May 28 - The Asia & Pacific Islander Student Center and the Theatre Department invite all alumni to take a glimpse into our ever-changing multicultural world in a staged reading of “The House Guest from Xinjiang,” a new play by C.Y. Lee and ChorSwang Ngin. Admission is free. Seating is limited. For reservations call (909) 869-5025 or e-mail apisc@csupomona.edu. For more information visit www.dsa.csupomona.edu/apisc.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008
5:30 to 8 p.m.
Show begins 6 p.m.
Q&A 7 p.m.
Bronco Student Center, Ursa Major C
Cal Poly Pomona
Parking is $5

”The House Guest from Xinjiang” explores the transformation of a Chinese Hui Muslim female student attending a diverse university in Los Angeles. By depicted the student’s relationship with her host family, the play examines mutual cultural misunderstanding, ethnic awakening, bigotry and accommodation. The performance will be followed by a rare opportunity for dialogue with renowned author C.Y. Lee, co-writer ChorSwang Ngin and the cast.

Q&A will be facilitated by alumni Amir Mertaban.

XinJiang is in the northwestern area of China. The Hui people are an ethnic minority, typically distinguished by their practice of Islam. “The House Guest from Xinjiang” attempts to answer the following questions: Are misunderstandings always cultural and religious, or are they brought about by postcolonial class and gendered upbringing? How does “House Guest” provoke critical reflection on what it takes to live in a multicultural society? In the intimate daily details of eating, living and falling in love, what are the cherished habits we are reluctant to give up?

About the Writers

C.Y. Lee, born in 1917, is the best-selling author of “The Flower Drum Song.” The Chinese-American novelist emigrated in 1943, worked for a time as a journalist in San Francisco and graduated from Yale University in 1947 with an MFA in playwriting. “The Flower Drum Song” was adapted into a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical in 1958 and a feature film in 1961. Lee’s work was among the first films with an all Asian-American cast to be popularized in American theater and film. In 2001, the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles premiered David Henry Hwang’s revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Flower Drum Song” to glowing reviews. The show later moved to Broadway.

ChorSwang Ngin is professor and chair of anthropology and director of Asian and American studies at Cal State L.A. She has done extensive ethnographic and consulting work in China, Malaysia, Indonesia and Southern California. Her research includes the relationship between race, ethnicity and culture as expressed in Asian and Asian-American issues. Ngin has received grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation. Using broad-based knowledge about Asia and Asian America, and a specialization in the anthropological understanding of race, culture and ethnicity, Ngin consults on asylum applications from Southeast Asia. She has been a board member of the Orange County Human Relations Council since 1992 and a member of the Orange County Sheriff’s Community Coalition since 1998.

The play is sponsored by the Asian & Pacific Islander Student Center, the Theatre Department, the Weglyn Endowed Chair for Multicultural Studies, the Asia & the Pacific Islands Heritage Month Committee, Associated Students, Inc. and the Office of Student Life & Cultural Centers.