31 Asian American Plays in 31 Days
#23 A LANGUAGE OF THEIR OWN by Chay YewA LANGUAGE OF THEIR OWN focuses on Oscar and Ming who had been together for four years. They break up after Oscar is diagnosed with AIDS, however, neither is able to let the other go completely. Both begin relationships with new boyfriends and find navigating these relationships just as complicated as when they were together – like learning and creating the nuances of a new language.
The gay community within the Asian American population had yet to receive wide attention until this ground breaking play. While the piece is a bit dated (the AIDS epidemic looms over the action of the play), the empathic treatment of these flawed, very human people was a major step in presenting a fuller, rounder view of the Asian American community.
Celebration Theatre, 1994
Directed by Tim Dang,
Dennis Dun as Oscar, Chris Tashima (the Academy Award winning) as Ming, activist/author Noel Alumit as Daniel and Anthony David as Robert.
Directed by Tim Dang,
Dennis Dun as Oscar, Chris Tashima (the Academy Award winning) as Ming, activist/author Noel Alumit as Daniel and Anthony David as Robert.
Photo taken from the 2012 production by ReAct Theatre.
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