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Asian Diaspora Theatre

This section features conversations about or videos of work created by Asian diaspora theatre artists, as well as discussions about issues Asian diaspora 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

How Pay As You Are Changed Theater Mu
Essay
How Pay As You Are Changed Theater Mu
by Lianna Matt McLernon, Wesley Mouri, Anh Thu Pham
27 November 2023
Minorities (Self)Representation in Theatre
Video
Minorities (Self)Representation in Theatre
Independent Theatre Hungary, Eötvös Loránd University, and Színház Magazine invite you to join a roundtable discussion with the Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC). 
Thursday 30 November 2023
Budapest, Hungary
Global Puppetry in the United States
Video
Global Puppetry in the United States
A Presentation of Excerpts from Chinese Theatre Works (New York) and US Karagöz Theatre Company (Washington)
Monday 30 October 2023
New York City
Independent Theatre Hungary AAPAC Workshop Event Poster
Minorities (Self)Representation in Theatre
Video

Minorities (Self)Representation in Theatre

Independent Theatre Hungary, Eötvös Loránd University, and Színház Magazine invite you to join a roundtable discussion with the Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC). 

Thursday 30 November 2023
Budapest, Hungary

Independent Theatre Hungary, Eötvös Loránd University, and Színház Magazine held a roundtable discussion with the Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC) who shared their experiences related to ethnic minority representation in the American theatre scene and presented the findings of their Visibility Reports: Racial Representation on New York City Stages. 

A group of actors perform a fight onstage.
How Pay As You Are Changed Theater Mu
Essay

How Pay As You Are Changed Theater Mu

27 November 2023

Theater Mu managing director Anh Thu T. Pham and development director Wesley Mouri discuss the ideology behind the theater’s Pay As You Are program, how it works, and what impact it’s having on the theatre six years after its implementation.

shadow puppets representing a horse and a rabbit.
Global Puppetry in the United States
Video

Global Puppetry in the United States

A Presentation of Excerpts from Chinese Theatre Works (New York) and US Karagöz Theatre Company (Washington)

Monday 30 October 2023
New York City

An evening celebrating the work of New York based international puppet theatre company Chinese Theatre Works and Washington's US Karagöz Theatre Company. Ayhan Hulagu (KTC), Kuang-Yu Fong, Stephen Kaplin (CTW) presented excerpts from their repertoires and demonstrated the puppets. The panel was joined by Prof. Marvin Carlson, editor of one of the latest Segal Center Publications: Turkish Traditional Theatre: Karagöz Puppet Plays.

On the left, a performer stands on top of a curved platform and speaks. On the right, a performer sits on a round platform with hands clasped together.
A Cypher Among Theatremakers from the Laotian Diaspora
Essay

A Cypher Among Theatremakers from the Laotian Diaspora

7 September 2023

Saymoukda Duangphouxay Vongsay convenes a roundtable discussion among actors, directors, producers, and playwrights from the Laotian diaspora who work in theatre in the United States. As former refugees and/or the refugees, these theatremakers navigate their places as arrivers in the settler-colonial structure of the United States.

Illustration of several different pairs of people holding hands with each other.
Our Trauma Twin Siblings: Building Creative Spaces for Queer and Trans Tamil Community as Teardrop Collective
Essay

Our Trauma Twin Siblings: Building Creative Spaces for Queer and Trans Tamil Community as Teardrop Collective

31 March 2023

Hari Somaskantha and Gitanjali exchange letters discussing their work with Teardrop Collective, a Toronto-based group that centers stories of queer, trans, Deaf, and hearing people of Tamil, Sri Lankan, and South Asian descent.

An illustration of a clothesline with a film strip in front of it.
Making Then Is Now During a Pandemic with Our Chinese Canadian Feminist Elders
Essay

Making Then Is Now During a Pandemic with Our Chinese Canadian Feminist Elders

28 March 2023

Julia Hune-Brown and Keira Loughran discuss crafting Then Is Now, a concept album/video playlist they created through conversations with Chinese Canadian women who grew up in Toronto’s Chinatown during the era of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Building Our Own Tables Season 3 teaser image with guest headshot.
Full of Wonder with Mica Rose
Podcast

Full of Wonder with Mica Rose

15 March 2023

Theatremaker Mica Rose joins Yura Sapi this week and shares about co-creating Asian American Theatre Artists of Boston. Topics for this episode include moving from morning routine to waking ritual, the power of circles and cycles, and a grounding meditation.

Two actors in sunglasses lounge together in a bathtub.
Everything Everywhere: Perspectives from “Third-Culture” Theatremakers in the Sinophone Community
Essay

Everything Everywhere: Perspectives from “Third-Culture” Theatremakers in the Sinophone Community

8 September 2022

Writer and translator Livian Yeh examines the complexities of Asian identity within American theatre and gives her take on what it means to be a “third-culture” theatremaker.

Six people standing together for a photo.
"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

3 May 2022

Danielle Iwata sits down with Amy Zhang to discuss the creation and significance of her show Ascend!, which featured a cast and crew entirely made up of Asian women.

Event poster for the National Institute for Directing and Ensemble Creation.
National Institute for Directing and Ensemble Creation (NIDEC)
Video

National Institute for Directing and Ensemble Creation (NIDEC)

A virtual weekend of conversations and workshops

Friday 3 December to Sunday 5 December 2021
Minneapolis, Minnesota

The National Institute for Directing and Ensemble Creation (NIDEC) invited you to join us for our annual virtual convening. This program is produced by Art2Action and Pangea World Theater. Based on the in-person institute in Minneapolis, we are offering virtual masterclasses, panels and plenary sessions in 2021 to a wider audience during the pandemic. Livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer-produced HowlRound TV network Friday 3 December to Sunday 5 December 2021.

artist headshots on red background with wu tang clan logo and text mu tang clan.
Mu Tang Clan Ain’t Nothing to F### With
Video

Mu Tang Clan Ain’t Nothing to F### With

Asian American Playwrights on Craft

Monday 30 August 2021
United States

Theater Mu presented a conversation: Mu Tang Clan Ain’t Nothing to F### With livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 30 August 2021.

Them's Ponies! by Rebekah Chang
Video

Them's Ponies! by Rebekah Chang

With Home: Asian Voices Reading Series

Saturday 7 August 2021
United States

LA Writers Center presented a performance of Them's Ponies! by Rebekah Chang as a part of Home: Asian Voices Reading Series on Saturday 7 August 2021 at 11 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 1 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 2 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

A headshot of the guest, Kyoung Park, against a space-designed background.
Peacemaking Theatre
Podcast

Peacemaking Theatre

With Kyoung Park of Kyoung's Pacific Beat

28 July 2021

Yura Sapi sits down with Kyoung H. Park of Kyoung’s Pacific Beat, a peacemaking theatre collective dedicated to working with artists, non-artists, and local communities to transform experiences of oppression into peace messages through public performance.

 
 
YLO by Dru Park
Video

YLO by Dru Park

With Home: Asian Voices Reading Series

Saturday 10 July 2021
United States

LA Writers Center presented a performance of YLO by Dru Park as a part of Home: Asian Voices Reading Series on Saturday 10 July 2021 at 11 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 1 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 2 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

event poster with artist headshots and text for inflections.
Second Generation Productions (2g) presents INFLECTIONS
Video

Second Generation Productions (2g) presents INFLECTIONS

Healing Over Hate Episode Three: Featuring new works by Philip Kan Gotanda & Shinji Eshima, Mashuq Mushtaq Deen, Ren Dara Santiago, Jade Wu and Max Yu

Monday 28 June 2021
United States

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).

Community Organizations and Partnerships
Podcast

Community Organizations and Partnerships

With Samson Syharath and Dmae Lo Roberts of Theatre Diaspora

23 June 2021

In this episode of Building Our Own Tables, host Yura Sapi discusses Theatre Diaspora with co-founders Samson Syharath and Dmae Lo Roberts.

yellow poster with event details for 2021 originally from china event.
B·O·N·D 2021 Opening Panel: Originally from China
Video

B·O·N·D 2021 Opening Panel: Originally from China

Makings of a New Theatermaker Identity

Saturday 19 June 2021
United States

Chuang Stage presented the B·O·N·D 2021 Opening Panel: Originally from China livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Saturday 19 June 2021 at 4 p.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 6 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 7 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

illustrations of freedom fighters yuri and malcolm x.
Yuri and Malcolm X by Timothy Toyama
Video

Yuri and Malcolm X by Timothy Toyama

With Home: Asian Voices Reading Series

Saturday 5 June 2021
United States

LA Writers Center presented a performance of Yuri and Malcolm X by Timothy Toyama as a part of Home: Asian Voices Reading Series on Saturday 5 June 2021 at 11 a.m. PDT (San Francisco, UTC -7) / 1 p.m. CDT (Chicago, UTC -5) / 2 p.m. EDT (New York, UTC -4).

L to R: headshots of Adriana Li, Program Coordinator & Instructor, Impact Boston and Dax Valdes, Senior Trainer, Hollaback!.
Responding to Anti-Asian Race-Based Harassment
Video

Responding to Anti-Asian Race-Based Harassment

Healing Over Hate Episode Two: Bystander intervention and safety awareness trainings to combat anti-AAPI harassment and xenophobia

Monday 10 May 2021
United States

Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) presented the second episode of its ongoing monthly ConFest Virtual Series, Healing Over Hate on Monday 10 May 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).

actors on stage looking at a newspaper.
Introducing a New Ongoing Virtual Series: Healing Over Hate
Video

Introducing a New Ongoing Virtual Series: Healing Over Hate

Responding to the Rise of Anti-Asian Violence

Monday 12 April 2021
United States

Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) introduced a new ongoing virtual series: Healing Over Hate: Responding to the Rise of Anti-Asian Violence livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 12 April 2021 at 1 p.m. HDT (Honolulu, UTC -9), 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).

Asian American Directors in Conversation and Practice event poster.
Asian American Directors in Conversation & Practice
Video

Asian American Directors in Conversation & Practice

Part of Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists’ ConFest Virtual Series

Monday 8 March 2021
United States

Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) presented the conversation Asian American Directors in Conversation & Practice livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 8 March 2021 at 1 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC-10), 2 p.m. AKDT (Juneau, UTC-9), 3 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC-8), 4 p.m. MST (Denver, UTC-7), 5 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC-6), 6 p.m. EST (New York, UTC-5).

What do the Women Say? Celebrating 25 Years of Centering Women Artists
Video

What do the Women Say? Celebrating 25 Years of Centering Women Artists

Golden Thread’s annual celebration of International Women’s Day

Monday 8 March 2021
United States

Golden Thread presents the conversation What do the Women Say? Celebrating 25 Years of Centering Women Artists livestreaming on the global, commons-based peer produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 8 March 2021 at 11 a.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC -8) / 1 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC -6) / 2 p.m. EST (New York, UTC -5).

a person looking to their right, a projection of a photograph covers their face.
Return to Our Stories: Festival Artists Showcase
Video

Return to Our Stories: Festival Artists Showcase

Part of Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists’ ConFest Virtual Series

Monday 8 February 2021
United States

Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) presented the conversation Virtual Series to Discuss COVID-19 and Its Effects on the Work of APA Artists livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 8 February 2021 at 1 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC-10), 2 p.m. AKDT (Juneau, UTC-9), 3 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC-8), 4 p.m. MST (Denver, UTC-7), 5 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC-6), 6 p.m. EST (New York, UTC-5).

Where We’re At: COVID-19 and the Community
Video

Where We’re At: COVID-19 and the Community

Part of Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists’ ConFest Virtual Series

Monday 11 January 2021
United States

Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) presented the conversationWhere We’re At: COVID-19 and the Community livestreaming on the global, commons-based, peer-produced HowlRound TV network at howlround.tv on Monday 11 January 2021 at 1 p.m. HST (Honolulu, UTC-10), 2 p.m. AKDT (Juneau, UTC-9), 3 p.m. PST (San Francisco, UTC-8), 4 p.m. MST (Denver, UTC-7), 5 p.m. CST (Chicago, UTC-6), 6 p.m. EST (New York, UTC-5).

Jonathan Castanien and The Sống Collective
Podcast

Jonathan Castanien and The Sống Collective

Building Our Own Tables Episode #3

23 December 2020

In the third episode of Build Our Own Tables podcast, host Viviana Vargas interviews Jonathan Castanien co-founder and co-producing artistic leader of The Sống Collective, which uplifts work that pushes against preconceptions of Asian Americans and reclaims the Vietnamese American narrative. Your donation to Advancing Arts Forward supports liberated spaces that uplift, heal and encourage us to change the world.