PAT Chats - Interview with Lindsay Yee

The Roots of Design

Lindsay Yee is a graphic designer who works closely with Proudly Asian Theatre including creating the poster for the upcoming production of Roots. We pick his brain about his own heritage and design approaches.

What are your own roots and do you feel connected to them?

My family comes from Aotearoa, Mainland China, and Hong Kong. My mother was born in Hunan but grew up in Guangzhou like many immigrants to New Zealand. My father was born in Oamaru, his parents, and grandparents (my great grandparents) also lived in New Zealand, but moved between China (They are Taishanese 台山话 hence the Yee not Yu, 余), Hong Kong, and New Zealand. My grandfather had a Laundromat on Colombo street in Christchurch at one time.

Could you tell us about your previous work for PAT and your larger body of work?

I worked with Chye-Ling and James when they shifted from 'Pretty' to 'Proudly' working on developing their brand and designing a mark and some collateral that reflected this new name and tone.

Does your heritage inform your work in any way? How?

It's a tough one to think of, but obviously, it does without me thinking about it too much. Graphic Design has a relatively short history — as we know it — and dealing with roman characters means the conventions set are mainly from European high modernist, and probably more specifically the Bauhaus, Swiss Modernism, and the continuation of these ideas in the United States of America. I did Calligraphy and rice paper painting as a child, which probably also has an influence on what I do.

What was your approach designing the poster for Roots?

Having a strong image supplied by Andi Crown, I really tried to utilise and build around the image of Amanda Grace.

Other than the Chinese character within the 'O' showing it inside, we used Averta for everything PAT (at the moment) as it worked well with the tone of Proudly Asian Theatre.

What are your design influences at the moment?

I'm very lucky to have so many friends doing great creative work, who are all so inspiring. My wider creative community is also so great. But also visiting galleries, going to concerts, travelling, going on walks and general wandering.

Lindsay works at Category

PAT Chats - Interview with Amanda Grace Leo

Singaporean roots grow in New Zealand

Amanda Grace Leo is the lead in the upcoming production of Roots, a one-woman show about the search for cultural identity.

Fierce, fiery and fresh off from discovering her own roots in Singapore, she candidly speaks to assistant producer Nahyeon Lee about the relationship to her own ancestry, her connection with her grandmother, and the uniqueness of the bilingual nature of the play.

Catch Amanda Grace in Roots on Fri 23rd - Sat 24th February at Uxbridge and Thurs 1st March - Sat 3 March at Q. Ticket link for Uxbridge here and Q here.

Three photos of Amanda's paternal grandmother Theresa Lim Mong Lan at different times of her life.

So, what are your own ‘roots’ and do you feel connected to them?

I’m Hainanese on my father’s side but my great grandmother was Indonesian Chinese and on my mum side I’m Peranakan - they call them the “straits-born Chinese” - basically an inter-marrying between Malay and Chinese who are their own sub-ethnic group.

I would say when I thought of roots, I used to always see myself as Singaporean-Kiwi, but now I’m starting to really think about what it means to be Hainanese [as well] because Hsu Hsien [the main character in Roots] – is an alter ego of me. Hsu Hsien is my own Chinese name and she has certain aspects of myself that we played up; she’s a bit precious, very adventurous, curious and headstrong, but like Hsu Hsien, I can’t speak the Siyi dialect and that’s an important part of the play.

Roots was originally written as an autobiographical piece [by Oliver Chong] how did you personally connect to it?

I think one of the first things that stuck out to me when we first started was the idea about not being able to speak the mother tongue, there’s a line that’s like “I really hate myself for not being able to speak the Siyi dialect” that really stuck out to me.

Before [PAT’s Fresh Off the Page] reading happened, three years ago, my grandmother passed away and I was very close her even though she lived in Singapore. When I was younger my whole family spoke in Hainanese when we were together and [to my grandmother] I couldn't speak Chinese and she couldn’t speak English; so our relationship was one that was very physical and loving. As I grew older I learnt Mandarin and we communicated, but of course when I heard my grandmother speak towards the end of her life in Hainanese there was a longing that got awakened in me - I really want to be able to speak to my grandmother in her language but I couldn’t. I felt like there’s so much more detail and so many more things I wish I could have gotten a sense of.

Coming from Singapore do you feel a more personal connection to the piece?

Oh yeah, 100%, especially the lingo, the language is so important, even something like Singlish, is a whole different way of expressing myself that I don’t really access here. It brings a very specific cultural part of myself to the people that know me now.

The show is bilingual, Mandarin and English, how does your relationship with Mandarin inform your performance?

What I was really looking forward to doing for Roots was to let the language inform my physicality and my physical skill as an actor. It had been a challenge because when I read something and tried to remember my lines in Mandarin, I will think about the next line in English and have to translate it back, so Mandarin was always going to be one of the biggest challenges because I struggle with it. My performance of it isn’t going to be perfect, but that’s going to be a statement. I think with the Hsu Hsien character we really wanted to bring out that aspect, that she has this disconnect with the Siyi dialect, but she also has a disconnect with Mandarin. It’s very difficult and interesting, because you’re so saturated in the language and you can communicate well, but there is still a kind of block when you can’t speak Mandarin perfectly.

The play explores feeling connected and disconnected between geographical and generational differences - how do you explore this through a one woman show?

I have to play 21 different characters as it is a one-woman show but one of the joys of the play have been discovering who these people are, where they come from and how they feel. One of [director] Chye-Ling’s notes was to keep an eye out for people you think will be similar to the characters and surprisingly I drew from my own relatives that I’ve known all my life. I feel like that’s why this play is so magical and so relatable because it really makes you go back into your own history and ask yourself about this intergenerational place.

Also I never had a desire to go back to China, in fact, I’d never had any feelings towards China, maybe because I was always more concerned with my NZ-Singapore-ness, but when I was back in Singapore this time around one of my uncles were talking about how there is this place where everyone has this surname “Leo” which is Hainanese, and suddenly, I felt like I should go to China and I want to know what is Hainanese culture is. I knew what Singaporean-Hainanese culture is but what is it all the way back there?

I also think Hsu Hsien’s generation, which is my generation, have more of an interest in finding our roots than our parents’ generation. Maybe that’s because, ironically, we feel more disconnected and disenfranchised because of globalisation and technology.

Something we do with the physical space in the play is that we craft it with rice grains. Rice, which is what Oliver [Chong] used in his performances, is wonderful because it represents so many things, it’s a staple, rice is numerous and what we want to embed in the play is the idea that there are so many grains of possibility. Rice is also such an earthy thing and lends itself to the imagery of China and what people think China is. There are parts of the play that talk about endless patty fields and grains of rice on the ground and it is quite a literal and metaphorical thing.

Who do you hope watches Roots and what do you want them to take away from it?

I hope the Chinese community turns up and my mum, brother and sister will be in the country, they haven’t seen me perform in 10 years! But I also hope that Maori, Pakeha, Chinese all turn up and it’s important for us to all sit in a room and participate in something that is different, that is diverse, and that's not homogenous. There is such a big stigma attached to language that isn’t English spoken in this country and I hope that people will come to the play and celebrate how that makes them feel - celebrate the way that we can look at difference together. I hope people come in, are confronted with difference, and are able to celebrate being in that same space and enjoy it - it’s a fun experience and we want to be different, because that’s going to create a change.

What has been the most enjoyable day working on Roots?

It would be one of the first days back from Singapore, because coming back, I didn’t get much sleep, but there was this invigoration that had come from being back home. Then suddenly, in one of the first few days we smashed out a couple of scenes and because I just came back there was so much discussion.

And it sounds like you had quite a cultural experience overseas and you could channel that straight into your work?

Yes, and at that time because it was still fresh, I was also processing so the play was really good for me to reflect on what I had experienced as I travelled.

Finally, how do you calm your nerves before a performance?

I think because I was raised Catholic and my grandma got baptised before she died, I think what calms my nerves is quite ritualistic and that might be something like taking a moment to acknowledge and speak to my grandma in spirit. Something we’re thinking of doing that Oliver Chong had done in his performances, is leaving two seats empty in the theatre for his nai-nai and his ye-ye to sit - for our ancestors. So I imagine every night we will come together and we will do something, whether that is a moment of prayer or lighting a candle for my grandmother before the show. So, yeah the answer is something ritualistic. It changes all the time. And to not drink V.

Check out the rest of the PAT Chat interviews on our blog.

Interview has been condensed and edited for clarity. 

Loading Docs win best webseries at TV Awards

Our friends at Loading Docs won big at the New Zealand TV Awards 2017, taking out best webseries with the Loading Docs 2017 collection of ten short documentaries!

Notable pictures at the TV awards.

An initiative set up to mentor filmmakers to create high quality documentaries and challenge them with a 3 minute time limit, Loading Docs films have been viewed all over the world via the Loading Docs site and on TVNZ and featured on high profile sites such as Short of the Week, The Daily Mail, The Atlantic, Laughing Squid, The World’s Best Ever, Great Big Story, Gather & Hunt, The Spinoff, The Huffington Post Australia, National Geographic online and Film Shortage as well as achieving Staff Picks on Vimeo.

We are delighted to have been a part of this year's Loading Docs collection with our 3 minute doco 'Asian Men Talk About Sex' as PAT's first foray into film. Congratulations to Notable Pictures and Loading Docs!

Check out the full article here for all the nominees and winners, and watch Asian Men Talk About Sex and the 2017 collection. 

NZFC hosts screening of ten Kiwi-Asian short films

Asian NZ made films show a growing pool of talent 

A huge line-up of ten short films were screened at the Basement Theatre this month to celebrate Asian New Zealand made content and to link up creatives in the filmmaking industry.

Among the films were graduate projects, TVNZ funded shorts, Loading Docs documentaries, experimental, horror and animated films showcasing a wide range of talent and skills from Auckland based creatives, and talks of a Wellington screening have been happening. 

Thanks to the New Zealand Film Commission and Basement Theatre for hosting an awesome event! 

Some of these films are available online, highlighted in bold - follow the hyperlink.

Cecil and Moomalula - Chin Ann Teh

The Han Chronicles and Asian Men Talk About Sex - Chye-Ling Huang

Ao-terror-oa, (a horror webseries) - Hweiling OW

Pokemon: A Saturday - Nevin Govindasamy

Deadline - Bala Murali Shingade

The Red Man - Christienne Jauregui 

A Life Like This - Isaiah Tour

My Mother Told Me - Nahyeon Lee

East Meets East - Julie Zhu & Tema Pua

Between the Parallel - Yoson An

Friday Five - Interview with film-maker Chye-Ling Huang

"It just makes sense for the stories we see and tell to reflect our world and the diversity of the human experience. Homogenous and whitewashed storytelling is exclusive, damaging and frankly boring."

Two One One Three creatives recently featured PAT co-founder Chye-Ling Huang in their monthly article series 'Friday Five', where fimmakers are asked 5 questions about their process, stories and practice. After making The Han Chronicles and Asian Men Talk About Sex, team Two One One Three asked Chye-Ling about how these projects got off the ground and why we need stories like this to thrive.

You can check out the full series here!

We loved watching your recent series The Han Chronicles (currently on TVNZ OnDemand). Where did this story come from, and what was the process of getting it onto this online platform?

The Han Chronicles is actually a true story of my Dad arriving in Christchurch in the 70’s, meeting my mum and falling in love. My Dad is a great storyteller with relentless optimism, huge heart and a massive sense of childlike humour and his experiences always stood out to me amongst other immigrant stories that I’ve seen on screen. There’s definitely a place for stories focusing on hardship and culture shock, but I was keen to show my Dad’s perspective which is full of discovery, fun and teenage antics – I think it’s important to have cool, positive Asian characters on our screens and my Dad was one swaggy young dude.

I was initially invited to a writer’s room where TVNZ were looking for new ideas for web content of any kind – as TV is mostly online now, they’re making a shift to creating more in-house local content which is awesome. About 8 ideas were chosen from that session, and from there it was all go. I had a lot of creative freedom and was able curate cast and crew and director which is always important to me when creating work with an Asian story at the centre. TVNZ launched it on youtube and their own platform, and it also got played on international channel Asian Crush.

In the past, you’ve done lots of theatre, but have recently turned to the screen. What’s behind this change in medium?

I grew up a very ‘analog’ kid with 3 sisters – we played in sandpits of rice, had a lot of toys and made our own games. Theatre always made sense to me as it’s a very hands on way of storytelling where you’re physically involved and can see it unfold in real time.

The technical side of film always scared me a little and as an English speaking Chinese New Zealander I never grew up with any particular screen heroes that inspired me to get into film. The Loading Docs initiative was the platform that got me making film – the callout was for stories around the theme of ‘diversity’, which led to my team being chosen to make our 3 min doco, Asian Men Talk About Sex, as one of 10 other films. This platform was an incredible mentoring opportunity and basically taught me everything from the story making process to marketing and distribution.

Chye-Ling Huang, director and Calvin Sang, DOP on the set of Asian Men Talk About Sex

With such a supportive network and a super fun topic it was easy to get past the technical worries – the team around me really made it easy and I could focus on what I love most, the story and the people involved. Screen is super exciting in it’s reach and scope and I’m pretty hooked now.

What’s the best thing you’ve watched recently, and why?

Aside from the genius that was Thor, The Meyerwitz stories really got me excited. The dialogue was always revelatory; every time a character spoke, you dug deeper into the weird corners of their minds – nothing was arbitrary.

I love ensemble pieces in general and this one felt really connected with each story adding to the next. The Big Sick was inspiring from a representation standpoint as well as being super charming and surprisingly weird.

You are the co-founder of Proudly Asian Theatre, a company dedicated to giving a voice to Asian theatre artists in NZ. Why is diversity in storytelling important?

Because stories aren’t homogenous. It just makes sense for the stories we see and tell to reflect our world and the diversity of the human experience. Homogenous and whitewashed storytelling is exclusive, damaging and frankly boring.

People don’t realise just how influential mainstream storytelling is – films especially. Stories have the power to change the way we think about people and seeing yourself as the hero of the story is not only empowering, it’s normalising.

To exclude and sideline POC, women or any other marginalized group is to passively ‘other’ us for whoever consumes media, and as much as we like to think we’re immune to it, those ideas do stick.  Speaking as a POC filmmaker, it’s not enough to have one or two stories about POC experiences, because not every POC story is the same. It’s exciting to hear new voices and see things from different perspectives and we should embrace that.

Huang on the set of The Han Chronicles

Both Asian Men Talk About Sex and The Han Chronicles centre on male characters. Do you have any advice for young filmmakers wanting to create stories that aren’t necessarily their own? How do you stay relate to your subject if they are different to you (whether that’s gender, race, age etc)?

With AMTAS, myself and filmmakers Ruby Reihana-Wilson and Kelly Gilbride made 100% sure we were doing justice to the subjects and the story by folding in Asian men from the beginning. As an Asian woman I felt I had a strong place to stand from culturally, but I knew I could miss insights and nuances that come from the male perspective. James Roque, co-founder of PAT, advised us before we even begun.

Asian Men Talk About Sex kicks off with a casual pot-luck hosted by the team

We made sure our core crew were all Asian men, as well as having active advisor roles in Nathan Joe and Micheal McCabe who provided some great queer insights. Calvin, (our DOP and editor) and I had a fluid relationship to the storytelling and although I directed and interviewed, his input was key to making the story represent these guys in the way they wanted to be. So my advice would be to make sure you choose your team wisely, listen to them and create a community with like-minded intentions for the project you can trust to speak up.

Han Huang (left) meets Jarrod Lee (right), who acts as young Han in The Han Chronicles

Never be afraid to check your privilege & viewpoint on something you haven’t lived. I feel like I embark on projects I connect with regardless of gender or race, and if that connection is authentic I don’t feel like I have to force anything and find it easy to relate – I’m super interested in sex and race and it was great to look at it from another perspective.

Maybe because I’m from an acting background I find understanding easily in most stories, but there are of course stories I wouldn’t go for if someone else from that unique experience could do it better.