Calendar of events for Asian American Theatre 1st Quarter 2013

Join us for the latest New Works Festival from the David Henry Hwang Writers Institute! The DHHWI is a 10-week workshop designed to help new and experienced writers start or develop new plays into scripts that are ready to be put on stage. The workshop, instructed by Doriz Baizley, culminates in staged readings of the works in progress at East West Players' David Henry Hwang Theater.

The David Henry Hwang Writers Institute is supported in part by the James Irvine Foundation.

1 pm
Laid Off
by Kurt Yamamoto
A new musical that tells the story of how one man found love at the bottom of the corporate food chain.

3 pm
Waiting for the Dough
by Gwenmarie White
Theatre history repeats itself when a struggling dramaturg is forced to get a job at a bakery during the height of the recession.

5:30 pm
Ladies and Gentlemen
by Gene Lee
The heartwarming tale of a fat woman training for the fight of her life.

1 pm
Alden and the Janitor
by Evan Moua
The untold story of Aladdin's high school years at Sultan High.

2:30 pm
The Donger
by Paul Kikuchi
A hostage comedy about a disgruntled Asian American actor who kidnaps Gedde Watanabe and demands that he apologize for his unforgivable role in Sixteen Candles.

5 pm
So You Want to Be Korean
by Joy Regullano
Don't lie. You've wished you were Korean at some point.
High school is already tough. Being the wrong kind of Asian in a sea of Asians is tougher.

7:30 pm
The Norms
by Judy Soo Hoo
Norm and Norma discover their late dear mom and dad were happy swingers. What more will they inherit.

For more information, contact Literary Manager Jeff Liu at jiu@eastwestplayers.org.

Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre (Vancouver, BC)
The Theory of Everything Theory

by Prince Gomolvilas
January 9 to 12, 2013

Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre tackles aliens and identity crisis and Las Vegas, with its Master Class production of The Theory of Everything, an award-winning play by Thai-American playwright Prince Gomolvilas at the Roundhouse, Jan 9-12, 2013.

The Theory of Everything is delightfully witty, touching and ultimately uplifting comedy looks at Asian-American identity across three generations. The play paints a comical tableaux of 7 Asian-Americans (Thai, Filipino, Chinese, Japanese) who gather atop a Las Vegas wedding chapel every week in search UFOs. While scanning the skies, they gaze into each other's souls, and discover a unique personal bond as they search for a deeper meaning to their otherwise empty Vegas lives.

Features Director, Alfred Lui, with performances by Alvin Tran, Aurora Chan, Quynh Mi, BC Lee, Isaac Kwok, Linda Leong Sum, and Yvette Lu. This production is mentored by veteren director, producer, writer and actor, Rick Tae.

Stir Fri-day Night (Chicago, IL)
In Fillet of Solo & Sketchfest!
January 4 to 18, 2013

Stir-Friday Night! is a 17-year old comedy ensemble with alumni such as Danny Pudi (NBC's Community), Steven Yeun (AMC's The Walking Dead), The Second City's Mary Sohn (Who Do We Think We Are?), and Broadway's Christine Lin (Chinglish).

Saturday 1/12 @ 7pm

Lifeline Theatre
6912 N Glenwood Ave
773.761.4477

James Kannookadan
Kannan Arumugam
Dacey Arashiba
Gilbert Galon
Bex Marsh
Avery Lee
Irene Tu

Director - Anthony LeBlanc
Music Director - Marques Stewart

Theatre of the Yugen (San Francisco, CA)
This Lingering Life
by Chiori Miyagawa
January 14 and 15, 2013

The Playwrights Foundation's Rough Readings series showcases new works by extraordinary contemporary writers with top Bay Area actors and directors.

In development to premiere in Theatre of Yugen's 2013/2014 Season, this new play retells stories from eight classic Japanese Noh plays in a way that captures their essence while transposing them into modern times and interweaving them into an epic portrait of the human experience.

This Lingering Life takes place in life and in Bardo (a place in between life and death) where we meet a woman with tragic hair, feudal warriors, a mother whose son was kidnapped, a blind beggar, dead lovers, a pathetic old man in love with a teenager, a boy whose father is an arrow, and it all happens in the present time, except when it happens in an ancient era. As in the Japanese Noh plays that inspired it, This Lingering Life looks at the human condition through the Buddhist concept of Karma. A battle is fought on a shore, a crazy woman looks for her kidnapped son at a bus station, a father and son have a falling out that results in the son's becoming blind and homeless, parents conspire to break up their daughter's relationship by drowning her lover, a poor old man falls in love with a wealthy young girl and commits suicide, and life goes on with people bumping into one another before and after death and in between.

About the Playwright
Chiori Miyagawa is a NYC-based playwright and a resident playwright at New Dramatists. Her plays plays have been produced off-Broadway (Vineyard Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Women's Project, Culture Project), at renowned performance houses in NYC (HERE Arts Center, Performance Space 122, Ohio Theater) and regionally. A collection of seven of her plays, Thousand Years Waiting and Other Plays, is published by Seagull Books; and another collection of five plays, America Dreaming and Other Plays is published by NoPassport Press.

She is a recipient of many fellowships including a New York Foundation for the Arts Playwriting Fellowship, a McKnight Playwriting Fellowship, a Van Lier Playwriting Fellowship, an Asian Cultural Council Fellowship, a Rockefeller Bellagio Residency Fellowship, and a Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study Fellowship at Harvard University. She is a member of Lark Play Development Center and a Usual Suspect of New York Theatre Workshop.

Chiori teaches playwriting at Bard College where she created an undergraduate playwriting program under the chair JoAnne Akalaitis. She was an Associate Artist at The Public Theater during Ms. Akalaitis' artistic directorship.

The Playwrights Foundation Rough Readings series presents Chiori Miyagawa's This Lingering Life, Directed by Jublith Moore

Monday, January 14, 7:30pm at Roble Hall, Stanford University
Tuesday, January 15, 7pm. NOHspace, San Francisco

Theatre of Yugen
2840 Mariposa Street, San Francisco, California 94110
View Map · Get Directions

M
staged reading by Jeannie Barroga
directed by Norman Gee
San Francisco/North Bay Area
Wednesday January 16 7:30 pm - suggested donation $10+

with Lisa Hori-Garcia, Tessa Koning-Martinez*, Jed Parsario, Tony Williams (as Einstein)
Throckmorton Theater, 142 Throckmorton, Mill Valley, CA

"Can Love Be Reduced To an Equation?" Using Einstein's unfinished unified field theory (and noodling with alternate realities), physics grad student Jason toils over a thesis about string theory while alternate realities clash, Pasts and Presents intermingle, and What-Ifs are unified. All the while, a pajama-clad Albert Einstein narrates.

Join us for this new play by former Gerbode/Hewlett Foundations grant winner for "BUFFALO'ED" which premiered at San Jose Stage in 2012 Info: www.jeanniebarroga.com
Thanks to AEA, The Playwrights Lab, Throckmorton Theater and Lucy Mercer.

Poeteic Theatre (New York, NY)
The Will to Knowledge
by Takeo Rivera
January 23rd @ 6:00pm
Untitled
conceived and directed by Natalia Duong
Sunday, January 27th @ 6:00pm

The Will to Knowledge
Directed by Alex Mallory
Featuring Satomi Blair, Leal Vona and Marcus Yi

A ghost writer caught in a love triangle; an exploration of race, desire, trauma and queerness.

Takeo Rivera is a published poet, spoken word artist, playwright, and cultural critic born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He holds a BA and MA from Stanford University and is currently a PhD student in Performance Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. His choreopoem-play "Goliath," directed by Alex Mallory, has won awards from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, the New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest, and the Planet Connections Theater Festivity. An artist-scholar, Takeo has published in both academic and literary publications, touching on issues ranging from race and sexuality to state violence and pedagogy. Prior to starting his doctorate, Takeo spent two years working as a rape crisis advocate and educator in San Jose, CA.

Featuring poetry and prose by Angie Chau, Tom Deedy, Janis Butler Holm, Lan Ngo, John Phalen, Alice Shapiro, Chris Soucy, julie thi underhill and Andrew Pham

Untitled is being developed around the excavation of memories of war, family, grief, anger, and love long interred by women of the Vietnamese diaspora and families of Vietnam Veterans.

Natalia Duong is a performance artist, choreographer, and writer, native to the San Francisco Bay Area. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on Kinesthetic Empathy as a resource for conflict resolution, community devised theater, and the embodied transmission of trauma as exemplified in the bodies of those affected by Agent Orange. She has collaborated with artists to perform internationally in Edinburgh, Paris, Uganda, and Vietnam, where she recently led a community-based devised theater piece that was performed at the US Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City. Natalia is also the Founder and Artistic Director of PAO, a movement collective interested in how war is inherited in the body. She is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Performance Studies at Tisch School for the Arts at New York University, and holds a BA in Psychology and Dance from Stanford University. She currently lives in Brooklyn.www.nataliaduong.com .

Teada Works (Los Angeles, CA)
Global Taxi Driver
Work-in-Progress Performance and Panel Discussion
January 26, 2013

Inner City Arts
720 Kohler Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
For more information, please call (310) 998-8765 or email tickets@teada.org

Written and Directed by Leilani Chan
Performed by Sofia Barrett-Ibarria, Corky Dominguez, Shyamala Moorty, Ova Saopeng, and Amery Thao.

Panel Moderator:Dr. L.M.S.P. Burns, Asian American Studies, UCLA. Humanities Consultant of TeAda's GTD (2013).

Panelists Include:
Professor Jacqueline Leavitt, Urban Planning, UCLA
co-author of ³Driving Poor: Taxi Drivers and the Regulation of the Taxi Industry in Los Angeles² (2006) and ³The Taxi Workers Alliance² (2009), with Professor Gary Blasi.
Hamid Khan, Co-founder of Los Angeles Taxi Workers Alliance.

Vandana Sood, Creator of "The Taxi Takes (On Terror): Video Conversations Between Drivers and Passengers Inside Mumbai Taxis" and "The Taxi Takes on the World: A Crowd Sourced Web Documentary about Talks Inside Taxis."

Tickets are FREE, please click here to RSVP at
Donations accepted

Do you have a Taxi Driver story? Not a Taxi RIDER story where a driver tried to rip you off and drive you the wrong way. A Taxi DRIVER story where you learned about the Driver through an exchange or a story he/she shared about where they came from or how they ended up driving a taxi. Share your story by attending this event or going to www.globaltaxidriver.com.

GLOBAL TAXI DRIVER (GTD) is born out of taxi ride experiences and explores personal narratives of taxi drivers and riders. An ensemble of 6 performers have been collecting stories from taxi drivers for this event. The audience will be given the opportunity to share their own taxi stories, which will be considered for inclusion in the developing production. This presentation is the first public event in the growth of the Global Taxi Driver, a process that will travel to numerous cities before returning to Los Angeles for a final fully staged production in 2014. The final form will be a multi-media live performance that incorporates the stories collected from cities across the globe.

This project was made possible with support from Cal Humanities, an independent non-profit state partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. For more information, click here. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Cal Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Mu Performing Arts (Minneapolis, MN)
The Tiger Among Us
by Lauren Yee
a world premiere
January 25 to February 10, 2013
Mixed Blood Theatre

The play looks at the cultural disconnect felt by an isolated Hmong American family living in rural Minnesota as two siblings seek to blend traditional Hmong family values with modern life.

Pork Filled Productions (Seattle, WA)
The Clockwork Professor
by Maggie Lee
February 10, 2013

Pork Filled Productions presents a staged reading of the new play The Clockwork Professor by Maggie Lee at Elliott Bay Book Company on Sunday, February 10, at 2pm.

Professor Pemberton is a humble inventor, a quiet man of science. As political unrest sweeps over the great city of New Providence, buried secrets from his past threaten to destroy everything that he holds dear, and perhaps even the Crown itself! From romance to royal airships to roving inter-dimensional portals, come join the Clockwork Professor on this action-packed adventure of fantastical science fiction with a steampunk twist!

Company One (Boston, MA)
You For Me For You
by Mia Chung
Directed by M. Bevin O'Gara
January 18 to February 16, 2013
BCA Plaza Theatre

Two North Korean sisters make a bargain with a smuggler to flee to the United States – a land of new shoes, strange customs, and coffee dates. It costs more than money to make the passage, and they must remember to look for the totems and messages that guide the way. Playwright Mia Chung conjures magic, whimsy, and a stunning imaginative landscape in the telling of this deeply modern, and unexpectedly funny, epic journey.

Silk Road Rising (Chicago, IL)

Dishwasher Dreams - A Solo Show
by Alaudin Ullah
February 15 to 16, 2013

Tickets only $10!
Written by Alaudin Ullah
Tabla Accompaniment by Avirodh Sharma
Directed by Chay Yew

Auditioning to play a terrorist in a major Hollywood movie may be stand-up comedian Aladdin's big break. As he prepared for his audition, he finds himself thinking back on his deceased father, who left Bangladesh for a better life in New York, and his parents' futile attempts to raise him Muslim in Spanish Harlem.

Accompanied by the tabla, Aladdin takes us on a hilarious and moving journey about art, immigration, family, the Yankees and the nature of the American dream.

Presented in collaboration with the Ismaili Community of Chicago, an Artistic and Cultural Diversity Initiative funded by The Chicago Community Trust.

TWO PERFORMANCES ONLY! Friday, February 15th at 8pm and Saturday, February 16th at 4pm.

Performances held at Pierce Hall, The Historic Chicago Temple Building, 77 W Washington St, Chicago.

Silk Road Rising (Chicago, IL)
Building a Theatre of Inclusion
February 18, 2013

On February 18, 2013, Silk Road Rising, the League of Chicago Theatres and Lifeline Theatre will host a panel discussion and community conversation that will address challenges faced by Asian American actors, particularly as regards casting, questions that theatres face in producing plays with Asian American content, as well as broader community concerns with productions that are not perceived as culturally authentic.

Panelists will include: David Henry Hwang, Playwright; Jamil Khoury, Artistic Director of Silk Road Rising; Mia Park, Actor; and Chay Yew, Artistic Director of Victory Gardens Theatre.

The panel will be moderated by Danny Bernardo, actor and resident playwright at Bailiwick Chicago.

City Lights Theatre (San Jose, CA)
Ching Chong Chinaman
By Lauren Yee
Directed by Jeffrey Bracco
January 24 to February 24, 2013

The Wongs are as American as apple pie. Desdemona wants to go to Princeton, but could use a little help with her calculus. Her brother Upton wants to be a World of Warcraft champion, but needs more free time to train. Upton solves both their problems by bringing in an indentured servant, but they soon discover that "Ching Chong" has an American dream of his own!

January 24th – February 24th, 2013
Thursday, Friday, Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm
Sunday Matinees at 2pm (Starting February 2nd)

Thursday, January 24th – Pay What You Can Preview
Friday, January 25th – $20 Preview
Saturday, January 26th – Gala Opening Night

Tickets:
$24.95—$39.95
Students and Educators only $16.95!
Subject to availability, excludes Gala and Preview
Senior and Groups discounts available, wheelchair accessible

Bindlestiff Studios (San Francisco, CA)
Made in China
An Original Musical by Nicholas Weinbach
Fbruary 1 to 23, 2013

When: Feb 1 - 23 (Fri and Sat) at 8pm
Location: Bindlestiff Studio 185 6th St. SF, CA
Tickets: $15 - $20; Click here for more info...

From San Francisco writer and composer Nicholas Weinbach comes an original musical about a child-like up-and-coming postman, Max, who must deliver a mysterious music box to an address that doesn¹t exist. In a moment of curiosity, Max shakes the box, and a house magically appears along with Amber, the girl of his dreams. Backed by a live 6- piece chamber orchestra, conducted by Weinbach's twin brother also named Max, Made in China's melody-driven songs and quirky humor will engage you in an exciting adventure of what it's like to think and act like a kid, again.

Honolulu Theatre for Youth (Honolulu, HI)
Hold These Truths
by Jeanne Sakata
February 21 to March 2, 2013

Joel de la Fuente stars in Hold These Truths, Jeanne Sakata's one-man show inspired by the true story of first generation Japanese-American Gordon Hirabayashi, a college student during WWII. Agonizing over the forcible removal of all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast. Gordon journeys toward a greater understanding of America's triumphs—and a confrontation with its failures. Gordon Hirabayashi was awarded the Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor in May of 2012, posthumously by President Obama. Lisa Rothe directs this production.

Hold These Truths special performance dates:
Thursday, Feb. 21 7:30 Opening Night
Friday, Feb. 22 8:00 Show
Saturday, Feb. 23 8:00 Show
Sunday, Feb. 24 3:00 Show

Thursday, Feb. 28 7:30 Show
Saturday, March 2 8:00 Show Closing

PHOTO CREDIT: DENISE DE GUZMAN*
Dian Kobayashi as Kimiko
Kat Koshi as Yukiko
Karen Yamamoto Hackler as Mitsuko

Kumu Kahua Theatre (Honolulu, HI)
A Cage of Fireflies
A World Premiere
By Daniel Akiyama
Januay 24 to ~~February 24~~, 2013
extended to March 3, 2013

A piercing kitchen-sink drama

“When I was little I used to think to myself, ‘That's what the human heart looks like.’”

Three elderly sisters of the kibei generation — sent as children to be raised in Okinawa, then returned to live and work in Hawai‘i — are at the heart of Daniel Akiyama’s new play.

Two of thesisters confine themselves to their small Honolulu apartment, enacting the rituals of daily life as they cling to a dream of returning to Okinawa. The third, charged with running the family’s orchid nursery, has inherited a title that is not hers. As long-hidden hopes and regrets surface, the sisters discover what is both selfish and selfless in their love for each other.

The Ganley family visits a spirit medium to deal with hauntings in their family in the world premiere of East West Players’ CHRISTMAS IN HANOI. (L-R) Joseph Daugherty, Michael Krawic, Elizabeth Liang, and Elyse Dinh. Photo by MICHAEL LAMONT.

East West Players (Los Angeles, CA)
Christmas in Hanoi
by Eddie Borey
February 7 to March 10, 2013

CHRISTMAS IN HANOI is about a mixed-race family who returns to Vietnam for the first time since the war. One year after the death of their strong-willed mother, siblings Winnie and Lou travel with their Irish Catholic father and Vietnamese grandfather to re-connect with their roots. Whether they embrace that past or reject it, they are haunted by their own family's ghosts and by the phantoms of Vietnam's long history. Winner of the EWP Face of the Future Playwriting Competition. By Eddie Borey and directed by Jeff Liu. CHRISTMAS IN HANOI runs February 7-March 10, 2013.

Ma-Yi Theatre (New York, NY)
Jesus in India
by Lloyd Suh
February 13 to March 10, 2013

Teenaged, delinquent, a bit confused and a lot punk rock, Jesus of Nazareth journeys East on the back of a camel with his friend Abigail of Galilee. They cross the Hindu Kush to the Indo-Mathura, a region renowned for spiritual innovation, New Age music, and like, freakin' good weed.

A contemporary parable that looks at the world's most famous rebel -- before he found his cause.

Queens Theatre in the Park (Queens, NY)
if it's sad, i don't want to see it
by Rehana Lew Mirza
directed by Benjamin Kamine
Saturday, March 9, 2013 at 8pm

Damien runs a boutique water company. Robert, Miriam and Savti just work there. As the global economy becomes increasingly smaller, each must face what they are willing to sacrifice in the pursuit of happiness.

with: Francis Benhamou ("Invasion"), Nilajana Bose, Birgit Huppuch ("A Map of Virtue"), Cleo Gray, Peter Kim ("Maple & Vine"), Peter O'Connor ("The Aliens" DC & SF), and Stephen Stout ("Job")

The EVOKE Festival returns March 14-17, this time presenting the vivid reality and imaginations of South Asian American artists.

From its debut in the Fall of 2012, the EVOKE Festival nurtures artists and new performance works that expand the dialogue about the Asian Pacific American experiences.

EVOKE audience memebers will also have unique opportunities to explore the work and engage with artists Shilpa Agarwal, Snehal Desai, Sheetal Ghandi, Cynthia Ling Lee and Shyamala Moorty, Puja Mohindra, Ami Patel, and SaiQa (Saba Waheed).

For more information about the artists, visit www.eastwestplayers.org/special_events/evoke.html

Performance Run:
Thursday, March 14 - Saturday, March 16 at 8pm
Sunday, March 17 at 2pm

San Francisco Public Library (San Francisco, CA)
Aurora
by Jeannie Barroga
March 17, 2013

San Francisco Public Library Fourth floor, San Francisco, CA. Grady consumes true crime episodes, exasperating Will; nephew WonderJay is mesmerized by video games; his parents, suburban hunter Hank and wound-up Marcie, smolder in thick air and guilt while June¹s ghost observes them all. This is a setting where psychic ability is a given, simultaneous scenes play out in 2 to 3 locations while a courtroom waiting game plays out. Aurora, Colorado was the July 2012 site of a dozen deaths of which the accused pleads insanity -- 20 miles away for a single murder, loved ones reflect on a similar plea. Contact: www.jeanniebarroga.com

Signature Theatre (New York, NY)
The Dance and the Railroad
By David Henry Hwang
Directed by May Adrales
February 5 to ~~March 17~~, 2013
extended to March 24

Residency: Residency One
Venue: The Alice Griffin Jewelbox Theatre

On a California mountaintop in 1867 near the Transcontinental Railroad, two Chinese workers struggle through poverty and hunger to reconnect with the traditions of their homeland.

The Guthrie Theater (Minneapolis, MN)
and Mu Performing Arts
Yellow Fever
by R.A. Shiomi
directed by Rick Shiomi
March 9 to 24, 2013

This award-winning comic mystery follows hard-boiled detective Sam Shikaze through the shady streets of 1970s Vancouver. On a case to solve the disappearance of the mysterious Cherry Blossom Queen, Shikaze becomes entangled in a web of political deception and racism that rouses memories of the Japanese-Canadian internment camps and leads to an unexpected romance. An Off-Broadway hit and New York Times Critic's Choice, Yellow Fever launched Rick Shiomi's theatrical career.

The cast includes Mu regulars Kurt Kwan (Sam Shikaze), Sara Ochs, and Eric Sharp, as well as Wade Vaughn and more. Yellow Fever marks the fourth Mu production to be presented in the Guthrie's Dowling Studio.

Pangea World Theatre (Minneapolis, MN)
Hmong Bollywood
Written and Performed by Katie Ka Vang
Directed by Meena Natarajan
March 14 to 24, 2013

Tickets are now available for Hmong Bollywood at Brown Paper Tickets.

Hmong Bollywood
Written and Performed by Katie Ka Vang
Directed and Dramaturged by Meena Natarajan

Date: March 14 - March 24
Thursday - Saturday @ 7:30 pm
Sunday @ 4:00 pm

Location: Intermedia Arts
2822 Lyndale Ave South
Minneapolis, MN 55408

A 1.5-generation Hmong American Katie Ka Vang finds herself trying to escape by leaving the realities of the American struggle, painful memories, fear and cancer behind her and dancing instead into the fantastical world of Bollywood. Vang and her family spent hours watching Bollywood films with their extravagant plots, brilliant costumes, music and star crossed lovers.

Hmong Bollywood explores how Bollywood gives Hmong Americans a way of engaging with forms of tradition different from their own. The performance blends creative non-fiction, broken prose, monologues, video installation, media art, Bollywood dance numbers and choreography based on Vang¹s life¹s movements.

*Additional matinee times are available upon request. For booking, please contact Katie at Pangea World Theater: (612) 822-0015

CAAMFest and Bindlestiff Studio (San Francisco, CA)
Co-Present
Graceland
by Ron Morales
March 15 and 22, 2013

When: Mar 15 at 7pm & Mar 22 at 10:15pm
Location: New People 1746 Post St. SF, CA
Tickets: $11 - $12

Set in the urban underbelly of Manila, Graceland is a provocative thriller from Ron Morales, writer/director of 2008¹s award-winning Santa Mesa (Special Jury Award, SFIAAFF 2008). Where Santa Mesa was a warm and touching outsider¹s view of the Philippines, Graceland gives us a cold taste of the Philippine streets from the point of view of a native, but with no less humanity, nor heart.

East West Players in association with the Japanese American National Museum presents a Writers Gallery reading of
A Cage of Fireflies
by Daniel Akiyama
Directed by Phyllis S. K. Look
March 21, 2013

The story of three elderly sisters of the kibei generation: sent as children to be raised in Okinawa, then returned to live and work in Hawai'i. Two of the sisters confine themselves to their Honolulu apartment where they enact the rituals of daily life and ream of one day returning to Okinawa. The third, charged with running their family's orchid nursery, embraces the modern world and disrupts her family's fragile traditions. As long-hidden hopes, resentments, and regrets surface, the sisters must confront the nature of their love for each other.

A CAGE OF FIREFLIES, which recently premiered at Kumu Kahua Theatre in Honolulu to critical acclaim and a sold-out extended run, explores the tug-of-war between progress and preservation, the selfish and the selfless.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT:
Daniel Akiyama was born and raised in Honolulu and graduated from the University of Hawai'i at M?noa. A Cage of Fireflies, his first full-length play, was developed at the Sundance Institute Theatre Lab and was a finalist for the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR:
Phyllis S.K. Look was a member of Berkeley Repertory Theatre's artistic staff, Co-Artistic Director of Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and freelance director. Her work has been produced at the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center Institute, Young Playwrights Festival, Berkeley Rep, Magic Theatre, Asian American Theater Company, Syracuse Stage, Alliance Theatre, Mixed Blood, Seattle Children's Theatre, and Honolulu Theatre for Youth, among others. She directed the developmental workshop of A Cage of Fireflies at Sundance Institute's 2012 Theatre Lab, and its recent world premiere production at Kumu Kahua Theatre. Look holds an MFA in Directing from Yale School of Drama and is the recipient of a TCG/NEA Director Fellowship. She was born, raised, and currently resides in Honolulu, Hawai'i.

Teadaworks (Los Angeles, CA)
11th Annual TEADAWORKS
New Performance Lab and Festival
Arroz Con Spam y Bento: The Adventures of Bad Sailor Moon, Cat Mom, and Barbie Girl
March 22 to 24, 2013

Eriko, Sofia, and Lesley cook up a spicy concoction of three solo pieces that will take you on a provocative and sometimes frightening journey of sex, bra-stuffing, and coming to terms with our confusing loves for white men and Honey Boo Boo. Overbearing mothers deconstruct the so-called American dream, while their daughters struggle to find beauty in a world full of suffocating family members, boyfriends, and tv-show ideals. Hilarious and brutally honest super-heroines (us!) battle against Japanese-girl obsessions, opinionated aunties, and beauty-obsessed moms. Meet a promiscuous teen with a 4.0 GPA, a loud-mouthed, thong-wearing Cuban cousin, and a babysitter/ Asian nightclub hostess who is currently looking for an American-citizen man, or a woman to marry.

March 22-24, 2013
Friday at 8pm
Saturday at 2pm and 8pm
Sunday at 2pm

Tickets:
$20 general admission
$15 seniors/students

Attic Theatre
5429 W. Washington Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016

For more information, please call (310) 998-8765 or email tickets@teada.org

Featuring new works by Lesley Asistio, Eriko Azuma, and Sofia Barrett-Ibarria

With additional dramaturgy from Leilani Chan, Alison De La Cruz, Shyamala Moorty & Ova Saopeng.

Traffic Stop, Border Patrol, Deportation.
Bus Stop Dreaming
at the House of Neighborly Services, South Tucson
a performance by Denise Uyehara
March 22 to 23, 2013

As part of a community-based, site specific project,
Safos Dance Theater¹s Vignettes, at
House of Neighborly Services
243 W 33rd St, Tucson, AZ
Friday, March 22 at 7pm
Saturday, March 23 at 7pm
Admission: $14 suggested donation, $12 seniors/students
Click here to purchase your tickets
View Bus Stop Dreaming video

Special FREE matinee for the community
Saturday March 23, 1pm
For more info on community matinee and accessibility call (520) 481-1656.

Artists at Play (Los Angeles) presents
Artists at Play Readings
Iggy Woo
by Alice Tuan
Three Steps Back
by Peter J. Kuo
Sunday, March 24, 2013

at 3:30 p.m. Woman's Club of South Pasadena
1424 Fremont Ave., South Pasadena, CA 91030
Tickets:
$13-$18

Iggy Woo by Alice Tuan
Directed by Rena Heinrich
Dramaturgy by TBA
Kiki loves Iggy. Iggy loves Julie the Cookie Girl. A play about unrequited love, quitting smoking and creating amidst consumption.

Three Steps Back by Peter J. Kuo
Directed by Skyler Gray
Dramaturgy by Kimberly Colburn
Richard attempts to leave his crazed wife with his lover and hyper-diabetic daughter, but fate has other plans. A three-part dark comedy from different perspectives.

fu-GEN (Toronto, Canda)
Ching Chong Chinaman
by Lauren Yee
March 14 to 31, 2013

Questions? Email