Interview with David Tse, assistant director for Typhoon Live: Getting Married and Dogs

Interviewer: How you came to be involved in Yellow Earth?

David: It was back, I think, way back in 1990, certain political events going on in East Asia, I wanted some artistic response to support I suppose our fellow East Asians, who sometimes don' t have the same freedoms that we enjoy in the West. So I think the first time that Yellow Earth was mentioned was in 1990 when I organised a rehearsed reading of something in response to an event that happened in 1989. And then the second time was in 1993 when the Dalai Lama was visiting this country and again I felt that the East Asian sector ought to have some kind of voice about that particular issue. And then between 1993 and 1995 a lot of the actors I' d worked with on those rehearsed readings were very keen that I try to apply for funding and get Yellow Earth started to produce a full production. But obviously with any new company it was very difficult without a track record. So we spent two years organising a lot of rehearsed readings trying to prove that we could contribute to the British Theatre scene as well as the East Asian sector. And then it was by chance that Polka Theatre commissioned me as a writer to adapt something called The Magic Paintbrush which did very well both commercially and critically and as a result of that I got my first very small grant from the London Borough Grants Community Scheme that was around then. And that enabled me to do a workshop performance of a piece that became New Territories, so in 1995 that was made on a very small budget, I wrote and directed it and the Arts Council saw it and loved it and asked me to apply for funding to tour it. So that' s how Yellow Earth got started I suppose through my desire to help the British East Asian community in this country and particularly the artist have a voice, have a voice that would break through that glass ceiling that currently exists. And also, move us from a state of invisibility that also currently exists to one of being accepted, integrated into the mainstream and also would play a vital role in the cultural life of this country.