Up close and personal with Wesley Du, an Asian-American rising star in theater

The Yellow Skin Theatre, a very bold and politically incorrect acting troupe, was invented to shine a light on the most complacent people in America, the Asian-Americans. Its founding father is Wesley Du, a senior at VCU, and the writer of “American Chinks Reborn,” which was performed at the Richard Newdick Theatre this year. The play was such a success that each performance received a standing ovation, and every show was sold out. Much to his delight, Du’s play also received a great review from the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

While sipping his coffee in Java 901, Du openly conversed about his play, which he created and produced. Was he surprised by the standing ovation?

“A little bit, you put all your time into it,” he said. “It took me over a year to get it done. I wanted a good response and I think I got one. The hard work paid off.”

The writing alone took Du an entire year. The $500 grant, which he was given by the undergraduate research fund to produce the play, was not enough to cover all costs so Du had to put $200 to $300 of his own money into the project.

When people see the poster of the play, one has to wonder about the title, “American Chinks Reborn,” with its audacious, offensive racial slur. However, from Du’s point of view, sometimes being too politically correct can hinder the honest message of the play.

“I think you have to be politically correct so you don’t offend anyone, but sometimes I feel if you just want to be honest and say something you should, and not worry about what other people think of you if that is your honest opinion. You have to do it in a classy way,” he said. “I am Asian-American so I can say ‘yellow skin,’ ‘American Chinks Reborn,’ but for someone else, it would be different.”

In “American Chinks Reborn,” two Chinese-American brothers attend a civil rights rally and get into a fight with two Ku Klux Klan members, with all four ending up in jail. During the imprisonment, by conversing and discussing the differences of the two races, all four men resolve to respect different ethnic groups. So how did he create this plot? Was he racking his brain for this idea?

“They just come to me I guess,” he said. “I really don’t think about it. I was in playwriting class and I wrote something else before and I read it in class. All of a sudden these ideas came to me, and I just went that night and did a 10-page little draft. That just came to me.”

Although on the surface “American Chinks Reborn” is about Civil Rights and race, Du had another take on his play.

“Racism is only a small portion of it,” he said. “It has a lot to do with Asian-American identity, but it also has to do with the relationship between the two brothers,” he said. “It’s also about the humanity and the love between two brothers coming to terms with each other. That is the fun part of the play – the racism part that was very out there. That was the major theme every one thought, but that was only a portion (of) what the play was about.”

There was no magic formula for Du when it came to writing. He just focused on an issue and took off.

“I wanted to deal with Asian-American identity and racism in America towards Asian-Americans because I feel that is not spoken upon very often in this modern society,” he said.

Du explained that being discriminated against for being Asian has given him a more socially-conscious stance. Through his art, he wants to convey pride and dignity of his Asian-American heritage. Du feels that many Asians are overly assimilated to the majority and he is upset when they lose their Asian-American culture.

“I wanted people to know, especially Asian-Americans of this generation to know, that our past and traditions and heritage is very important and should be taken seriously,” he said. “I feel more and more Asians are forgetting their roots and exactly where they come from.”

Being true to his roots, his target audience is the younger Asian-American generation. However, he broadens his vision to include all people and is not afraid to confess that his main goal is to change the world through his writings.

“I want to write, direct and produce my own works, much like what Spike Lee has done, in theater and film,” he said. “I love theater for the live audience, but I want to do film to reach out to all masses. I want to change the world and I can do that through theater and film.”

One person whom Du disapproves of in Hollywood is Jackie Chan. His reasoning is because Chan holds Asian-Americans back.

“I cannot stand Jackie Chan because he is furthering stereotypes on to Asian-Americans,” he said. “If you look at his movies he is playing the same person – this goofy, clumsy guy who can’t speak English very well. When I see him, I see people laughing at him. People are not laughing with him.”

Du also says that Jackie Chan is selling out his own people. For Du, Chan prevents Asian-Americans from being taken seriously in the film industry. Because of Chan, a quality movie not involving Asian stereotypes written by Asian-Americans will have difficulties being produced. All Hollywood producers want are Asian actors like Chan to produce profits. For serious Asian writers like Du, they have many challenges to overcome.

Du spoke of his current plans to change the world and overcome stereotypes with fervor.

“My goal is to write, produce and direct my work,” he said. “I need to have a script and I wrote one that can still be tweaked here and there. I am thinking of writing another one. I am moving to San Francisco to apply for an internship at UC-Berkeley Repertory Theatre,” he said. “I need to make contacts, I need to get my name out there. I need to learn my craft. I am still not where I need to be.”

Du feels the needs to be better than the rest because of his ethnicity.

“If you are Asian-American in this business, you need to be ten times better just to be called equal to the American people,” he said.