Propergander (Southern CA)
Everybody Dies
May 26 to July 3, 2005

What is this show about? Well, we can’t tell you too much. So we’ll just give away the ending: In it, EVERYBODY DIES. Heroes die, the world ends… One scene even takes place in the afterlife.

And since this is a Propergander show, you know that all this death is going to be hilarious. Don’t fear the reaper baby, because compared to our previous shows, this one goes to 11!

For more information, email info@propergander.net -- and until then, see you at the show!

Silk Road Theatre Project (Chicago, IL)
Al Kasida Staged Reading Series
Celestial Motions
byMrinalini Kamath
July 10, 2005

AN INDIAN-AMERICAN ROMANTIC COMEDY
Interculturalism at it's Funniest!
Directed by Anish Jethmalani

Featuring: Kareem Bandealy, Jaii Beckley, Geoff Button, Arun Chadha, Anil Hurkadli, Sapna Kumar, Sean Sinitsky, Anjali Thawani, and Bobby Zaman.

Celestial Motions tells the story of what happens when 25-year-old Leela's parents, who immigrated to the US from India, are forced to confront a big mistake-they had forgotten to take daylight savings time into account when they had Leela's Hindu astrological chart drawn at her birth. Accordingly, they have the chart redrawn, and the startling prediction sets the young woman on a journey of arranged dating and cyber-romance, as her parents desperately try to preserve their family's identity. Little do they realize that Leela's destiny is closer than either they or Leela can imagine.

The staged reading will be followed by a Q & A session with playwright Mrinalini Kamath.

WHEN: Sunday, July 10 at 12:30 pm.

WHERE: The Chicago Temple, First United Methodist Church
Second Floor - Dixon Chapel
77 W. Washington St., Chicago

COST: Free and Open to the Public.

For further information, visit Silk Road Theatre Project's web site at www.srtp.org or call the theatre's administrative office at 312-236-6881.

United States of Asian America Festival (SF, CA)
May to July 13, 2005

Join the Cast and Crew of the United States of Asian American Festival 2005 for our Gala Opening Event! Feast on food, drinks, and performances by Eth-Noh-Tec, Asian American Dance Performances, Berkeley Genyukai and Ryukyu Damashii. Also enjoy the opening of two exhibits: Full Circle and Pirated!.

FREE
Thursday, May 5, 2005
5pm-8pm
SomArts Cultural Center

PREMIERE WEEK: Golden Thread, Asian Improv Arts, Kearny Street Workshop and Magicians With a Message!

APICC's United States of Asian America welcomes its 2005 season with four brand new events!

Golden Thread Productions presents
Benefit Art Auction Reception
Sunday, May 1
4pm ˆ 8pm
SomArts Cultural Center
$10

Golden Thread Productions and Magicians With a Mesage present
A Family Affair

featuring An Iranian Fairy Tale and
"Not Pau"...Stories From Our Elders
Friday, May 6, 8pm
Saturday, May 7, 2pm
SomArts Cultural Center
$15 door/ $12 advance/ $5 child

Asian Improv Arts presents
In Collaboration
Saturday, May 7, 8pm
SomArts Cultural Center
$15 door/ $12 advance, students, seniors / $5 child

Full Circle and Pirated! Opens May 5
Two incredible exhibits open in conjunction with the USofAA's Gala Opening!

APICC in association with Asian American Women Artists Association Kearny Street Workshop presents
Full Circle

Full Circle is a retrospective of two of the Bay Area's most beloved Asian American visual artists ˆ Nancy Hom and Betty Kano. The exhibition will showcase both artists' best work as well as their recent creations. Curated by Lenore Chinn.

Full Circle is open, free to the public, Tues-Sat, 12 pm-4 pm, at SomArts Cultural Center till May 29

Kearny Street Workshop presents
Pirated: a post asian perspective
KSW presents Pirated!, a month-long group exhibition and program exploring the concept of piracy/the pirate and its impact on culture, power, and the immigrant identity, from an APA perspective. The show is curated by Peggy Chung, Valerie Soe, Derek Chung, Carlos Villa and KSW.

Pirated! is open, free to the public, Tues-Sat, 12 pm-4 pm, at SomArts Cultural Center till May 28

The Festival Continues till July 13th!
Coming up in Week 2:

Kularts' Liku-Liku Hidupku: The Story of My Life
A Balinese dance theatre extravaganza!

and

The 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors' A People's History of Sukiprata
A dangerously hilarious sketch comedy feature

Visit www.apiculturalcenter.org for full details and showtimes!

APICC supports and nurtures the artistic endeavors of the San Francisco Bay Area Asian Pacific Islander community. Through collaboration, sponsorship, producing and presenting, APICC supports the development and growth of multidisciplinary art. We empower the diverse voices of our community to reflect their unique experiences as Asian Pacific Islanders living in America

Bindlestiff Studio and the Asian American Theater Company
Sleeper (A Chronicle of the Return of the Remarkable)
by Samantha Chanse
July 7 -16, 2005

Dates/Time:
July 7 -16, 2005
7/7 - 7/9 at 8PM
7/10 at 6PM
7/14 & 7/15 at 8pm
Saturday, 7/16, 2 shows at 7:30pm and 9:30pmLocation: Bindlestiff Studio, 505 Natoma, off of 6th Street, SF

Cost: $9 - 25, sliding scale

Info:
Bindlestiff Studio:
admin@bindlestiffstudio.org; http://www.bindlestiffstudio.org

Reservations MUST be made at 415-255-0440.

Asian American Theater Company:
415.543.5738; info@asianamericantheater.org; http://www.asianamericantheater.org

Cold Tofu (LA, CA)
Comedy Improv Show
July 16, 2005

Join Cold Tofu for their monthly comedy improv show in Little Tokyo.

Pay-What-You-Can
Saturday, July 16 @ 7:30 pm

Maryknoll Japanese Catholic Center
222 S. Hewitt St., LA 90012
(Located east of Alameda, between 2nd 3rd Streets)

Make your reservations by calling (213) 739-4142 or e-mail coldtofu@hotmail.com for details.

Cold Tofu is dedicated to promoting diverse images of Asian Pacific Americans through comedy and to developing multiethnic talent through education and performance.

East West Players (LA, CA)
Summer 2005 Reading Series
Red, Hot and Written: New Work by the Writers of the David Henry Hwang Writers Institute
July 17 to 21, 2005

Sunday, July 17 @ 2 p.m.
RED, HOT AND WRITTEN: NEW WORK BY THE WRITERS OF DAVID
HENRY HWANG WRITERS INSTITUTE AT EAST WEST PLAYERS

THE MICKEY TILES PROJECT
By Jim Macdonald
Mickey Tiles can motivate, inspire and change the lives of millions of people if he can just survive one more day.

DOGGY DO
By Gary Kuwahara
Woof Blah, blah-blah. The dog knows everything humans don't.

Monday, July 18 7:30 p.m.

SINCERELY SINGLE
By Skye Kang
A comedy about a carelessly single gal looking for love in all the right places and still coming up short.

THE LITTLE ADOLFS
By C. Q. I.
Gang leader Mitchel Moreau rules Salvation High with an iron hand, until a series of mysterious stories are published, villifying him in excrutiating, damning detail. His violent hunt for the blackmailer leads to a show-down that will change the school forever.

Wednesday, July 20 7:30 p.m.

BEHIND THE GLASS
By Melinda Corazon Foley
How do you fix what's broken? One young-anxious person and her ailing-neurotic elder seek antidotes to fear in the Kingdom of Los Angeles.

THE SEVEN DAYS OF MIRIAM
By Sara Truitt and Arava Talve
Miriam is afflicted with leprosy and sent into exile for seven days. A modern retelling of an ancient story of redemption.

Thursday, July 21st 7:30 p.m.

YOU’RE THE PHARMACIST!
By Margaret Rhee
A Korean American pharmacist dreams of being a Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader and in her endeavor, she and everyone around her learns the real meaning of the American Dream.

All readings held at the David Henry Hwang Theater at East West Players.

No reservations necessary!
Suggested Donation ($5) (It helps pay for the lights!)

EWP's David Henry Hwang Writers Institute and other literary programs is made possible in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the James Irvine Foundation, The Walt Disney Company/ABC Entertainment, CBS, FOX and NBC.

Connection Theatre Company (NYC, NY)
2005 SUMMER READING SERIES
July 21 to 23, 2005

Six ten-minute plays,
Presented as staged readings,
Inspired by the documentary
“The Journey of Man”
By analyzing DNA from people in all regions of the world, geneticist Dr. Spencer Wells has concluded that all humans alive today are descended from a single man who lived in Africa around 60,000 years ago.  Wells addresses this and other issues in a book, The Journey of Man: A Genetic Odyssey, and a National Geographic documentary of the same title. In a straightforward story, he explains how he traced the exodus of modern humans from Africa by analyzing genetic changes in DNA from the y-chromosome.
- Hillary Mayell for National Geographic News
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Thursday, Friday and Saturday
July 21, 22 & 23 2005
8:00 PM (doors open at 7:45pm)
Admission is FREE
Plays include:
     Discovering Rootbeer by Jason Powell
     Gravity Is the Biggest Lie by Phil Schmiedl
     Unlike Here on Earth by Cheryl Games
     Mooning 34th Street by Christine Bruno
     Relativity by Mrinalini Kamath
     The Big Wave by Aurin Squire
 
Featuring: Jonathan Albert, Christine Bruno, Jay Charan, Chris Chinn, Geeta Citygirl, Luis Gonell, Thai-Hoa Le, Achilles Lavidis, Mario Mendoza, Tracey Silver, James Singletary, Sakura Sugihara, David Spangler & Lisa Stump-Pine.
Directed by Melissa Attebery
Live Music by Reid Taylor
VENUE:
The New School for Drama Theater (at the Westbeth Complex)
151 Bank Street, Third Floor
One block north of 11th Street,
between Washington and West Street
New York, NY 10014
Near A, C, E trains (14th Street Station)
Or 1, 2, 3, 9 (14th Street Station)
For information call 212-841-1678
Email ctctheatreco@aol.com
Or visit Connection Theatre Company online at
http://www.connectiontheatrecompany.com

fu-GEN Theatre Company (Toronto, Canada)
HARBOURFRONT CENTRE
THE FIRST ANNUAL DIM SUM FESTIVAL
Sampling Contemporary Chinese Culture
July 22 to 24, 2005

fu-GEN Theatre Company in partnership with the Harbourfront Centre presents: three days of staged readings by emerging and established Chinese-Canadian playwrights, read by some of Canada's best Chinese-Canadian performers including: Marjorie Chan, Richard Lee, Jane Luk and Jovanni Sy, among others.

Also presented are an improvisation workshop led by veteran improviser Jane Luk, and a no-holds-barred stage combat workshop led by Siobhan Chin and Richard Lee

* (For more info about the Dim Sum Festival in general, please visit http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/summerfestivals/dimsum.php)

Staged Reading Series
Friday July 22 | 9:00PM | Brigantine Room

Mom, Dad, I'm Living with a White Girl
by Marty Chan
A Chinese son must tell his parents he has moved in with his white girlfriend. In a counter-narrative, the play explodes Asian stereotypes in a B-movie spoof called "Wrath of the Yellow Claw".

Little Dragon
by Keira Loughran
Little Dragon is a fierce, biting comedy. It tells the story of a young third-generation Chinese-Canadian woman who goes to university and discovers she's Chinese. Her ensuing search for a cultural identity, of which she can be proud, surfaces a long-repressed pain stemming from the death of her father in her early childhood and generations of family shame and secrets. Through her journey, she comes to believe that her father was actually Bruce Lee, and she turns to the martial arts legend for solace and strength. It is a story of! longing, belonging, and ultimately, self-love.

R.O.C. (Republic of Confusion)
by Zoe Huang
Taiwan, Formosa, The Republic of China. This leaf-shape island on the edge of the Pacific has been in identity crisis for over fifty years. A Taiwanese Canadian returns after ten years to find her place in the 24 hr neon lights of Taipei city. But the identity crisis is contagious, the conflicts escalate, and the showdown is the presidential election!

Saturday July 23 | 4:00PM | Brigantine Room

Mother Tongue
by Betty Quan
Mother Tongue is a unique and innovative play that weaves together Cantonese, English and American Sign Language. It is about family loyalties, youthful dreams, and generational and cultural differences. Set in Vancouver, it follows the life of a widowed middle-aged mother and her two children, Mimi, an aspiring architecture student, and 16-year-old Steve who lost his hearing at age 11.

The Madness of The Square
by Marjorie Chan
This play tells the tale of one young engineering student present during the upheaval in Tiananmen Square, 1989. Jumping from past to present, the character of Fan-Ying takes us on her journey to join the students in protest, the passion in the square as she becomes a leader of the movement, and through to its' inevitable end.
Originally commissioned by Theatre Direct Canada for The Democracy Project, and performed here with their permission.

Pu-Erh
by Norman Yeung
Hours before Raymond leaves his family to move to another city, he has a conversation with his father. Despite the son not being able to speak Cantonese, and the father not being able to speak English, the two reconcile their conflicts: regrets, ambitions, and years of silence.

Sunday July 24 | 4:30PM | Brigantine Room

The Wonder of Larry Kwong
by John Ng
He was only 24 in 1948, but Larry Kwong had already achieved the quintessential Canadian Dream: to play in the National Hockey League. Now 81, an unexpected birthday gift - a framed shot of him receiving the key to New York's Chinatown 57 years earlier for becoming the first Asian in professional hockey - rekindles the journey that he took to reach his childhood goal. From a simple life in small-town Vernon, B.C., to the frenetic urban world of the Big Apple and, finally, a date with destiny at the Montreal Forum...and a fellow named Rocket Richard. Kwong recalls each step with humble honesty and a trace of regret. The final question: Did I do enough?

Untitled
by Jovanni Sy
A new play about the intersection of European and Asian cultures as told by
a cooking show host.

Acquiesce
by David Yee
A dying wish brings a young man to Hong Kong to bury a man he never knew. In the days leading up to the funeral, he has to learn about his life, his death, his family ... and himself.

BRENDA WONG AOKI  &  MARK IZU
Will Perform at the
San Francisco Theater Festival
on Sunday, July 24, 2005    2pm East Garden Stage

Performing an excerpt from Mermaid Meat & Other Japanese Ghost Stories

“Aoki’s remarkable talents as a performer and storyteller - talents which include an impressive synthesis of modern and traditional Japanese and American theatrical techniques of dance, mime, movement, song and voice placement...”
- Hollywood Drama-Logue

“Kudos especially go to bassist Mark Izu who cloaks his playing in the supple tones of iron and silk”
- Ludwig Vantrikt - Coda

We're Featured at the Bay Area's Largest One-Day Theater Extravaganza!

Come see Brenda Wong Aoki and Mark Izu at the San Francisco Theater Festival on Sunday, July 24 at Yerba Buena Gardens.

The San Francisco Theater Festival is an amazing and unique one-day FREE event. More than 60 professional Bay Area theater groups and solo artists will perform at nine stages, in the Yerba Buena arts complex from 11 am – 5 pm. The performances run the gamut from comedy to drama, musical to improv, hip-hop to mime, Shakespeare to kid's shows.

Brenda and Mark will perform at the East Garden stage at 2:00 pm.
Visit the festival website, www.sftheaterfestival.org, for more details.

Admission to the festival is FREE.

Yerba Buena Gardens is located at Mission and 3rd Streets in downtown San Francisco. Easy access from BART, MUNI, and there is street (Sunday) and nearby garage parking.

For more information visit www.sftheaterfestival.org!!!

SIDES: THE FEAR IS REAL
Created and Performed by Mr. Miyagi's Theatre Company
July 25, 2005

45 Below
The Culture Project @ 45 Bleecker Theater
45 Bleecker St. (@ Lafayette)

6 Train to Bleecker, F/V Train to Broadway/Lafayette
Please RSVP to Megan Hart  
#212-253-7017 ext. 205 / Megan@cultureproject.org

After a stellar, sold-out run at P.S. 122 and winning a BEST ENSEMBLE AWARD at  the prestigious New York International Fringe Festival 2003, SIDES, the hilarious hit presented by Mr. Miyagi’s Theatre Company, will return by  popular demand to The Culture Project for a limited 10 weeks only, tentatively opening on August 25th, 2005 at the 45 Bleecker Theater.

Please join us for a special sneak preview of excerpts from this fantastic comedy!

Actors. Auditions. Agony. In SIDES: The Fear is Real, we follow six hopeful actors in their quest for entertainment employment and minimum wage through true life audition nightmares. Terrible scripts, psychotic casting directors, and competitive colleagues all stand in their way. In a series of comedic vignettes and scenes, these brave  actors face their fears and almost triumph!

Kumu Kahua Theater (Hawaii)
Half Dozen Long Stem
by Lee Cataluna
July 14 to 31, 2005

See News item.

The Midtown International Theatre Festival (NYC, NY)
Revolutionary Chickens
by Rob Lok
July 18 to August 7, 2005

Rob Lok recreates, re-imagines, and reconstructs the story of his family's escape from the Chinese Cultural Revolution in this new multimedia piece, which combines puppetry, masks, and circus arts to turn his tale of familial persecution and exodus into an experiment in slapstick physical comedy.

Rob Lok is a former juvenile delinquent who discovered an outlet for his aggression through circus arts. He is a graduate of the famed Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College and subsequently became the first Chinese American clown to tour with "The Greatest Show on Earth". He has performed Revolutionary Chickens at Pan Asian Repertory Theatre and at Chashama/Bindlestiff's Family Palace of Variety in Times Square.

For additional information or to download hi-resolution images please visit
www.RevolutionaryChickens.com
www.midtownfestival.org

"Remarkable one-man show"
- Spectacle Magazine

Performance dates will be:
July 18, 8:30pm (Mon)
July 27, 6:00pm (Wed)
August 7, 3:30pm (Sun)

Located at:
Where Eagles Dare Theatre
347 W. 36th St
New York, NY   

Directions:
Short Walk from Penn Station (A,C,E)

Ticket Prices:
$15.00
www.SmartTix.com or call: 212-868-4444

Rainier Valley Youth Theatre (Seattle, WA)
Ola Na Iwi (The Bones Live)
Written by Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl
Directed by John H.Y. Wat
July 20 to 30, 2005

Through history, humor, and a whodunnit plot, the past and present collide in Ola Na Iwi, which explores the issues surrounding the treatment of indigenous human remains. Playwright Victoria Nalani Kneubuhl lives and works in Honolulu, and her many plays have been produced in Hawai`i and North America, and have toured Britain, Asia, and the Pacific. She is a recipient of the Hawai`i Award for Literature. Public performances will take place Wednesdays-Saturdays July 20-30 at 8pm at Rainier Valley Cultural Center, 3515 S. Alaska St. near the SW corner of Rainier Ave. S. & S. Alaska St. in Columbia City.

Led by Artistic Director & professional theatre artist Maria Glanz, RVYT’s SummerSTAGE is an intensive six-week theatre-training program for an all-youth cast and crew, ages 12 to 21, resulting in two weeks of public performances. Acclaimed Hawaiian theatre artist John Wat, the original director of Ola Na Iwi (for Honolulu’s Kumu Kahua Theatre), comes to Seattle to direct RVYT’s youth. The artistic staff also includes Joshua Heim as Choreographer, Craig Wollam as Set and Lighting Designer, and Francisca Garcia as Costume Designer.

In Ola Na Iwi, Kawehi, a young Hawaiian woman on tour with a play, discovers a set of bones lying on a forgotten shelf in a German museum. In an impulsive gesture, she steals the bones and brings them home to Hawaii – prompting an adventure that soon wraps her in intrigue. A German museum official, a Samoan private detective, an advocate of Hawaiian sovereignty, and a mysterious young woman all congregate around Kawehi as she searches for a way to lay these bones to rest.

Bindlestiff Studio (Bay Area, CS)
The Banana Fairy, Ang Mutya ng Saging A Play in Two Acts
by  Leoncio Deriada
And
Tribute to the Works of Oscar Penaranda
Featuring Selected Readings from his books, Seasons By The Bay and Full Deck
July 21 to 23 and 28 to 30, 2005

8 -10 pm
$8 - $10 Sliding scale    

Where:
Bindlestiff Studio, the epicenter of Pilipino/Filipino American Arts.
505 Natoma St.
San Francisco CA 94103
(415) 255-0440 for Reservations

www.revivalarts.org  
www.bindlestiffstuio.org

The Banana Fairy (Mutya ng Saging) is an adventurous look at one man's journey into the depths of Philippine folklore.  Philip, an American, discovers the legend of a mysterious amulet that holds tremendous powers and good fortune, the anting-anting.   

Enticed by the stories of old by local villagers, Philip embarks on an adventure that brings him into the darkness of the Banana Tree Jungle where he sets out a quest to find this banana fairy.  But to the foreigner's shock and horror appears the guardian of this mystical jewel, the beastly creature known as the Kapre.  Will his urge to possess the banana fairy succeed?  Or will the towering Kapre, control Philip's destiny?

HOT! The 14th Annual NYC Celebration of Queer Culture
Dixon Place (NYC, NY)
Nayana’s Passing
a performance in one act
by Tanwi Nandini Islam
July 29, 2005
7:30PM AT DIXON PLACE

Nayana’s Passing
Written by Tanwi Nandini Islam
Directed by Geeta Citygirl
Performed by: Tanwi Nandini Islam, Sharda Sekaran, Vanessa Soto
Dixon Place, 258 Bowery (between Houston & Prince Streets)
FRIDAY, July 29, 2005
7:30 PM Show-- refreshments are served!
Admission: $10-15, sliding scale

More information & reservations: 212.219.0736 or www.dixonplace.org

The premiere of Nayana’s Passing at Dixon Place, by playwright Tanwi Nandini Islam, is an opportunity to witness a provocative, poetic, and simultaneously unnerving play, come to life for the first time, in its first incarnation in NYC.  Brought to the forefront are voices—too often unspoken, unheard—of three women of south asian descent, living on different lines of gender, ethnic identity, age. They ultimately have varying degrees of connection to the woman who is at the center of the performance, Nayana.Nayana’s Passing fuses video memory images with intense, humorous, breathing dialogue, in an exploration of the life of a murdered woman in Queens, named Nayana.  Her death connects the lives of three women: Charulata, a Guyanese lesbian who has run away from home; Nivedita, a Bangladeshi domestic worker recovering from a brutal fifteen year marriage, and Kareem aka Mahadeviyakka, a transgendered Trinidadian woman who is transitioning through the slow, painful death of her lover.  They possess fierce spirits borne of shared (colonial) histories of struggle with violence, solidarity, and sexuality.  In each of their encounters with one another, in (after) life and dream, they come closer to understanding Nayana, a butch Bangladeshi waiter who leaves her mark –in the form of a lost poem-- on a table at the restaurant in which she worked before being killed.  Nayana’s death compels them to remember their pasts as survivors, and finally uncover the true identity of the woman who was murdered, as true as they can piece together.  Nayana’s truth will save one of their lives.

The 28th Annual Bay Area Playwrights Festival
Emophiliacs
project conceived and text written by
PRINCE GOMOLVILAS
music written and performed live by INVERNESS
July 31 and August 6, 2005

text read by
CRAIG MARKER, IAN SCOTT MCGREGOR, RYAN MONTGOMERY, JOSEPH PARKS

directed by
ARTURO CATRICALA

Sunday, July 31, 2005 and
Saturday, August 6, 2005
8:00 PM
Tickets: $12-$15, sliding-scale donation

Magic Theatre
Fort Mason Center, Building D
San Francisco, California 94123

Diverse City Theatre (NYC, NY)
Walking Iron
by Linda Faigao-Hall
August 1, 2005
at 7PM

"No one is a villain, no one is homophobic & just human," said playwright Linda Faigao-Hall.

Originally commissioned by The Working Theater, Walking Iron won a National Endowment of the Arts award and grants from New York City's Department of Cultural Affairs and Department of Labor. Faigao-Hall's play, The Female Heart, was recently produced in association with Ensemble Studio Theatre at Theatre Row's Clurman Theatre and was directed by Jamie Richards.

Banyan
by Jeannie Barroga
August 1, 2005

Staged reading.
BANYAN
in Los Angeles
at the Fountain Theatre
5060 Fountain Avenue, Los Angeles
on MONDAY, AUGUST 1, 2005 at 7:00pm - Free

The Fountain Theatre has its own secure parking lot on the premises.Parking is $3.

MAP for directions: http://www.fountaintheatre.com/directions3.html

Sylvan Amphitheatre (Eagle Rock, CA)
Legend of the White Snake
by Henry Ong
July 21 to August 13, 2005

The popular Chinese mythical drama about a snake that turns into a woman after a thousand years of meditation, The Legend of the White Snake, will begin a four week run at the Sylvan Amphitheater in Yosemite Park, 1840 Yosemite Drive in Eagle Rock, starting on Thursday, July 21. The play, performed every Thursday, Friday and Saturday through Saturday, August 13 at 7 p.m., is presented by the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock and the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.

Written and directed by Henry Ong, The Legend of the White Snake will include elements of Chinese martial arts, tai chi and "movement." Ong, an eight-time Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department grant recipient, originally developed the story as a play for youth, entitled Lady White Snake. He later expanded it to The Legend of the White Snake, a version that explores themes relating to the meaning of life, meditation, "inter-species" or "inter-alien" relationships and the nature of love transcending the boundaries of time and space.

Ong is an internationally-produced playwright whose signature play, Madame Mao's Memories, based on the life of Chairman Mao's widow, was performed at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego as well as in many U.S. and international cities. Other credits include People Like Me (to be published in the fall by Norman Maine Publishing), Fabric and Sweet Karma.

Suggested donations (for the performers) are $10. For more information on the production, call the Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock at (323) 226-1617; or call (818) 634-8464.

THE LEGEND OF THE WHITE SNAKE—Lady White Snake (Angelina Cheng) and Hsu Xian (Leonard Wu) meet and fall in love in Henry Ong’s The Legend of the White Snake,

Kilauea Productions
The Ulua Theatre (Hawaii)
in association with Second Generation
Burn This
By Lanford Wilson
August 4 to 27, 2005

A Play Directed by Jason Scott Lee Justina Mattos

Starring
Jason Scott Lee
Ken Elliot
Mark L. Lewis
Yasuko Takahara-Schlather

Anna is recovering from attending Robby's funeral, comforted by her wealthy, well-meaning boyfriend, Burton, a sci-fi screenwriter whose persistent proposals of marriage Anna finds herself unable to accept. Then, with sudden, unexpected explosiveness, Robby's older brother, Pale, busts on the scene. He has come to collect his brother's belongings - but stays on to transform the action of the play, and the lives of those in it.

Opens Thursday, August 4, 2005
Playing August 4-August 27 (Wednesdays through Saturdays)

Tickets $25 (Advance Purchase Only)
Available at: CD Wizard Hilo, Mele Kai Music Kona, Byrd's Audio Waimea, Volcano store

For advance ticket purchase outside of the Big Island, please contact uluatheatre@earthlink.net
For more information: 808.936.1193

Ricardo Montalbán Theatre (Los Angeles, CA)
The Legend of Jane and Joe
by West Liang
August 4 to 28, 2005

See News story

Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre (Vancouver, BC)
Sex in Vancouver: Intimate Secrets
by Kathy Hsieh
August 5 to 20, 2005

VACT continues its serial romantic comedy about hyphenated Asians that has sold-out audiences laughing, crying, and cheering for 4 hot Asian girlfriends - and the hopeless men in their lives. In this new Episode, Intimate Secrets, the gang is gathered for a happy Chinese New Year’s family dinner that explodes into sexual intrigues and couplings right under mom & dad’s noses!

"a terrific cliffhanger that resonates in everyone’s relationship nightmares"
Schema Magazine

Director: Tom Chin
Producer: Joyce Lam
Created by Kathy Hsieh, Serin Ngai & Colleen Parker under the title Sex in Seattle for SIS Productions.
Tickets: $22 / $25 at the door
Rated 14+, some coarse language and suggestive scenes
For more information, visit www.vact.ca

Bindlestiff Studio (SF, CA)
Santos Trilogy
by Bienvenido Santos
August 11 to 20, 2005

See News story.

NYC Fringe Theatre Festival
It’s Phuc Tap!
(It's complicated)
by Eileen Fogarty
August 12 to 28, 2005

Diverse City Theatre (NYC, NY)
Sex Diary of an Infidel
by Michael Gurr
directed by Obie Award winner Ching Valdes-Aran
August 13, 2005

Sex Diary of an Infidel is Australian playwright Michael Gurr's multi-award winning play. A complex story of lies, fantasies and shifting realities, the play presents a prize-winning journalist pursuing a story about Australia's involvement in the lucrative and booming sex tours trade in Manila. Gurr occupies a unique place in Australian theatre, a winner of four State and Premiers' Literary Awards for Drama. His plays have been produced throughout Australia and on ABC and BBC radio.

East West Players (LA, CA)
Actors Conservatory Presentation
August 13, 2005

Celebrate the end of the Actors Conservatory Summer Intensive

As the summer winds down come celebrate the achievements of the Actors Conservatory Summer Intensive students. They've been working hard for the past 6 weeks developing their acting, dancing, singing and improvisation skills.

Join us on Saturday, August 13 at 7:30 pm for a FREE performance where the students will present musical numbers, scenes and other fun surprises! A dessert reception in the East West Players courtyard will follow the show.

RSVP at boxoffice@eastwestplayers.org

David Henry Hwang Theater
120 Judge John Aiso St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012

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Z Space Magic Mondays presents
A Staged Reading of
KITCHEN TABLE
By Eugenie Chan
August 22, 2005

Directed by Rob Melrose

With: Michael Cheng, Michael Ching, Tina Chilip, Yoonie Cho, Tina Huang, and Garth Petal

Patriarch Alex Wong demands a perfectly ordered family dinner -- every dish, every chopstick, every son and daughter in its place. When favorite son, Nicky, shows up late, beaten and covering up a swastika cut on his chest, Alex orders the family to continue eating. So begins their battle, as father and son each struggles to carve out his version of Chinese American manhood -- in and outside the Family. Special thanks to the Tournesol Project.

2g Productions
A Shadow On the Moon
by MICHAEL GOLAMCO
August 25, 2005

(author of Cowboy Vs. Samurai and Achievers)
A Shadow On the Moon takes place in an eerily snowbound Los Angeles, where siblings reunite for a battle over newly sacred ground; it is a battle about obligation, devotion, and a place where spirituality and mental illness collide.

directed by
LLOYD SUH

Thursday, August 25th at 8:00 pm
Join us after the reading for a "Talk Back" with the artists followed by refreshments.

The Abingdon Theatre Company
June Havoc Theatre
312 West 36th Street, 1st Floor
Between 8th and 9th Avenues, closer to 8th in New York's Fashion District

FREE (donations are always welcome)

Make your reservation online at www.2g.org. Seating is limited. Reservations are required.

InterACT (Sacramento, CA)
Carry the Tiger to the Mountain
by Cherylene Lee
September 2 to 18, 2005

Thursday, Friday & Saturday nights at 8:15 pm
Sunday Matinee at 3 pm

Performances at THE SPACE - 2509 R Street (corner of 25th) next to California Stage

Reservations: 916 267-7280 or via email at: iactmail@earthlink.net

I HEREBY SENTENCE YOU TO THREE YEARS PROBATION, AND TO PAY FINES & COURT COSTS TOTALING $3,780. CASE CLOSED.

June 19, 1982 - gas prices are on the rise. U S auto sales are down. Anti-Asian sentiment is high.

The Fancy Pants Club - Vincent Chin is having a bachelor party. He trades insults with Ronald Ebens, a white autoworker. They are kicked out of the club. 20 munutes later Ebens finds Chin in a parking lot and beats him to deat with a baseball bat.

The sentence united a here-to -fore splintered Asian community into a common voice, one that is still united today.

These two historical events are told by Cherylene Lee, author of the critically acclaimed THE LEGACY CODE. Some of the names have been changed to protect both the innocent and the guilty.

The Visible Theatre (SF, CA)
San Francisco Fringe Festival
Green Bamboo Hermitage
September 10 to 18, 2005

The Visible Theater brings traditional Chinese folk music and Shanghai jazz to the San Francisco Fringe Festival in Green Bamboo Hermitage, adapted from the iconic 1932 short story by Wu Zuxiang.

"On the eve of the Japanese Occupation, a young couple flees Shanghai for the home of an eccentric aunt. There, they  become enmeshed in the story of her tragic girlhood romance and how she came to be a widow before she was ever a bride. Classical meets nouveau amidst China's struggle for a modern identity.

Green Bamboo Hermitage plays at the San Francisco Fringe Festival, Exit Stage Left, 156 Eddy, between Mason and Taylor, for four performances only: Sept 10 at 1pm, Sept 11 at 5:30pm, Sept 15 at 7pm, and Sept 18 at 1pm.

The cast features Hawlan Ng and Michelle Ching as the story's newlywed couple with a special appearance by traditional singer/musician Wilma Pang as "Second Auntie." Bay Area native Hawlan Ng has performed with BOA Festival, the Incubator Project at Asian American Theater Company, and the Living History program at the Presidio. Michelle Ching's credits include work at Trinity Rep, The Perishable Theater, NY International Fringe Fest, and MTV China. In addition to teaching music and voice, Wilma Pang has appeared with Asian Theater Workshop, Opera Piccola, and the Royal Hawaiian Band. Director/designer Jon Wai-keung Lowe helmed last year's chilling psycho-drama, Cincinnati. Previously, he has contributed to projects at San Francisco Mime Troupe, Aurora Theatre Company, Ma-yi Theatre (NYC), and Beijing Zoo.

Public Theatre (NYC, NY)
NEW WORK NOW!
Life, Love and E.B.I.T.D.A
Written by Anuvab Pal
Directed by John Dias
September 11, 2005

Ruled from London by millionaire twins with workers toiling in India, the sun never sets on Gofuz Inc.-the world's largest manhole-cover maker. But two women bankers have devious plans to reshape Gofuz and the future of global waste.

Sunday, September 11th at 2pm

Diverse City Theatre (NYC, NY)
Green Room Series
September 12, 2005

- Susan Tammany's monologue Aria 1, a confessional portrait of a wheelchair-bound woman who refuses to be defined by her disability, directed by Triangle Theater's Nancy Rogers and featuring Deepti Gupta*

- Stuart Harris's Colleen Ireland, a gentle comedy about being old and Irish, directed by Lee Errickson and featuring Shirley Bodtke* and Danielle Savin*

- Jorshinelle Taleon-Sonza's How to Cook Adobo, a cultural comedy about being young and Filipino, directed by Victor Lirio and featuring Liz Casasola*, Lydia Gaston*, Bing Magtoto and Benjamin Schmoll

- Joe Byer's aptly called I am Joe's Prostate, an edgy comedy about two young men talking about their prostates, directed by The Working Theater's Mark Plesent and featuring Nicholas Blue and (TBA)

- Lee Errickson's Finding the Mango, a quirky piece about a struggling gallery owner and her savior Mexican employee, directed by KEF Productions' Adam Fitzgerald and featuring Allison Easter* and Andrew Eisenman*

- And finally, an abstract play about abortion in Linda Faigao-Hall's The A-Word directed by Lee Errickson and featuring Victor Lirio* and Kathryn Rossetter*

*Japanese American Hall of Fame (SF, CA)
A Salute to the Stars"
Saturday, September 17, 2005

5:00pm
Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco
Event info: http://www.jcccnc.org/events/dinner.htm
Contact: 415.567.5505*

*The Japanese American Hall of Fame will recognize Pat Morita, George Takei, James Shigeta, Pat Suzuki and Mako with a tribute and show on September 17^th . These entertainers have dedicated their careers to exposing mainstream media to their talents since the 1950s when there were no faces to represent the Asian American community.

Kumu Kahua Theatre (Honolulu, HI)
Da P'ina
from On the Spot
September 18 to 20, 2005

Kumu Kahua Theatre as part of its Dark Night Series presents On the Spot’s Da P?‘ina! A funny, charming, and unpredictable look at local culture, the show opens Sunday, September 18, and plays Monday, September 19 and Tuesday, September 20. All shows start at 7:30 pm and play at Kumu Kahua Theatre, on the corner of Merchant and Bethel.

TSI (NYC, NY)
Home Again
by Felix Racelis
September 21 and 25, 2005

Home Again, a short one-act play by Felix Racelis, receives its New York premiere at Theatre Studio, Inc. (TSI) Wed. Sept. 21, 2005, 8pm. The play will also be performed Sun., Sept. 25, at 5pm, both times in mixed bills with other short plays.

Home Again reveals critical moments in the life of a family that planned poorly. It's a very short play with a very long rippling message, and the audience fills in the blanks.

Theatre-Studio is located at 750 Eighth Ave., Suite 200, NY 10036. Discount tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door. To purchase tickets call: Theatremania (212) 352-3101, or online at www.theatrestudioinc.org and use the Ticketing Link to the TSI calendar at Theatremania.com.

Indo-American Civic Forum
South Asian mental health Awareness in Jersey
Celestial Motions
bu Mrinalini Kamath
September 25, 2005

There will be a workshop performance of the play Celestial Motions, written by Mrinalini Kamath. This one-day performance is to benefit the Indo-American Civic Forum (IACF) and South Asian Mental Health Awareness in Jersey (SAMHAJ).

Sunday, September 25 - 1:30 pm (seating begins at 1 pm)
Tickets: $30 ($16 for students & seniors)
Community Middle School
Plainsboro, NJ
Call 609.921.1419 or e-mail cykamathmd1@aol.com for tickets. For more
information go to www.naminj.org.

CELESTIAL MOTIONS is the story of what happens when 25-year-old Leela's parents, who immigrated to the US from India, are forced to confront a big mistake-they had forgotten to take daylight savings time into account when they had Leela's Hindu astrological chart drawn at her birth. Accordingly, they have the chart redrawn, and the startling prediction sets the young woman on a journey of arranged dating and cyber romance, as her parents desperately try to preserve their family's identity. Little do they realize that Leela's destiny is closer than either they or Leela can imagine. An intercultural romantic comedy and first place winner of East West Players 2005 "Got Laughs?" Asian-American play comedy competition.

Diverse City Theatre (NYC, NY)
The Princess of the Lizard Moon
written and directed by Anton Juan
September 26, 2005

The Princess of the Lizard Moon, second prize winner of the Onassis International Playwriting Competition, tells the story of a Filipino artist studying in Japan possessed by the ghost of a comfort woman and the memories of a murdered sex-slave, both Filipino like him. The artist's quest for justice takes him on a spectacular journey to a place where ritual, myth and history collide. The story is told through Bunraku, Japanese folklore and story-telling, and Butoh dance.

Riverscope Entertainment (Los Angeles, CA)
The Best Man
by Weiko Lin
September 27, 2005

Starring
LISA FAIMAN WEIKO LIN ANNIE ROLLINS LEONARD WU

Produced by
STEPHANIE CHANG

Directed by
KEVIN LAU

Mitchell spends the evening before his wedding at a hotel suite with his fraternal best man, Danny, a musician burnout who makes his money prostituting his young, naive girlfriend, Misty. Mitchell's marrying Julia, who is also Danny's ex-wife. When the women arrive, the charade begins. The drinks flow and suddenly inhibitions melt. Beneath its high-stakes surface and temptation, a dark vengeful secret explodes as the night unfolds.

VENUE:
East West Players
DAVID HENRY HWANG THEATER
120 North Judge John Aiso Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

DATE/TIME:
Tuesday, September 27th, 2005 at 8PM

Kumu Kahua Theater (Hawaii)
Tea
by Velina Hasu Houston
August 25 to September 25, 2005
extended to October 2