform to mainstream Canadian society and those who are marginalized. The two characters who speak accented English, Sherry and Charmaine, represent the marginalized Asian-Canadian communities while the other four women embody the different social classes of the more mainstream Canadian culture through their use of non-accented English. The tragedy of this play is that the characters are so concerned with maintaining or bettering their own place and identity in society that they fail to communicate or empathize with one another. The use of multiple languages in these two case studies reveals that language is capable of functioning in a variety of ways. It can contribute to the contrast in power between actors in the rehearsal process or characters in the play. It also provides a fundamental connection to culture and identity that can enhance or supersede the artists’ intentions. When language is taken into consideration it becomes a tool for affirming the actors’ or their characters’ culture. However, when language is less of a concern, it will still indicate culture and identity but, in doing so, it may contradict the playwright or artists’ intentions. Language inclusion generates opportunities for professionals of culturally diverse performance traditions and to come together to create art. It also provides employment opportunities for actors with diverse linguistic skills. 76 Ultimately, the inclusion of multiple language speakers and multiple languages in the practice of intercultural theatre creates links to the cultures and identities presented on stage. 4.1.1 Linguistic Theories and Intercultural Theatre This thesis utilized the linguistic theories of Dell Hymes, Richard Bauman, Joel Sherzer, Charles Briggs, Mary Bucholtz, Kira Hall, and Norma Mendoza-Denton. The commonality between these theorists was language use in performance situations. Although they use “performance” to refer to any specially marked speech event, their concepts apply to performance in theatrical contexts as well. The case studies in this thesis demonstrate that the ideas these linguists have been exploring in performances of folklore, everyday performative events, and the performance of identity can also apply to theatrical performance. Hymes and Bauman’s research, in particular, endorse the idea that performative events should be used to analyze linguistic patterns even though they are “extra daily.” The intercultural productions in this research show that the use of language in theatrical events imitates language use in “daily” events. The artists interviewed carried their “daily” or nonperformance notions of culture and identity into the characters they portrayed. These case studies also revealed that performance traditions like opera or noh are cultures unto themselves. They revealed that theatrical performances are simultaneously part of, commenting on, and reinventing the broader culture in which they are situated and the culture of the theatrical traditions themselves. The heightened level of scrutiny that these intercultural theatre events bring allows special attention to be paid to a society’s concept of their own and the others’ culture. These case studies not only show the functions language can have in intercultural theatre but also validate the theories of the above-mentioned linguistic anthropologists. 77 4.1.2 Language and Intercultural Theatre Models Along with the linguistic theories of culture and identity in performance, this research cited several intercultural theatre models including Patrice Pavis’ hourglass, Helen Gilbert and Jacqueline Lo’s model, and Daphne Lei’s Hegemonic Intercultural Theatre (HIT). The models, as well as the discourse on intercultural theatre, tend to be based on the geographic positioning of cultures such as “the West and the Rest,” East-West, North-South, or national boundaries. This research suggests a new way to frame these encounters: not as belonging to specific geographic locations, but as belonging to linguistic communities. The connections between language and culture, and language and identity shown in the case studies offer the possibility that future models of intercultural theatre could be devised this way. 4.2 Practical Applications The analysis of the two case studies provides a number of practical applications for this research in the field of intercultural theatre. The conclusions indicate that just as linguistic anthropologists Dell Hymes and Richard Bauman advised linguists to analyze language within the performance context, theatre scholars should consider analyzing intercultural theatre within a linguistic context. Another application for the research is to provide recommendations for intercultural theatre practitioners who could benefit from recognizing the utility of language in their productions. Given that culture is a prime consideration in intercultural theatre, this thesis indicates that theories from the fields of anthropology and linguistic anthropology could be useful for intercultural theatre scholars. Although Brandon cautions against analyzing theatre traditions without an understanding of the practice itself, theories that analyze performance within context 78 (such as Hymes and Bauman’s) offer new insights into the process of creating and performing intercultural theatre. Understanding the connections between language and culture affects the analysis of an intercultural theatre performance. It provides an understanding of why translation and communication problems occur. It can also bring an awareness to the reasons behind an artist’s choice for their character or an audience’s reaction to that character. Seeing language as a fundamental characteristic of culture and identity also broadens language use in intercultural theatre analysis beyond translation and communication. When used prudently, theories from anthropology or linguistics can be applied to intercultural theatre studies. This research also offers suggestions for language use in the creation of intercultural theatre productions. Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera demonstrated that having a linguistic and cultural mediator can be invaluable. The director, Colleen Lanki, acted as a cultural and linguistic bridge between the Japanese-speaking noh artists and the English-speaking composer and opera artists. Having a mediator in an influential position (such as a director or dramaturg) allows all the artists’ creative and personal needs to at least be heard and taken into consideration. Although a perfectly equitably production may never be possible, the presence of a cultural mediator aids in balancing the different voices in an intercultural production. Lady Sunrise did not have a person in this position which meant that the actors themselves took on the responsibility of understanding the cultures represented in the play. This led to confusion on the part of some of the actors as to their character’s identity because they did not share the language or cultural background of that character. The analysis of Kayoi Komachi also presents the importance of having a knowledgeable translator for rehearsals and performances. Not only did translator Minoru Takano speak English and Japanese, but he was also familiar with western music notation and the noh. This enabled 79 him to better communicate the needs of noh artists and the opera artists while smoothing over frustrations. Interviews with the other artists from this production also indicate that more translators available during rehearsal breaks would be beneficial so the artists could socialize with one another. Given monetary restraints and translator availability this might not always be achievable, but it does show the artists’ desire to want to communicate with one another. Another recommendation of this research is to include, when possible, diverse languages and language speakers in intercultural productions. The artists interviewed from Kayoi Komachi stated that collaborating with artists from other cultures was incredibly valuable for the production and for themselves personally. This collaboration also meant that professionals were performing in the language and cultural tradition of the art form. The artists were able to present noh and opera without losing their cultural attributes (such as movement or vocal quality). The cast of Lady Sunrise also remarked that using Asian-Canadian actors for Asian-Canadian roles was noteworthy. The actors who spoke Chinese in the play also commented that they enjoyed being able to bring that part of their own identity and cultural heritage to the stage. Although there were at times communication issues for the artists in Kayoi Komachi, the casts of both productions felt that language diversity was a valuable addition. Lastly, these conclusions suggest that intercultural theatre practitioners can use language as a tool to situate culture and identity. Communication and translation issues should continue to be addressed, but language can also be used to create identity and can be treated as a property of the culture (like music, dress, aesthetics, movement, etc.). Language also enables the theatrical traditions to be emergent because of the artists’ responsibility to their audience. The use of language, as a property of culture, allows the theatre production to simultaneously be a cultural act and reflexively comment on the culture. 80 The conclusions found in this thesis contribute practical applications to the study of language in performance situations and the analysis and creation of intercultural theatre. These conclusions suggest that intercultural theatre practitioners can use language in a variety of ways: having a language speaker present who can act as a mediator between cultures and languages, having as many knowledgeable translators present as possible, to include the languages and language speakers from the cultures being represented onstage, and to recognize that language functions as a property of culture and identity and utilize it as such. 4.3 Future Research Directions Before presenting the possible future directions of this research, the strengths and weaknesses of this thesis should be addressed. The most challenging aspect of this research was the impulse to situate the cultures and people in the case studies as belonging to “Western” or “Eastern” cultures. This thesis is attempting to present an alternative way of thinking about culture in intercultural theatre productions that is not based in geography, but it was difficult to shift from this mode of thinking. In terms of addressing this paradigm shift, this thesis was also limited in that it only presented two case studies. Furthermore, the interviews conducted were restricted to the participating artists. These interviews, however, constitute one of the strengths of this research. The linguistic theories being applied to the analysis of these case studies complemented the artists’ own impressions of language’s effect on the identity of their characters and the cultures they were representing. Future research using these particular linguistic theories on intercultural theatre performance could further address the following questions: what happens to the performance traditions and the language when taken out of their customary context, as is the case in 81 intercultural theatre? What new linguistic reference points are created when performance traditions from two or more cultures are combined? If language is informing culture, and vice versa, what happens when the language is changed but the performance tradition stays the same? Does language reshape the performance? Lady Sunrise presented two contrasting results in regards to Bucholtz’s theories on “passing.” While the characters conformed to her theories of language being a key factor in acceptance or rejection from a particular cultural community, the actors were not cast with this in mind. In Lady Sunrise, the actor’s physical appearance and proficiency as a performer were more of a consideration than their linguistic abilities. How then, can Bucholtz’s theories of identity and language be applied to intercultural theatre casting? What would be the advantages or challenges of casting based on linguistic identity? Although this thesis provides some preliminary findings for these questions, in order to answer them more fully a long-term study of the productions would be necessary. As mentioned earlier, this research only analyzed spoken language and how language affected the creators, producers, and artists involved in the case studies. Future research on language in intercultural theatre could expand to encompass not only spoken but gestural language as well. Whether the linguistic theories of this research could apply to gestural language remains to be seen. The next step of this research is to continue looking at spoken language and analyze its function not only for the artists but for the audience as well. This potential research would be able to fully explore the emergent and reflexive properties of language in performance. This research could also be expanded to further investigate the possibility of reframing intercultural theatre through language rather than geography. Seen in this way, what would models of intercultural theatre look like? Could the terms inter and intra be applied to these new 82 models with intercultural theatre occurring between non-mutually intelligible language communities and intracultural theatre occurring between dialects within mutually intelligible languages? What problems might arise from situating the culture of intercultural theatre in language? What prior issues arising from geographically based models might be mitigated? The case studies used in this research were performed for a primarily English-speaking audience and most of the participants in both case studies spoke English. More case studies, including ones that are performed for non-English-speaking audiences by non-English-speaking artists, are needed in order to answer these questions. 4.4 Significance and Contribution This thesis began with the question of “what is intercultural theatre?” After exploring the theories of linguistic anthropologists and sociocultural linguists Hymes, Bauman, Hall, Bucholtz, Mendoza-Denton, and others, this thesis questioned how language functions as a property of culture and identity intercultural theatre. The conclusions from the two case studies show that language was fundamental to the way in which the artists (using their identities and cultural affiliations as reference points) expressed and represented their characters. This research’s overall contribution is three-fold: it supports the theories of Hymes, Bucholtz, and the others that language in performance is intrinsically linked to culture and identity, it provides practical applications for the use of language in intercultural theatre productions, and it presents an opportunity for future models of intercultural theatre to be based on language divisions rather than geography. Not only does language not have to be a “casualty” in intercultural theatre as Bharucha stated, but it could be the way in which the “culture” of intercultural theatre can be framed. Seen in this way, language is the sand that flows through Pavis’ hourglass. Just as the 83 linguists cited in this research advised looking at a language in the entirety of its context, this research advises intercultural theatre scholars and practitioners not to remove language from the performance context. I undertook this research in an effort to understand what intercultural theatre is and how to explain it to others. The conclusions from this research lead me to believe that language is a good place to start when in need of a tool of communication. The artists interviewed for this research, to a person, made a point of telling me that intercultural theatre work is necessary and important for fostering that communication across cultures. I will end this thesis then with a quote that exemplifies the significance this research had not only for the artists, but for me as well. This quote is from Heather Pawsey who played the titular role in Kayoi Komachi: A Noh Chamber Opera: [A]s an artist, my life has been so enriched. And that sounds so cliché and it’s so not. I really mean it. I am a better artist and a better singer for knowing [the noh artists], for learning the little bit that I did. I have so much more to bring now to my other work. The world needs more of this kind of work, especially now. We really do. We need to reach out to each other. And art is the best way to do it. You know, people come together in art the way they have difficulty doing in other ways. And art can speak. I know that that production spoke to the Japanese-speaking people in the room. I saw their faces. And it equally spoke to my white Caucasian English-speaking friends who were just as moved. That’s what it’s all about. That’s why we make art. That was brilliant. That was brilliant that day. 84 Works Cited Adams, Melanie. Personal Interview. 5 October 2016. Anno, Mariko and Judy Halebsky. “Innovation in No: Matsui Akira Continues a Tradition of Change.” Asian Theatre Journal, vol. 31, no. 1, 2014, pp. 126-152. Bauman, Richard. “Commentary: Foundations in Performance.” Journal of Sociolinguistics, vol. 15, no. 5, 2011, pp. 707-720. ---. “Performance.” A Companion to Folklore, edited by Regina F. 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