For the first time ever in the UK for a professional production, an all ESEA (East and South East Asian) cast has been announced for Turandot. Puccini’s famous final opera has its roots in Central and South Asian literature and is set in China, but has never had a professional production in the UK with an Asian cast. This radical reimagining, which places Turandot in the modern day and explores the East’s role in today’s society as a tech giant, is at Arcola Theatre’s Grimeborn Festival this August. As well as the all ESEA cast, Turandot boasts a majority ESEA creative team, reclaiming this production and traditional tale for the ESEA community while tackling historic orientalist tropes including yellowface in the opera.
The eponymous Turandot is played by Reiko Fukuda, opposite James Liu as Calaf. They are joined by Michael CT Lam; Heming Li; Siyu Shen; Aina Miyagi Magnell; Salome Siu; Jacob Bettinelli; Benjie del Rosario; Mandy Liu; Anna Vienna Ho; Priscilla Fong; Andrew McClarty and Thomas Ang.
Ahead of run at Arcola Theatre’s Grimeborn Festival I chatted with cast members James Liu and Aina Miyagi Magnell to discuss the show in more detail.
Where did your performing journey begin?
Aina: Growing up in Stockholm, Sweden, I went to a choir school from the age of 10, called Adolf Fredrik’s music school. Whenever the Royal Opera House in Stockholm needed a children’s ensemble they auditioned children from my school and I was very grateful to do my first chorus job in Queen of Spades in 2009. I later came back to the Royal Opera House in Carmen and a second season of Queen of Spades. My performance journey really began there, and my curiosity for opera and love for performing grew from there.
James: I started having singing lessons at secondary school when I was 13 years old, during the time when X Factor and other talent shows were on the rise in popularity. I was fascinated with the idea of 'learning' how to sing and decided to explore this. From my first lesson, I was very much hooked, and performed at school until the age of 18. After leaving school, I decided to pursue music for a career, beginning my studies at the Guildhall School.
Aina: Growing up in Stockholm, Sweden, I went to a choir school from the age of 10, called Adolf Fredrik’s music school. Whenever the Royal Opera House in Stockholm needed a children’s ensemble they auditioned children from my school and I was very grateful to do my first chorus job in Queen of Spades in 2009. I later came back to the Royal Opera House in Carmen and a second season of Queen of Spades. My performance journey really began there, and my curiosity for opera and love for performing grew from there.
James: I started having singing lessons at secondary school when I was 13 years old, during the time when X Factor and other talent shows were on the rise in popularity. I was fascinated with the idea of 'learning' how to sing and decided to explore this. From my first lesson, I was very much hooked, and performed at school until the age of 18. After leaving school, I decided to pursue music for a career, beginning my studies at the Guildhall School.
Can you tell me a little bit about your characters and how they fit into the piece?
Aina: I am singing the role of Xiang (Pang) in this reimagining of Puccini’s Turandot. In this production our trio, Ming, Xiangand Feng, are considered more as creators of the world of Turandot, the videogame version of this world. We are programmers who have created this game and its rules, and we have the ability to be inside the game world of Turandot as well as being present in the real world. Throughout the opera we master the story and act almost like puppeteers, giving this version of the trio much more power than a traditional adaption of the opera.
James: In this production, Calaf is one of the main protagonists. He is arguably strong-willed and ambitious, but his choices of pursuit come into question as the opera develops, obsessing over the idea of 'winning' this artificial entity known as Turandot, neglecting everything else in his pursuit, including reality.
Aina: Having the opportunity to perform an opera with such great vision and dedication to representation was really the main attraction. Puccini’s music is also something I have dreamed of doing but not gotten the chance to, so when they announced that Ping, Pang and Pong might be recast as women my curiosity was immediately awakened.
James: Turandot has been my favourite opera from a young age, mainly from my introduction to the aria 'Nessun Dorma'. This was an amazing opportunity for me to finally explore the music and character of Calaf but in a much less traditional production, allowing me to bring my own personal interpretation of the character.
James: I feel that East and South East Asian singers are still massively underrepresented in the UK. To be given a lead role in such a cast is a real privilege and the first time I've seen this happen, for any opera production in this country. It's an amazing opportunity for us to showcase the talent of such performers and to make some important statements about the opera industry, such as challenging the use of Yellowface.
Aina: It is an absolutely incredible experience working with an all East and South East Asian cast. An absolute privilege. I feel so proud being a part of this cast. When I look around the rehearsal space and realise I am in a room full of talented and inspirational singers, who share the same heritage as me, I feel immensely honoured. It is really special.
James: The biggest challenge I had was delving into the impact that modern technology and social media has on us nowadays, both as individuals and as a society. Discussing and researching our society's obsession with social media or any other online presence was often very revealing. These are the aspects that I hope to bring out in my interpretation of Calaf.
Aina: Because of this radical reimagining of the dramaturgy, I chose to come into the production with an open and flexible mind. This take on the story has really sparked amazing conversations and every time we start rehearsals something new pops up and by the end of the day our vision and understanding for the production has deepened. I believe our constant conversation about what we think and feel have helped form this performance and build our characters together.
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| James Liu |
How do you approach putting your own stamp on the characters?
Aina: The fact that they’ve recast my role to a mezzo-soprano I think already puts a stamp on my character. The energy and group chemistry me and my colleagues Salome (Ming) and Siyu (Feng) have created is really intriguing and far from the Ping, Pang and Pong we usually see. Our power and high hierarchy position in this production has elevated the roles into something very profound and tempting. Having our female voices singing these roles has brought a change to the musical experience of this opera.James: I've been a big fan of Turandot for many years and in all the productions I've seen, I've always viewed Calaf as a courageous and heroic figure, almost like one from a fairy-tale. Having studied Puccini's writing and this specific interpretation of the score, I've found I can relate to the character more than I realised, purely because of how human I've discovered him to be. I've therefore become far more interested in bringing out his flaws, ones that we see in people on a daily basis. Calaf's character is far more of obsession, neglect and infatuation. I think this will allow the audience to connect and recognise the character of Calaf more as someone who is familiar, rather than a legendary hero from a fantasy.
James: I've been a big fan of Turandot for many years and in all the productions I've seen, I've always viewed Calaf as a courageous and heroic figure, almost like one from a fairy-tale. Having studied Puccini's writing and this specific interpretation of the score, I've found I can relate to the character more than I realised, purely because of how human I've discovered him to be. I've therefore become far more interested in bringing out his flaws, ones that we see in people on a daily basis. Calaf's character is far more of obsession, neglect and infatuation. I think this will allow the audience to connect and recognise the character of Calaf more as someone who is familiar, rather than a legendary hero from a fantasy.
Aina: The more we work on this opera, the more the inclusion of tech world in the story falls into place. Our obsession over social media and the addiction to the online world is so prominent in our every day lives, and this adaption of the opera becomes a way to show the audience the absurdity in our priorities. There is a lack of communication and neglect between important real-life relationships caused by our constant need to be online and available virtually. I think this production does a great job emphasising that loss of humanity, and also goes to show that opera can be brought into modern life and adapted to our current audience.
Aina: Having great colleagues and being part of a supporting, understanding and nourishing team. It is so great to be able to work with one’s passion, and being surrounded by an amazing group of people is just the most amazing thing. It expands my joy, awakens my curiosity and makes me braver in artistic choices.
James: As I've gotten older, I'm finding the things that keep me inspired, are actually things not to do with Opera or Classical music. As well as keeping my interests broad within the Arts, I also try and broaden my hobbies and activities outside of my work. I believe a performer with riches in life experience makes for a much more complex and interesting artist. I'm then able to integrate these experiences into my artistry and work as a performer.
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| Aina Miyagi Magnell |
Aina: I want the audience to see the immense talent that this East and South Asian Heritage artists possess. I also want people to cherish the present and their loved ones. This production is so ambitious and with so much vision of what opera can be. It can be inclusive, it can fit modern society, it questions the male gaze, takes a stand against exotification. The stories can be told in a way that fits today’s modern audiences.
James: Almost everything in the Arts is subjective and like with many things in life, I think it's important to always have an open mind. Opera doesn't have to always be produced 'traditionally'. There are always complex layers to the music, the libretto and the story itself. Nothing is as straight forward as it seems or as others might tell us. I'd like everyone to walk away from this production of Turandot feeling moved, but also inspired and encouraged.
Turandot runs at Arcola Theatre’s Grimeborn Festival in London from Wednesday 23rd until Saturday 26th August, visit https://www.arcolatheatre.com/whats-on/turandot/ for tickets.
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