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Asian American Theatre

This section features conversations about or videos of work created by Asian American theatre artists, as well as discussions about issues Asian American artists face. Jane Jung and Victor Maog’s 2014 series Asian American Theatre is a great place to start, or check out the videos in the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists ConFest Virtual Series.

The Latest

Full of Wonder with Mica Rose
Podcast
Full of Wonder with Mica Rose
by Yura Sapi, Mica Rose
15 March 2023
Everything Everywhere: Perspectives from “Third-Culture” Theatremakers in the Sinophone Community
Essay
Everything Everywhere: Perspectives from “Third-Culture” Theatremakers in the Sinophone Community
by Livian Yeh
8 September 2022
"The Molecules Changed in the Room": Creating a Play from Real Asian Women’s Desires, Dreams, and Heartaches
Essay
"The Molecules Changed in the Room": Creating a Play from Real Asian Women’s Desires, Dreams, and Heartaches
by Amy Zhang, Danielle Iwata
3 May 2022
Photo from Yellow Face.
Why is Jewish Theater Producing Asian American Plays?
Essay

Why is Jewish Theater Producing Asian American Plays?

12 March 2014

We chose to do "Yellow Face" because of the meaningful questions it raises about the parameters of identity. We chose to do "Yellow Face" because of the revealing and resonant glimpse it gives at immigrant families in the United States; because of its multi-layered examination of the “American Dream”; because of the uproarious and irreverent way it uses humor to expose darker themes. We chose to do "Yellow Face" because clearly, it’s a Jewish play!

Asian Ghosts in American Theatre conversation at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival Symposium
Video

Asian Ghosts in American Theatre conversation at the Bay Area Playwrights Festival Symposium

Saturday 27 July 2013
San Francisco, CA, United States

This symposium at Bay Area Playwrights Festival, produced by the Playwrights Foundation, San Francisco, livestreamed on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 27 July at 2:00 p.m. PDT (San Francisco) / 4:00 p.m. CDT (Austin) / 5:00 p.m. EDT (Toronto) / 21:00 GMT.

A person wearing a scarf smiles at the camera.
My Parents Were Tiger People
Essay

My Parents Were Tiger People

christopher oscar peña chats about writing race with A. Rey Pamatmat

19 May 2013

christopher oscar peña and A. Rey Pamatmat talk about writing race in plays.

Asian American Theater in Seattle
Essay

Asian American Theater in Seattle

10 May 2012

Kathy Hsieh calls for artists to take action, flex their playwriting muscle and create the stories you want to see on stage. It is a way of being pro-active of how your community grows.

illustrations of freedom fighters yuri and malcolm x.
Home: Asian Voices Reading Series
Series

Home: Asian Voices Reading Series

Since the start of the pandemic last year, Asian Americans have faced constant and deadly racist violence. “Stop AAPI Hate,” a reporting database, received 3,795 reports of anti-Asian-American discrimination between March 19, 2020, and Feb. 28, 2021; women reported hate incidents at 2.3 times the rate of men. The LA Writers Center asked "what can we do?" We think by telling more Asian American stories, we can affirm that this community is a vital part of the American narrative. With this in mind, we are launching the "Home: Asian Voices Reading Series".

actors performing onstage.
Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists ConFest Virtual Series
Series

Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists ConFest Virtual Series

Kuʻu ʻĀina, Kuʻu Piko, Kuʻu Kahua - Return to the Source

The virtual series will explore the theme of the upcoming 7th Annual Asian American Theater Festival & Conference (ConFest) “Kuʻu ʻĀina, Kuʻu Piko, Kuʻu Kahua - Return to the Source” in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi in May 2021, which centers the voices of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander theater practitioners, and will feature the thriving theater community of Hawaiʻi, where Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander faces on stage are the norm, not the exception.

AATAB Online, on top of turquoise leaves
AATAB Online
Series

AATAB Online

A virtual reading series

We've gathered theatre artists from the AATAB community, the Boston theatre community, and friends across the country that are now virtually available, to explore a play in development by a Boston-based Asian American playwright, and experiment with how we can become even more creative storytellers through Zoom.

Yellowface in the American Theatre
Series

Yellowface in the American Theatre

In response to the protest and aftermath of the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players’ now canceled production of The Mikado, this series addresses the racist performance and casting practices of Yellowface in the American Theatre.

Asian American Theatre
Series

Asian American Theatre

A series that explores various Asian American artists' perspectives on the field-at-large and specifically the 2014 National Asian American Theatre Conference and Festival theme of "Home: Here? There? Where?"