"In the beginning there was the Word ... and the Word was CHINAMAN,"

ASIAN AMERICAN THEATER COMPANY
25th Anniversary Season

Frank Chin's THE CHICKENCOOP CHINAMAN

WRITTEN BY: Frank Chin

DIRECTOR: Alberto Isaac

PREVIEWS: Tuesday and Wednesday, April 28 and 29, 1998

OPENS: Thursday, April 30, 1998

PERFORMANCES:
Thursdays through Saturdays, 8:00 p.m.
Sundays, 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

CLOSES: Sunday, May 10, 1998

TICKET PRICES: Thursday $10
Friday $12
}Saturday $13
Sunday (3:00 p.m.) $12
Sunday (7:00 p.m.) $10

STUDENT AND SENIOR DISCOUNTS: $3 off
GROUPS: 10 or more $2 off
20 or more $3 off
50 or more $4 off

INFORMATION AND RESERVATIONS: 415.440.5545 or e-mail aatc@wenet.net

WEB SITE: http://www.wenet.net/~aatc

LOCATION:
SOMAR Cultural Center
934 Brannan Street, San Francisco

San Francisco's Asian American Theater Company, in association with the Asian Pacific Islander Cultural Center, presents the 25th anniversary revival of controversial and groundbreaking writer Frank Chin's THE CHICKENCOOP CHINAMAN. THE CHICKENCOOP CHINAMAN opens April 30 and runs through May 10, 1998, at SOMAR Cultural Center, 934 Brannan Street, San Francisco. Performances are Thursday through Saturday, 8:00 p.m., and Sundays, 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Tickets are $10-13 with senior, student and group discounts.

THE CHICKENCOOP CHINAMAN was the first production of the Asian American Theater Workshop, which was established in 1973 by pioneering Chinese American playwright Chin (and later became Asian American Theater Company in 1978). Asian American Theater Company's revival, set in the early 1970s, looks at this important period in the history of Asian America through the lens of the 1990s. Though the play"and the company, for that matter"is over 25 years old, it continues to be relevant and, in many ways, controversial.

Mr. Chin's synopsis for THE CHICKENCOOP CHINAMAN is deceptively straightforward: "Documentary filmmaker Tam Lum comes to Pittsburgh to rekindle an old friendship with Kenji, a fellow boxing fan, while researching the life of a black boxer and former light heavyweight champion they both admired as boys in another city, another time.

However, when the play premiered at the American Place Theater, New York City, May 27, 1972 (the year before it inaugurated the Asian American Theater Workshop), it was a declaration of war against the dominant culture. The brashness and inventiveness of the language confused some, angered others, but ultimately inspired an entire generation of Asian Pacific Islander American artists of all disciplines.

FRANK CHIN (playwright) is the author of THE CHICKENCOOP CHINAMAN AND THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON: TWO PLAYS BY FRANK CHIN (University of Washington Press, Seattle). He is the principal editor of AIIIEEEEE! AN ANTHOLOGY OF ASIAN AMERICAN WRITERS (a Mentor Book, New York), the collection of fiction and drama and literary history that introduced Asian American literature to the world. More than ten years later AIIIEEEEE! co editors Jeffrey Paul Chan, Shawn Hsu Wong, and Lawson Fusao Inada, with Mr. Chin, produced THE BIG AIIIEEEEE! AN ANTHOLOGY OF ASIAN AMERICAN LITERATURE (a Meridian Book, New York). For his essays in AIIIEEEEE! and THE BIG AIIIEEEEE! Maxine Hong Kingston, David Henry Hwang and Amy Tan called Mr. Chin a "literary fascist. Others call him "the Godfather of Asian American literature. He calls himself, "a Seattle writer unavoidably detained in L.A. Frank Chin is the author of a collection of short stories THE CHINAMAN PACIFIC & FRISCO R.R. CO., and two novels DONALD DUK and GUNGA DIN HIGHWAY (all from Coffee House Press, Minneapolis). A collection of essays from his forty years of writing, BULLETPROOF BUDDHISTS is due out from University of Hawaii Press in May.

ALBERTO ISAAC (director) recently directed the world premiere of Ken Narasaki,s GHOSTS AND BAGGAGE at the Los Angeles Theater Center. He has also directed such plays as THE MAIDS, PERFORMANCE ANXIETY, HUGHIE, YELLOW FEVER, HAWAI,I NO KA OI, INSOMNIA, BAHALA NA and WOMAN FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD at East West Players, the Mark Taper Forum and the Strasberg Institute. He has one L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award and three DramaLogue Awards for outstanding direction. As an actor, his most recent appearance was in his DramaLogue Award-winning performance in TWELF NITE O WATEVA at East West Players, where he also appeared in such productions as ACCOMPLICE, MOTHER TONGUE, TWELFTH NIGHT, PACIFIC OVERTURES, THE THREE SISTERS and RASHOMON. He was in the world premieres of FISH HEAD SOUP and LAST OF THE SUNS at Berkeley Repertory Theater. Other theaters where he has acted include Studio Theater, Washington, D.C. (THE WASH); Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles (MADE IN BANGKOK); A Contemporary Theater, Seattle (FISH HEAD SOUP); and, The Cast Theater, Los Angeles (THE WHITE DEATH). His play CODA appeared at East West Players and was later produced by Asian American Theater Company. Mr. Isaac is married to award-winning actor Emily Kuroda.

THE CHICKENCOOP CHINAMAN continues AATC's 25th Anniversary Year, which includes the upcoming The United States of Asian America Asian Pacific Islander American Performance Series during Asian Pacific Islander American Heritage Month and concludes with a one night only workshop of Charlie Chin's EAT IN, TAKE OUT.

This production is made possible by the San Francisco Art Commission, the San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund Grants for the Arts, Center for African and African American Arts and Culture, SOMAR Cultural Center and the Consortium of Cultural Centers. This play is a presentation of the Emerging Artists Project, which continues AATC,s dedication to the development and promotion of young Asian Pacific Islander American theater artists. In recent years, AATC has been positioning itself to bring together the groundswell of new artists and a younger generation of audiences.

AATC was founded in 1973 as a playwrights, workshop sponsored by the American Conservatory Theater. The company is dedicated to the production of New American plays by dramatists of Asian Pacific Islander descent. Throughout its history, AATC has served as a home for numerous Asian Pacific American playwrights, directors, actors and designers, including Frank Chin, Margaret Cho, Dennis Dun, David Henry Hwang, Philip Kan Gotanda, Amy Hill, Momoko Iko, R.A. Shiomi, Wakako Yamauchi and Judi Nihei. Now in its 25th Anniversary Season, AATC will continue to seek out and develop the talents of Asian Pacific Islander Americans on stage and in film, video and new technologies. AATC is poised to chart new directions for Asian Pacific Islander American theater arts into the new millennium.

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