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SPECIAL FEATURE COMMENTARY INTERVIEWS BUSINESS INFO
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REVIEWS |
Interview with Philip Kan Gotanda
PHILIP KAN GOTANDA:
A writer's responsibility is always to his or her art. To commit to it with a kind of disciplined vengeance. I consider being Asian American a state of knowledgeable being and as a consequence it cannot not be a consideration in any of my work.
In
addition to working in theater and film, Mr. Gotanda has collaborated
with Maestro Kent Nagano of the Berkeley Symphony & Berlin Philharmonic
and composers Jean-Pascal Beintus, David Benoit and Naomi Sekiya
on an orchestral work with spoken text, MANZANAR: AN AMERICAN STORY,
about the Japanese American Internment during World War II. This
message (Internment Camps) is important because, as stated by Nagano,
"One of the things that became very clear to me even as a child,"
he (Nagano) explained, "is that, like so many historic events,
it's subject
to so many different interpretations. There's no single simple story
of what happened, and the times were obviously extremely complicated
— like they are today — and any number of interpretations
or revisions can come out of it."
PHILIP KAN GOTANDA: My works focus on the JA psyche
in large part because that's my personal history. If I'd grown up in an
Irish Catholic family my work would probably reflect that psyche. I don't
know if I even consider what others are writing. I don't know if that's
bad or good, I just always assume what I'm writing is special. No one's
holding a gun to my head to write this stuff, it's what comes out. And it's
an alive culture, it's not Latin, so it keeps evolving and the stories are
always relevant and contemporary. That said, if I feel like writing things
with other than Asian American characters, that's fine, too.
PHILIP KAN GOTANDA: I'm not sure, it's not what I
set out to do. In fact through high school and college, theater never
even crossed my mind. I was in Law School and didn't have the opportunity
to play my songs in clubs. I decided to try my hand at writing songs that
could be put into a longer, more staged form. The result was a musical.
The actor, Mako, at the East West Players theater said
he wanted to do it - so as soon as I graduated I went to LA and did it
there. Knew nothing about theater, played on stage in the band and enjoyed
the experience. Wrote another play with less music, then another with
even less music and then a straight dramatic play. And suddenly I had
this great job writing plays. I've been doing it for about twenty years
now and so far it's given me quite an interesting life.
On another note,
my success in theater has allowed me to return to two other loves - music
and film. I front a spoken word retro jazz band, the new orientals, with
my friend Dan Kuramoto and some other LA musicians. And for the last 10
years I've been actively making independent films. Also, I still love
a well-made pot. I can't think of too many things more aesthetically pleasureable
than sipping green tea from a well-made tea cup.
PHILIP KAN GOTANDA:
Neil hasn't so much guided as informed my work. He's been a great sounding board and resource person. Neil's exceptionally bright. He's very knowledgeable with an interesting analytical eye that I've been lucky enough to have access to. I feel fortunate. It also helps that he comes from the same world as I. Everything that I know of my time growing up, he knows also. That creates a bond and a common reference point to examine issues.
US ASIANS:
In your opinion, why haven't Asian American literature (as noted at Jessica Lim's article on the impact of Asian American literature) at the article on Asian American Literature) been a greater influence within the theater, film and television industries? Is it because there are not enough compelling stories and/or quality of writing that has not provided more stories/plays such as yours?
PHILIP KAN GOTANDA: I believe the quality is there.
However, what you're talking about has to do with other forces. It really
comes down to power, that is, whose got it. In the case of Asian Americans
they still don't have the political and economic clout to necessitate
being listened to. When they get the power, you'll suddenly find how influential
and compelling their works will become.
US ASIANS:
Which one of your plays most accurately reflects your passions, related to the Asian American student movement in addition to "The Wind Cries Mary."
PHILIP KAN GOTANDA: FISH HEAD SOUP
- this was a piece that was very much formulated along the lines of my
evolving AA consciousness. It summed up what I had come to believe about
the psyche of the Japanese American family. I was only able to finish
the play by coming to an understanding of how internalized racism can
be passed on generation to generation unless it's addressed. At the time
that was new idea.
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