Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists

Advancing the field of Asian American theater through a national network of organizations and artists

Yellowface: What it is, why it’s bad, and action steps to fight it

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Yellowface? We’re not talking about the David Henry Hwang play, of course. Despite its roots in racist practices of the 19th Century, Yellowface still pops up regularly on North American and British theater stages, often wallowing in stereotypes and caricature.

Yellowface is more prevalent than many think, and even honored, in a way; there are more white actresses who have won Oscars playing Asian characters (Best Actress Awards for Luise Raines, The Good Earth and Linda Hunt, The Year of Living Dangerously) than there are Asian actresses who’ve won playing Asian characters (Best Supporting Actress for Miyoshi Umeki, Sayonara).

 

Some examples of Yellowface on film:

Warner Oland as Charlie Chan (1930s), Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Joel Grey in The Destroyer (1985), James D’Arcy, Cloud Atlas, 2012

 

And plenty of examples of Yellowface on stage:

Jonathan Pryce in Miss Saigon (London premiere) 1989, Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society’s The Mikado (2014), Sarah Bowden, Jerome Robbins’ Broadway (2018)

CAATA wants modern theater to progress from this practice, moving into the 21st Century where Asian artists can stand on an equal footing, whether it’s on a stage for a historically white institution or a stage run by and for Asian American Artists. We’ve assembled  information to attack the issue of Yelloface from an array of angles: what it is, why it’s bad, and case studies and examples of (very!) recent occurrences of Yellowface on stage. We’ve also developed a checklist of action steps to take when you spot an instance of Yellowface.