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The Dream of Kitamura, by Phil Gotanda, 1983

The next show was a full length production of The Dream of Kitamura, by Phil Gotanda (author of Song for a Nisei Fisherman, The Wash and other classic pieces of Asian American theatre). This is, perhaps, Phil's most personal work, and consequently not as often produced as his other works.

Still, this was PC Theatre's (then known as Asian Theatre at the UW) first big splash in Seattle theatre. The cast was composed equally of novice actors and experienced Seattle Asian American actors like Stan Asis. As well, it was put on within a week or two of the Northwest Asian American Theatre's first production of Song for a Nisei Fisherman, forming a sort of mini-Phil Gotanda festival.

As a side note, I was starting my master's thesis at the time (no, not in theatre), thus forming one of the more...unusual excuses for thesis/dissertation procrastination.

Paper Angels, by Genny Lim, 1984

Next up was a production of Paper Angels, by Genny Lim. This was a story of the first Chinese immigrants to America (1880ish to 1900ish) and is based on the poems found carved into the wall of the barracks at Angel Island, the West Coast equivalent of Ellis Island. Often, Chinese immigrants were held for weeks, sometimes months, as immigration officials interrogated them (one person was held there for two years). Many of the immigrants underwent humiliating questioning sessions that had no equivalents on the East Coast.

This show was, perhaps, the best of the early shows I did. It marked a reunion of sorts with Lisa Pan, with whom I worked at Stanford, and the first show I did with Kathy Hsieh, who later went on to do some very distinguished work as both staff and artist at the Northwest Asian American Theatre.

Oh yes, I was still doing my thesis.

Gathering Ground, 1985

This show was a dramatization of the anthology, Gathering Ground, a collection of short stories, poems etc. by women writers of color in Seattle. The adaptions were done in the style of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Was Too Much, and the cast was drawn from a wide variety of ethnicities.

This show was a co-production with the Northwest Asian American Theatre, mainly because at this time, I was FINISHING my thesis, and I needed the time to do that.

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