Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) presented Inflections, the third episode of its ongoing monthly ConFest Virtual Series, Healing Over Hate on Monday 28 June at 1 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC -10), 3 p.m. AKDT (Juneau, UTC -8), 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7), 5 p.m. MDT (Denver, UTC -6), 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5), 7 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).
Click here for the full event program.
Second Generation Productions (2g) proudly presents Inflections, five short new works about the undulations of the Asian American life. These 2g commissioned pieces will be presented online as part of the Consortium of Asian American Theatres & Artists (CAATA)’s "Healing Over Hate" Virtual Series, in partnership with Howlround Theatre Commons in Boston, MA, a non-profit organization that operates as part of Emerson College's Office of the Arts. All performances are free and open to the public.
Inflections is curated by as Executive Producer Victor Malana Maog (Disney, American Conservatory Theater, Magic Theater, Cal Shakes) and will showcase exciting new works from Philip Kan Gotanda (Legacy Playwright Initiative Award, Yankee Dawg You Die, The Wash) & composer Shinji Eshima (RAkU and Swimmer, San Francisco Ballet), Mashuq Mushtaq Deen (Draw the Circle, 2019 Lambda Literary Award), Ren Dara Santiago (The Sibling Play, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater), Jade Wu (Disney/ABC Writing Fellow), and Max Yu (Nightwatch, 2019 Relentless Award). Jonathan Castanien (The Sống Collective, Atlantic Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club) produces.
Former 2g Artistic Director Maog states, “Inflections was created against the backdrop of anti-Asian violence and sentiment. There is no more simple, yet powerful theatrical tool than to humanize our Asian American community. Each piece reflects the challenging, joyful, and resilient arc of Asian American lives. I’m moved by this collection of prestigious and visionary artists who are creating new work to respond to this critical moment.”
Second Generation is a NYC-based non-profit that has produced at Carnegie Hall, The New York State Theatre, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and the Public Theater. 2g is one of the country’s most important incubators of Asian-American theatrical talent, developing new plays from a new generation of Asian-American dramatists, providing early-career opportunities for young actors, and reaching out to newer and more diverse audiences.
Second Generation’s mission is to support and develop Asian American stories to the world's stage. 2g provides an artistic home for emerging talent by cultivating a hive of creative activity, both on stage—through developmental programs and performances—and off—through the support and cultivation of a thriving artist community. Over the last 20 years, we have developed over 400 Asian American artists and brought their original work to over 200,00 theatergoers from across New York City.
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
For more information, please visit 2g.org and caata.net.
About the Artists
Philip Kan Gotanda has created one of the largest canon of Asian American-themed works and is instrumental in bringing stories of Asians in the U.S. to mainstream American theater as well as to Europe and Asia. He holds a law degree from Hastings College of Law and studied pottery in Japan with the late Hiroshi Seto. Gotanda is a respected independent filmmaker. His three films: Life Tastes Good, Drinking Tea, The Kiss, all have been presented at the Sundance Film Festival. Gotanda is a professor and vice chair with the Department of Theater Dance and Performance Studies at UC Berkeley. His newest work is the libretto for the opera-play, BOTH EYES OPEN, in collaboration with New York based composer, Max Duykers. https://tdps.berkeley.edu/people/philip-kan-gotanda
Shinji Eshima, born in Berkeley, is a double-bassist in San Francisco Ballet and San Francisco Opera orchestras. He is a graduate of Stanford University and The Juilliard School. In 2011, SF Ballet commissioned him to compose the score for Yuri Possokhov’s RAkU. The ballet has been performed by the Company and ballet companies around the globe, and the score was recorded by the SF Ballet Orchestra and released the following year. Swimmer was his second ballet collaboration with Yuri Possokhov, also commissioned by SF Ballet. A CD recording is due to be released in 2021. In 2019, Carolina Ballet set his Bariolage (for double-bass and cello), choreographed by Robert Weiss and Zalman Grinberg . This led to a commission by that company for a full-length Snow White ballet set to premiere in 2022. His most recent major commission is Zheng, a new opera about the late mezzo-soprano Zheng Cao. He has served on faculty at San Francisco State University, and San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He was the recipient of the Stanford Humanities Award and was honored by the city of Berkeley with a declaration on December 6, 2011, "Shinji Eshima Day," for his contributions to the arts.
Mashuq Mushtaq Deen is a resident playwright at New Dramatists, a PWC Core Writer, and a 2019 Lambda Literary Award Winner. His full-length plays include The Empty Place (NYU commission), Flood, The Betterment Society (published by Methuen Books), The Shaking Earth and Draw the Circle (productions: PlayMakers Rep, Mosaic Theatre, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre; published: Dramatists Play Service; winner Lambda Literary Award). Deen’s work has been presented/developed/supported by a number of institutions including Sundance Institute at Ucross, Blue Mountain Center, The Public Theater, NYTW, MacDowell Colony, Bogliasco Foundation, Helene Wurlitzer Foundation & Chesley/Bumbalo Foundation, Target Margin Theatre, Keen Company, New Harmony Project, Phoenix Theatre, Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, InterAct Theatre, Page73, Ma-Yi, Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics and Queens Theatre in the Park. He is a member of the NYTW Usual Suspects, Ma-Yi Writers Lab, founding member of the Public Theater Alumni Writers Group and the Dramatists Guild. He is represented by the Gurman Agency. https://www.mashuqmushtaqdeen.com/
Ren Dara Santiago, is a Fili-Rican nurturer and storyteller from Harlem. Her plays include All the Time, The Siblings Play, Something in the Balete Tree, SUBLIMINAL and creator and curator as part of the MTA Radio Plays. Her work has been at Clubbed Thumb, The Lark, MCC, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, SPACE on Ryder Farm. Santiago is the co-writer and producer of the feature-length indie anthology, AIN'T IT THOUGH. https://www.rendarasantiago.com/
Jade Wu is a veteran actor, writer, director. She received awards from Disney/ABC Writing Fellowship, Jerome Foundation, Film/Video Arts, Ms. Foundation. She was BlueCat Screenplay Semi-finalist, a PEN USA Rosenthal Emerging Voices Writing Fellowship Finalist. Her plays have had selected readings at the Santa Clara Experimental Festival, Nuyorican Poets Cafe Emerging Playwrights Series and Urban Stages Emerging Playwrights Series. She is a published financial journalist and an award-winning documentary filmmaker. She currently has three original television series in development. In acting, Jade plays lead in Sundance/Humanitas pedigree films and currently recurs on three network primetime series. She has workshopped plays by Alexa Jung, Mia Chung, Susan Soon He Stanton, Leah Nanako Winkler, Teresa Huang, Mashuq Deen, Play On Shakespeare, EST, The Old Globe, New Dramatists, NYTW, NYS&F and Page 73/Yale. Upcoming are SNAKEHEAD, Awkwafina is Nora from Queens and DMZ. https://www.jadewu-artist.com/
Max Yu is a Chinese-American writer and performer from the San Francisco Bay Area who is now based in Shanghai. He has been featured in the New York Times for winning the 2019 Relentless Award for his play, Nightwatch. He is a member of Page 73’s 2021-22 Interstate 73 Writers Group. His plays have been workshopped and developed at Horizon Theater and Shaking the Tree Theater. His poetry and prose have been published in Spittoon and Babel. He studied playwriting at the University of California, Los Angeles. https://maxyu.carrd.co/
Victor Malana Maog (Executive Producer, Inflections), named one of American Theatre Magazine’s inaugural “People to Watch,” has worked at the Public Theater, Working Theater, Second Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Play On!/Classic Stage Company, New Dramatists, The Lark, Page 73/Yale, Signature Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, The Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep, Cal Shakes, Magic Theatre, etc. He also directed for ABC/Disney’s Casting Project and created live events, spectaculars, and experiences at Disney Parks Live Entertainment. Most recently, he’s directed for virtual celebrity charity events featuring Alan Menken, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bebe Neuwirth, David Cross and Daniel Dae Kim. Former Artistic Director, 2g. Immediate Past President, CAATA. Currently, he’s the Visiting Professor in Theatre at St. Mary’s College of California. BA, NYU/Gallatin. https://www.victormaog.com/
Jonathan Castanien (Producer, Inflections) is a stage manager, producer and co-founder of the Sống Collective. He has stage managed at companies including The Atlantic Theater Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, BAM, Lincoln Center Theater, The Public and Artists at Play. With the Sống Collective he produces work that aims to amplify the voices from the Vietnamese diaspora and provide creative space for Artists of Color. Jonathan holds a BA in Theatre Design and Production from CSU Fullerton. He is an alumnus of artEquity’s National Facilitator Training and was included in American Theatre Magazine’s December 2018 “People to Watch” list. https://jonathancastanien.com/
About Healing Over Hate
“Inflections ” is the third episode of CAATA’s Healing Over Hate, an online series addressing the dramatic rise in anti-Asian hate, bias, and discrimination during the pandemic. While the series will center the needs of the AAPI community, providing them resources and actionable strategies for healing, safety, and activism, all are invited to watch the series to further their empowerment and ability to move safely through the world. CAATA produces this series in alliance with Black, Indigenous, Latin, Middle Eastern North African communities and all communities of color.
Healing Over Hate is being produced in partnership with HowlRound Theatre Commons in Boston, MA, a nonprofit organization that operates as part of Emerson Collegeʻs Office of the Arts. HowlRound provides a free and open platform for theatre-makers worldwide that amplifies progressive, disruptive ideas about the art form and facilitates connection between diverse practitioners. Healing Over Hate will be presented on HowlRound TV, HowlRoundʻs global, commons-based peer produced, open access live streaming and video archive project.
About CAATA
The mission of The Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists (CAATA) is to advance the field of Asian American theater through a national network of organizations and artists. We collaborate to inspire learning and sharing of knowledge, and resources to promote a healthy, sustainable artistic ecology. (CAATA) envisions a strong and sustainable Asian American theater community that is an integral presence in national culture—evocative of our past, declarative of our present, and innovative towards our future. As a collective of Asian American theater leaders and artists, we bring together local and regional leaders to work nationally toward our shared values of social justice, artistic diversity, cultural equity and inclusion. We hold national conferences and festivals biennially in different parts of the country, reaching as wide a range of Asian American populations and communities as possible. We survey Asian American theater artists and organizations to find out their foremost concerns. We form alliances with other theater groups of different affinities to advance mutual goals cooperatively and to exchange ideas and strategies. Learn more at caata.net.
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