Show Performer mystifies with JohnB John B. B Colaizzi Contributing Writer I T had the opportunity of watching Brenda Wong Aoki tell an amusing 1 anecdote to two members of her family and the expressiveness of her face and range of voice was astonishing When she spoke of an older Japanese man it was as if he were sitting at the table with us She has been involved in creating an Asian-American Asian voice in the performing arts since the She has studied d with masters in Japan learning traditional forms including Noh and Brenda is truly a a storyteller who brings her characters to life with the full power of her being She brought her movement workshop and performance to on April 27 are equally qually time consuming yet she prefers performing to teaching Brenda's show pre-show routine is to wash her hair then sit on the stage and make peace with the space space to feel the properties of the stage and auditorium She seeks a fresh emotional subtext before fore each performance For instance if a scene calls for anger she focuses on the last time she was angry These ritual a acts ts make her feel secure on stage She is on stage alone so the feeling of security is important There is no other oth actor to make eye contact with for support if she flubs Brenda says her favorite audience is made up of compassionate people They immediately understand characters and get into the performance Talking to the audience is important to her I need to relate to the audience to establish a dialogue She views the audience as a microcosm of the community and often finds it challenging to work in a community where people are out of work sometimes due to competition with Japan Her worst audience was in the East in a town that had lost a lot of jobs to Japanese imports One section of the audience was borderline drunk and throwing cans at her while chanting Ching chong thong Chinaman go goback goback goback back to Japan She had difficulty getting enough security to act The public is not as aware of racial radal slurs when directed towards persons of Asian descent She believes that Asian anti-Asian sentiment is rampant in America If someone were calling to a black performer Get that off the stage there wouldn't be a problem getting a response from security personnel Brenda is Japanese Chinese Spanish and Scots and born bom in Utah She tells of an experience when a student from a college she was to perform at met her at the airport After the car ride the student complimented complimented complimented her on her English When asked the student student told Brenda his grandparents were from Germany She commented that his English was very good for a German Mt Y N 3 Ltv t t t J P fr f 1 y a i 1 4 w k |