From November 10th to December 11th, Central Square Theatre will be putting on showings of “The Chinese Lady”, a critically acclaimed play written by Lloyd Suh, and directed by Sarah Shin. The play takes place in 1834, on the eve of the Opium Wars between Great Britain and China, following a young Chinese woman named Afong Moy. As one of the first Chinese women in America, Afong Moy was brought into New York City as a marketing gimmick for importers, and soon became the lens through which many Americans viewed Chinese culture.
Exploited for her “otherness”, Afong Moy was placed in front of Americans as a human exhibition designed for selling imported goods. By placing “exotic” aspects of Chinese culture on display, Afong Moy’s shows drew in crowds of curious Americans to see her walk on her bound feet – a tradition of Chinese culture for women at the time. The play follows Afong Moy from when she was brought in as a 14 year old girl to America to her various travels around the countries as a human exhibit, meant to be gawked at by all those who watched. Through the play, audiences get to not only witness the cruelty Afong Moy faced, but also her growth from naive girl to sage womanhood.
The play’s historical background lies only a few years before the start of the Opium Wars in 1839, which consisted of military conflicts between Great Britain and China during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). Taking place during a time of heightened political tensions between China and Western countries, Imperial China became increasingly isolated from the rest of the world, engaging in only limited trade with Great Britain. Following an influx of opium, an addictive drug outlawed in Great Britain, being traded into China, the sale of opium was outlawed in 1839, sparking the Opium Wars.
Afong Moy was brought to America by the Carne brothers, who were seeking a Chinese woman to help sell their imported wares in America. Despite being essentially sold off by her father to sell products, Afong Moy came to America wanting to be an ambassador for Chinese and American relations. It is clear throughout the play that through her shows, Afong Moy wanted to introduce the American people to Chinese culture as a method of breaking down barriers between the two countries.
Despite her intentions, Afong Moy’s role as a human exhibition served as one of the earlier examples of “human zoos”, a phenomenon that would only grow in popularity over the next century. Throughout much of her life, Afong was trapped in an exhibition room filled with wares to be sold and forced under the constant judging gaze of white Americans. As would later be shown through horrors such as the 1904 World’s Fair, where more than 3,000 indigenous people were trafficked into America from Africa, Asia, and South America to perform as examples of “exoticism” and “human savagery”, this practice endured over the next century. While Afong Moy may have arrived in America under the guise of American curiosity, she was cruelly manipulated into using her identity to feed into racist stereotypes about Chinese people that still exist until today.
Prior to the opening show, Sampan had the opportunity to speak with Sarah Shin, the production’s director, and Alison Qu, the production’s dramaturg as well as co-Founder and Executive director of theater company CHUANG Stage.
SAMPAN: What historical aspects of 19th century America were important for you to include in your production?
SARAH SHIN: For me, my way into the play was taking in the historical context that [Afong Moy] was living through and experiencing – but realizing it was happening outside of her room. She was hearing some things, but she wasn’t living in it because she was trapped inside of a room all day… I was more interested in what she was going through… considering where she came from and what she might have access to as a person working in America, but also just remembering that she was a teenager who had aspirations and curiosities. Being able to humanize her beyond the history that we have and… focusing on the other emotional and psychological things that were going through her head and heart.
ALISON QU: I was thinking a lot about what it means to be a transplant [in another country]. I am specifically not using the word “immigrant”, as she was essentially human trafficked into the country. [I was focusing on] what it means to be assimilated into other cultures, what it means to be enduring both explicit racism as well as a painful history within your home country… At that time, she, as a young woman, had to bind her feet as a part of patriarchal [culture in China] at the time… [We did a lot of ] research in the Qing Dynasty, which was the historical backdrop, and discovered she was likely sold by her parents, as her hometown was… in poverty. When she got here, she [faced] inhumane treatment in how she was displayed around the country like a zoo animal.
SAMPAN: What work went into the set and costume design of this production?
SARAH SHIN: We talked a lot about how historically accurate we wanted to be because there’s [Afong Moy’s] room and there’s the one picture of the room that’s around. There’s an impulse to emulate that but for us, it became a mix of looking at traditional Chinese architecture, and then also other Asian and Asian American internal architecture and designs. For me, when I kept reading through the play, I was fascinated by its time jumps. My mind went to virtual reality or a time machine… as its very specific moments in history that we are looking at. We aren’t moving through time in a very realistic way, so I think I wanted to lean into the non-realism of it all.
ALISON QU: As part of the partnership with CHUANG stage, which I am one of the co-founders of and the executive director of… so I had a say in who we casted and what designers to bring in along with Sarah… [We worked with many ] newer, immigrant artists who are first-generation immigrants themselves and who are existing in that space between cultures and bringing their own modern take and this play.
SAMPAN: What are you most proud of or excited for within this production?
SARAH SHIN: For me as director, I have talked to the actors and to the designers, and it is now this moment where we can all come together and we will see how much our work all meshes and blends together. I’m very curious and excited to see how that goes… it might become a bit stressful, but mostly fun!
ALISON QU: We are really trying to make this a very different production from other theater companies who are putting this play on. We want to… make this play true to ourselves, as we know that some other theater companies have primarily white leaders with primarily white audiences… would they really bring justice to this play? Are they making sure the Asian American audiences… and cast feel safe?… I think through this process, we feel so much joy and protection over each other and we want to send that as part of the experience of watching the play. “The Chinese Lady” has shows at Central Square Theatre from November 10th to December 11th.
