Antebellum And Chay Yew

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Here's a snippet from an interview with playright-director Chay Yew about Robert O'Hara, Antebellum, being in the military, and colonization:

MW: I've read you have little interest in film or TV. Is that true?

YEW: Once in a while, I think it would be great, but I realize I can do a lot more in theater. I find my voice more clearly in the theater. As much as theater can be difficult to produce, I think films are more difficult to raise money for. For me to say something -- this is gay, or Asian, or even American, the way I see it -- it's easier to find it onstage than in film. In film, it takes a lot of people to raise money for that one story that you have, and all these producers will have some take on what the story should be. I'm just not sure I want to share my voice with people who have money. I'd rather share my voice with artistic collaborators and get my work done more frequently.

MW: You're afraid of being colonized?

YEW: Yeah. [Laughs.] There are many different types of colonialism. As much as I can get unfettered to do my work, I will go that route.
Read it in full here.