news Theater group pulls play from Sheffield venue staging Miss Saigon | Theater

A touring theater company has pulled a play from the Sheffield Crucible because of the venue's decision to also stage Miss Saigon, a musical often criticized for its portrayal of

the Vietnam war and Vietnamese people.In a statement, New Earth Theatre, a company of British east and south-east Asian (BESEA) artists and co-producers Storyhouse said: “Miss

Saigon remains a very contentious musical since its release over 30 years ago … The damaging tropes, misogyny and racism inherent in the show completely contradict [our] values

​​and beliefs.”The company's teams had concerns that “working alongside a musical that perpetuates deeply held notions of inferior Asianity would impact their wellbeing.

Our commitment to our cast, creatives and technical staff needs to come first.” The two shows were scheduled for next summer.Sheffield Theatres, which runs the Crucible, said it

respected the decision. “There is no denying that past versions of this story have provoked strong reactions and feelings. We have approached this new production sensitive to

this and believe this is a chance for us to engage in a fresh way with a majority east and south-east Asian company reframing the story,” it said in a statement.The Crucible's

creative team had been in “close conversation with members of the BESEA community and are keen to continue discussing their plans with concerned artists to keep a positive and

inclusive dialogue open”.Miss Saigon opened in London's West End in 1989, and later transferred to Broadway. It was produced by Cameron Mackintosh, who owns the rights.Based on

Puccini's 1904 opera Madama Butterfly, it tells the story of a teenage Vietnamese sex worker who falls in love with an American GI and becomes pregnant, but is abandoned by him

when the city falls.Sheffield Theatres' publicity for next year's production describes it as an “epic love story” that is passionate, poignant and unforgettable.It has won more

than 40 awards, including two Oliviers and three Tonys, and has been performed in at least 28 countries and in 15 languages.But it has also come under fire. When it opened in

London in 1989, Jonathan Pryce, who played the leading part of a pimp called the Engineer, wore prosthetics to alter the shape of his eyes, and makeup to give him an Asian

appearance. Within a few years, producers cast only actors of Asian heritage for the part.The criticism went beyond casting. In 2017, Viet Thanh Nguyen, a Pulitzer prize-winning

Vietnamese-American writer, said the show “fits perfectly into the way that Americans, and Europeans, have imagined the Vietnam war as a racial and sexual fantasy that negates