Fil-Am director Jennifer Chang on her two plays, her challenges, and making it in Hollywood

Los Angeles — If you look at the entertainment scene in Los Angeles, there are two plays that are currently showing almost at the same time and are both being directed by the same female director, Jennifer Chang, a Filipino-Chinese-American.

Jennifer is the director of the Chalk Repertory Theatre’s “Death and Cockroaches” and the East West Players’ “Vietgone,” having been a 2018 New York Drama League Directing Fellow and the Assistant Director on the Broadway World Premiere of Theresa Rebeck’s Bernhardt/Hamlet (Roundabout).

A faculty member at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) Department of Theatre and Dance, Jennifer also serves as the current Head of Undergraduate Acting, and is a professional actor.

“Death and Cockroaches,” which is shown at the Atwater Village Theatre until December 1st, features a ‘Chexican’ family — part Chinese and part Mexican — and is loosely based on aspiring gay playwright Eric Loo’s own cross-cultural upbringing in Downey. It is an irreverently honest story told from the point-of-view of a playwright in his own play about confronting grief and disappointment.

“Vietgone,” on the other hand, is about a boy and a girl, Quang and Tong, who are refugees fleeing the Vietnam War, and who hook up and fall in love in a relocation camp in Arkansas. It takes audiences on a hilariously rip-roaring ride across 1970's America with a hot soundtrack that serves up hip-hop, sass, and revolution. 

Below is our interview with the talented and hardworking Jennifer Chang.

Photo courtesy of Peter Wylie

How did you get involve with “Death and Cockroaches”? Why did you say yes to the project?

I'm a founding member of Chalk Repertory Theatre and was asked to direct the developmental reading of the project. I said yes, because I love the script!

You are also involved in East West Players' “Vietgone”. Please tell us how you got involved here and why you wanted to do it?

Snehal Desai, the artistic director asked me to direct and specifically asked for a fresh take on the play. I have loved the play since I first saw the production at South Coast Rep. I've been involved in many capacities at East West (actor, teacher, director) and feel honored to be invited back to tell such an epic story.

Tell us more about your Filipino roots.

My parents are both from the Philippines. My mother's family is from General Trias, Cavite and Bacolod and my father's family is from Jolo, Sulu in Mindanao, by way of China. 

My mother's family language is Tagalog and Bisaya and my Father's is Tausug and Hokkien (derived from the Fujian province).  My parents are both retired now, but my mother was an RN and my father worked in the I & E department for Chevron USA at the refinery in Richmond, CA as well as having a side hustle as a contractor.

Were you raised a Filipino, Chinese, American or a combination of all?

My father and mother emigrated with and lived with my mother's family for many years when they first arrived in the USA. When I was born, my mother's extended family and my nuclear family lived in the same house in Daly City, so I grew up speaking Tagalog and being Filipino. 

The challenge is that I don't physically appear to be Filipino, so growing up I would say that I was more accepted into East Asian circles against South East Asian ones.  Doing theatre, very few of my friends were Asian, unless I was doing an Asian show.  Ultimately I feel distinctly American.

How challenging was it to choose your career path and be where you are today? What obstacles did you encounter?

Challenging but rewarding. Obstacles include financial instability in the freelance life, constant rejection that is part of the artistic life. It can be challenging to have discipline and perseverance in the face of the difficulties. I now have a faculty position as the head of Undergraduate Acting and UC San Diego, which has provided stability, but it can be even trickier to balance everything and make time for the art I want to do and all my work and family obligations.

Are you the only one in your family involved in entertainment? 

On my mother's side, yes I am the only artist. On my father's side, I have a cousin who is a musician (violin, vocals) actor and stylist. My mother is one of eight and my father is one of 14. I only have one sister. 

I was originally pre-med when I set off for college at NYU but transferred into Tisch for a BFA and ended up double majoring in Drama (Acting) and Psychology.

They were pretty disappointed that it was "all I wanted to do with my life."  Even now, I'm pretty sure that if I changed my mind and did something seemingly more responsible/ stable, they would be relieved.

Do you think Hollywood is now more open to accepting Asians in the various entertainment positions as actor, director or writer? Or do you think more work is to be done by the Asian community to be accepted and involved?

Yes to both.  I think the door is wider now than when I first got out of school (both times for undergrad and grad school), and I think there are more people like me who have had the training and are working and persevering. 

But I also think that Asian Americans often rely on their work speaking for itself. We have to learn (myself included) how to advocate for ourselves whatever our fields or disciplines are.

Who are your support groups in the industry in order to be heard and seen?

Other alumni from the MFA Theatre Program at UC San Diego, many of whom are my collaborators at Chalk Rep;  the community at East West Players.

How do you choose your projects and what are your other upcoming projects?

With regards to directing, I have to love the script and/or the people involved.  It's a labor of love and no one gets paid nearly enough on any project so I always think of it as a chance for collaborative joy. If it isn't joyful then why do it.

What would you advice a young Asian girl who would like to be like you?

I say, find what you love and if you do what you love, work can be joyful and meaningful and not seem, well, like work. You end up working hard, but the effort expended feels like an awesome workout and not like a spirit breaking ordeal. 

Life is too short to not do what you love.  But at the same time, I don't believe in starving or martyrdom.  I believe creativity comes from a soft, vulnerable place, therefore you have to feel safe in order for your creativity to emerge. — LA, GMA News