Yellow Earth Theatre is an internationally touring theatre company based in London and established in 1995 to raise the profile of
British East Asian theatre. The company also runs several initiatives to support and develop British East Asian talent.
The company has received national attention for its support of minority actors, writers and directors.
The current artistic director is
Kumiko Mendl.
In 2011, the company began collaborating with
Academy of Live and Recorded Arts
The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) was a British drama school. It had two sites: ALRA South on Wandsworth Common in south London and ALRA North in Wigan, Greater Manchester. It was founded in 1979 by director and actor Sorrel Carson w ...
to increase the number of East Asians attending drama school in the United Kingdom.
History
The company was founded by
David K.S. Tse,
Kumiko Mendl,
Tom Wu
Tom Wu (born 15 May 1972) is a Hong Kong-born British actor who grew up in Chinatown, London. He is a martial arts expert who has appeared in films such as ''Revolver'', ''Shanghai Knights'', '' Batman Begins'' and the Bollywood film '' Ra.One'' ...
,
Veronica Needa and
Kwong Loke.
David K.S. Tse was the Artistic Director 1995-2008;
Jonathan Man and
Philippe Cherbonnier co-Artistic Directors 2009-2010; and
Kumiko Mendl the current Artistic Director from 2011–present. In 2017, Mendle spoke out on this issue of under representation of actors with Asian heritage. Self-identifying as
British Asian
British Asians (also referred to as Asian Britons) are British citizens of Asian descent. They constitute a significant and growing minority of the people living in the United Kingdom, with 6.9% of the population identifying as Asian/Asian Brit ...
, she stated that there were "a great many wonderful, talented British Asian actors, but we get few enough roles as it is, because we're not seen as English".
Awards
*Pearl Award for Creative Endeavour (2004)
*Windrush Award (Arts Achievement) to
David K.S. Tse, 2004)
*Sainsbury's Checkout Theatre Award for ''Play to Win''.
Past and present productions
*''New Territories'' by
David K.S. Tse – September 1996
*''Behind the Chinese Takeaway'' by
Erika Tan &
David K.S. Tse – September 1997
*''The Whisper of a Leaf Falling'' by
Philippe Cherbonnier – September 1998
*''Blue Remembered Hills'' by
Dennis Potter
Dennis Christopher George Potter (17 May 1935 – 7 June 1994) was an English television dramatist, screenwriter and journalist. He is best known for his BBC television serials '' Pennies from Heaven'' (1978), ''The Singing Detective'' (198 ...
– September 1999
*''Play to Win'' by
David K.S. Tse – September 2000
*''Rashomon'' adapted by
Philippe Cherbonnier – October 2001
*''Face'' by
Veronica Needa – February 2002 and 2005
*''Typhoon'' supported by
Soho Theatre
The Soho Theatre is a theatre and registered charity in the Soho district of the City of Westminster, in London, England. It produces and presents new works of theatre, together with comedy and cabaret, across three performance spaces.
The the ...
and
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
The Esmée Fairbairn Foundation is a registered charity founded in England in 1961. It is one of the larger independent grant-making foundations based in the UK, funding organisations which aim to improve the quality of life for people and communit ...
– June 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005
*''The Butcher's Skin'' by
Luu Quang Vu – September 2002
*''Lear's Daughters'' by
Elaine Feinstein
Elaine Feinstein FRSL (born Elaine Cooklin; 24 October 1930 – 23 September 2019) was an English poet, novelist, short-story writer, playwright, biographer and translator. She joined the Council of the Royal Society of Literature in 2007.
Earl ...
and
The Women's Theatre Group – November 2003
*''Festival for the Fish'' by
Yu Miri
is a Zainichi Korean playwright, novelist, and essayist. Yu writes in Japanese, her native language, but is a citizen of South Korea.
Early life
Yu was born in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture and grew up in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture as one ...
– January 2004
*''58'' by
Philippe Cherbonnier – October 2004
*''The Nightingale'' adapted by
David K.S. Tse – November 2005
*''King Lear'' adapted by
David K.S. Tse – November 2006 in the West End and Shanghai
*''Running the Silk Road'' by
Paul Sirett
Paul Sirett is an English dramatist best known for his popular music-related shows. His plays and musicals have been awarded Best Off-West End Musical, Whatsonstage's Best Play, Pearson's Best New Play, City Life's Best Writer & Best Play.
Shows
...
– May 2008
*''Boom'' by
Jean Tay – October 2009
*''wAve'' by
Sung Rno – October 2009
*''A Dream of Red Pavilions' by
Jeremy Tiang
Jeremy Tiang (born 17 January 1977) is a Singaporean writer, translator and playwright based in New York City. Tiang won the 2018 Singapore Literature Prize for English fiction for his debut novel, ''State of Emergency'', published in 2017.
Car ...
– 2010
*''Why the Lion Danced'' by
Carey English – January 2011
*''Dim Sum Nights'' – November 2011 – November 2012 by Kumiko Mendl, Claire Sumi, Victoria Shepherd and Thanh Le Dang. Performed by
Oliver Biles, Matthew Leonhart, Tina Chiang and Louise-Mai Newberry.
*''The Chang Institute'' by Kumiko Mendl, Joseph Davies,
Jessica Henwick
Jessica Yu-Li Henwick (born 30 August 1992) is a BAFTA nominated English actress, writer and director. She is known for her roles as Nymeria Sand in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' (2015–2017), X-wing pilot Jessika Pava in the film '' Sta ...
and Thanh Le Dang- July 2012
References
{{reflist
External links
Yellow Earth theatre website
1995 establishments in England
Arts organizations established in 1995
Theatre companies in London