By Meghan Power
During the 100-year anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act, stories about the history and journeys of Chinese-Canadians who lived through those dark years were being shared and difficult conversations about how the consequences of the act, still being felt generations later, were being had in Calgary’s Chinese community (and in many Chinese-Canadian communities across the country). It was out of these conversations and shared histories that Rebecca Wong saw a story emerge.
The title, Harmony, has dual meaning. First, harmony as a traditional Chinese cultural value, thousands of years old. Rebecca explains, “It helps us to keep good relationships in families, social circles, workplaces and the community at large. However, it also prevents us from speaking up and confronting others when facing injustice and oppression.” Secondly, Rebecca notes how Harmony can be used as a musical term: the combination of many sounds or voices, together, to form a unified sound that is pleasing to the ears. Also speaking to Rebeccca’s belief that a musical can be both educational and healing.
The collective also saw value in the musical as a way to offer new Chinese immigrants a sense of belonging and unity while addressing the struggles of adapting to a new life in Canada. Many Chinese-Canadians still experience racialized treatment and discrimination. Rebecca believes there are a lot of Chinese people who often do not stand up to racism, “because our cultural traditions often teach us to avoid conflict and to live harmoniously.”
With a big idea, but not a lot of financial resources to pull off a full-scale musical production, funding from Calgary Arts Development”s (CADA) ArtShare program was essential to make Harmony the Musical a success. “CADA was very supportive to our project,” says Wong.
“We consulted with community stakeholders and partnered with nonprofit organizations. We interviewed descendants of early Chinese immigrants who suffered under the Chinese Exclusion Act. And we shared their stories on social media as a way to honour the early Chinese immigrants and to educate the public. During the musical, subtitles were displayed for English speaking audience members. Many English speaking attendees were very touched, and we heard that some of them even cried.”
As her first experience producing a large-scale musical production, Rebecca was surprised and overwhelmed by local enthusiasm and interest. “I think the most meaningful part, for me, was that it brought more than 60 local Calgarians, who love theatre, together. It was a wonderful, positive, and educational experience for everyone involved.”