By Eric George Tauber
SAN DIEGO — Who hasn’t looked in the mirror and wondered where they fit in? But for those of mixed heritage, the struggle is more pronounced. You tend to favor one parent more than the other and you really stand out in extended family photos. Can you prove that you are “ethnic” enough to be accepted by that group? What box do you check on the census and job applications?
What Are You? , which had a short run at the Lyceum Theatre, explored these issues in a series of sketches and personal accounts, plus a few video clips. Two women with “applause” signs got the crowd pumped up. They needed to. With a one-weekend run and very little publicity, the house was only half full.
In proper sketch comedy fashion, they ran a gamut of game shows including The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, Family Feud and Social Jeopardy. The girl in the Dating Game had her Chinese mother at her elbow nudging her toward the men who made more money. Social Jeopardy had answers like, “It’s the state where you can’t get edible Chinese food.” While funny, I felt that they went too quickly with more potential than they realized.
There were video clips from One Big Hapa Family in which mixed couples talk about their experiences, a bit of Trevor Noah’s Born A Crime and a College Humor sketch in which a young man who is 1/8 Korean must face the judgment of the “Tribunal of Mixed Asian Heritage.” City Councilman Chris Cates is interviewed about being part Filipino. His skin is very light and he doesn’t speak Tagalog, so the support of this community was not a slam-dunk.
The sketches were cute, but I was more touched by the personal stories such as the kids who latched onto Bruce Lee as a role model. They had never actually taken a martial arts class, but the bullies didn’t know that. Nobody wants a roundhouse kick to the throat.
There were also moments of overt racism such as the black father teaching his son how to act when pulled over for a DWB (Driving While Black) and a white woman calling the cops on a black woman for well … being black.
What Are You? is a little rough around the edges, but still worthwhile. Its brief run at the Lyceum Space has passed, but it’s coming back to the San Diego Fringe Festival, which will be Balboa Park June 6-16th. I could also see this playing well on college campuses in San Diego and LA, so I hope it grows legs.
The issues raised in What Are You? are becoming increasingly relevant to our own community. What does it really mean to “look Jewish” in the 21st century? With rising rates of intermarriage, and Israel taking in immigrants from Africa, India, China, and South America, the old paradigms are changing. Does preserving our heritage mean isolating ourselves behind ghetto walls? Or can we add more chairs to our seder table in a show of welcoming hospitality? Personally, I’m rooting for the latter.
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Tauber is a freelance writer specializing in coverage of the arts. He may be contacted via eric.tauber@sdjewishworld.com