Colorful Flags "Life Ain't No Crystal Stair"


Ethnic Mistrust: "Life Ain't No Crystal Stair"
(Review)			Executive Producer Saul Landau an Emmy Award Winner
Producer/Director Martina Newberry			Joon Kim and Darrell Washington

SYNOPSIS

CREDITS: CAST - PRODUCTION - MUSIC

OBJECTIVE	To stimulate candid dialogue by exploring a wide range of stereotypes and misconceptions about different ethnic groups
CONTEXT	This play is about two young men in college, one is an African American and the other Korean. They have been sitting at the same bus stop for one year. They have never spoken. The audience is exposed to what each of the two individuals is thinking. Rigid stereotypes about each ethnic group are revealed when these two individuals think aloud through soliloquy.

STORYLINE	The Korean gentleman begins to intern at a local YMCA. His mentor is a 60 year African American who has a doctoral degree in civil engineering. He gave up a career as a university professor to make a full time commitment to the community. As the Korean gentleman's supervisor and subsequent mentor, he breaks down many stereotypes that the Korean gentleman has held about African Americans. The African American gentleman experiences a near fatal accident. The person responsible for rehabilitating him is a Korean nurse. She does not expose him to Korean culture per se but she does expose him to ancient Chinese therapeutic techniques. During his rehabilitation, he is exposed to acupuncture and ancient Asian herbal medicine. Through this experience, he gains a deep appreciation for Asian culture and its contributions to society. Ultimately, the two young men speak to each other and realize that they have more in common than they could ever have imagined.

This is a production of ITAC, Instructional Technology and Academic Computing, at California Polytechnic Unversity, Pomona, made for the Colorful Flags Program

Instructional Version Copyright 2007 Renford Reese, Ph.D.
Orginal Copyright 1999 Renford Reese, Ph.D.