Thought 1 - Milton LimOctober 21

My name is Milton Lim and this is my first thought residency. This first thought goes out to all the torchbearers I have been thinking a lot about what diversity in the arts feels like the usual feelings of an uphill battle, of hurt feelings, of misunderstandings, of people struggling to have their voices heard, fighting against being made invisible. I am currently performing a show called "King of the Yees" at The Gateway Theatre in Richmond BC. The piece was written by an American playwright named Lauren Yee, directed by Sherry Yoon and it features 5 Asian-Canadian performers. I think all of us in the cast knew that the show would feel special, if only because of the nation-wide discussions around diversity and seeing more people of colour on stage. But I think the most surprising thing was that we didn't know what the process would feel like. One of my cast mates Donna Soares once remarked to me that this show feels easy, that our task wasn't to do external research like other shows but a lot of inward reflection instead. This opportunity to bring our own lived experience into the studio and seeing it paralleled so directly in the world of the show has felt so rewarding and affirming. We've been laughing telling stories and connecting to a part of ourselves that we don't often get to share while doing plays. I don't often do character acting as part of my practice, so to have all of this within a theatre setting feels refreshing. There is still a lot of work to be done but it's nice to know that this is also what diversity in the arts can feel like.