Interview: Sara Porkalob Reclaims a Racial Slur in DRAGON LADY

Currently in previews at The Geffen Playhouse, Sara Porkalob’s Dragon Lady officially opens September 12, 2024. Andrew Russell directs Sara backed by musicians Pete Irving, Mickey Stylin and Jimmy Austin.

Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Sara!

The Dragon Lady is Part One of your trilogy The Dragon Cycle which you premiered in 2018.  Part Two Dragon Mama premiered 2019. Is Part Three Dragon Baby already written?

Dragon Baby is currently in development: the current draft is a weird, radical, form-defying 3-act musical under 120 minutes… but it has another evolution in store.

What would your three-line pitch for Dragon Lady be?

On the evening of her 60th birthday, the Matriarch of the Porkalob clan decides to share a secret from her shady past with one lucky grandchild and ends up revealing more than she intended. Three generations of Porkalob women, lots of karaoke, maybe a murder, and 1 DRAGON LADY.

The Dragon Lady you refer to in this play is your grandmother Maria Porkalob, Sr. What does the moniker Dragon Lady mean to you? Does Dragon Lady have a different meaning to your grandmother?

Dragon Lady is an old racial slur meant to depict an Asian woman who is sexual, cunning, and deceitful. I wanted to reclaim and redefine the moniker as a term of empowerment, on my own terms. For my grandmother it has become a title of pride. She didn’t think her life of survival was that extraordinary but after seeing how audiences and the community responded to her life story… she was able to see it in a different light and become proud of her accomplishments, her choices.

Has your grandmother seen Dragon Lady?

Ha, ha, ha, yes. Many times.

What was her initial reaction?

In this order: disbelief, curiosity, intense emotions, pride, love.

What did your mother think of Dragon Mama?

The same as the above. She was startled at first to see her life depicted onstage, startled to see how I embodied the past, moments of her life that I obviously wasn’t alive yet to see and understand… and then she was overwhelmed with pride and love for me, the family, and herself.

What cosmic forces brought you and Andrew Russell together for this project?

The Seattle theater community brought Andrew and I together! He was the AD of Intiman Theater and had implemented a radical form of shared leadership called the Co-Curator program and I was approached to be the Co-Curator for their 2017/18 season. It was during this time that our working relationship began.

What do you remember of the very first night of your Broadway debut you stepped onto a Broadway stage in the production of 1776 in 2022?

I remember thinking: “I thought this would feel different than it does. I wish my family was here right now.”

What did you want to be growing up – an actress or a writer?

I wanted to do everything and defy definition by doing everything well so that people wouldn’t be able to pinpoint one or two titles for me.

What’s up next for Sara Porkalob? An acting role? Or finding a venue for Dragon Baby?

Everything. We’re doing a production of LADY in Bay this fall at Center Theater in Walnut Creek. I have big goals for 2025 specifically as a writer and producer; expanding into TV and film are the big ones.

Thank you again, Sara! I look forward to meeting your Dragon Lady.

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