Inaugural Asian American Theatre Convening May 22 to 23, 1999

Northwest Asian American Theatre is honored to host the first ever convening of Asian American Theatres. This historic event will bring together Artistic Directors and staff from various Asian American theatres along with featured guest speakers to discuss past accomplishments, current challenges and future goals. Representatives from the following theatres will attend:

• Asian American Theater Company, San Francisco
  
• East West Players, Los AngeLes
  
• Ma-Yi Theatre Campany, New York
  
• National Asian American Theatre Company, New York
  
• New WORLD Theater, Amherst
  
• Northwest Asian American, Seattle
  
• Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, New York
  
• Theater Mu, Minneapolis

Guest artists include

• Alice Tuan, playwright
• Chay Yew, playwright/director and Director of the Asian Theater Workshop, Mark Taper Forum
  

A one day event featuring panels, workshops and A-Fest 99 performances, the convening will be a unique opportunity to meet and share ideas with the driving forces behind the leading Asian American theatres in the country.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: Judith Nibei director, writer and former Artistic Director of NWAAT

Panels open to the public:

A Retrospective of Asian American Theatre:

This panel will chronicle the rich and dynamic history of Asian American theatre. Three of the national's oldest theatres, East West Players, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre and Northwest Asian American Theatre will be highlighted as case studies.
Panelists include:
Tisa Chang, Artistic Producing Director, Pan Asian
Bea Kyohara, Founding member of the Northwest Asian American Theatre
Ken Narasaki, Literary Manager of East West Players
Guest Speaker: Stephen Sumida, Professor of American Ethnic Studies, University of Washington

Asian American theatre in an evolving Ethnic Landscape

Asian Americans are the fastest growing ethnic minority in the US. What are the political and cultural ramifications of the demographic shift and how does it affect Asian American theatre? As new immigrant populations from South and Southeast Asia establish themselves across the US, how are Asian American theatres responding to the growing diversity of Asians in America?
Panelists:
Rosa Joshi, Acting Artistic Director, Northwest Asian American Theatre
Ric Shiomi, Artistic Director, Theater Mu
Roberta Uno, Artistic Director, New WORLD Theater

Looking Ahead: The Future of Asian American Theatre

Tackling a range of issues including identity, artistic mission, community relations, collaboration and funding, this panel will discuss the challenges and goals for Asian American theatre in the next millenium.
Panelists:
Mia Katigbak, Artistic Producing Director, National Asian American Theatre Company
Ralph Pena, Artistic Director, Ma-Yi Theatre
Pamela Wu, Artistic Director, Asian American Theater Company
Guest Speaker: Chay Yew

Merging Traditions/Asian and Western

Rick Shiomi, Artistic Director, and Zaraawar Mistry, Associate Artistic director of Theater Mu, will lead a workshop on merging Asian and Western performance forms. They wilL show video tapes of Theater Mu's collaborations with traditional Asian artists and will lead an improvisational session using taiko as the Asian art form to meld with theater.

WRITING FOR ASIAN AMERICAN THEATRE

What does it mean to write for Asian American theatre? Who is writing for Asian American Theatre? What are the resources available for Asian American playwrights? Structured as a roundtable discussion, this intimate seminar style workshop will be Led by Ken Narasaki, Literary Manager of East West Players, Ralph Pena, playwright and Artistic Director of Ma-Yi Theatre Company and playwright Alice Tuan.

The convening will include performances from A-Fest 99, NWAAT's annual festival of Asian Pacific Islander American and Asian work. The May 23rd evening will feature past and present artists from NWAAT's International Artists Program (IAP) that produces collaborations between API American artists and artists from Asia.

Mew Chang-Tsing,
current IAP artist is a choreographer/dancer from Malaysia whose work is a unique fusion of traditional Asian and contemporary Western dance. Ms. Mew will perform a new solo dance theatre piece entitled A Peel (working title).

Susie Kozawa w/Aono Jiken
Past IAP artist, Susie Kozawa, is a sound artist/composer who creates beautiful and haunting soundscapes with unusual and everyday objects. Ms. Kozawa will perform an original sound and movement piece with the music group Aono Jiken.

Registrations are $15 for the panels, $20 for panels and performance. Fees are due at the Northwest Asian American Theatre (409 Seventh Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98104) May 17, 1999.