East West Players launches Beyond Presence: Her Stories, Our Stories A forum for and about Asian American Women
East West Players (EWP), the nation's premier Asian American theatre, is delighted to announce the launch of Beyond Presence: Her Stories Our Stories - an exciting series of events organized especially for Asian American women. EWP’s upcoming production THE JOY LUCK CLUB will be the central focus for this celebration of Asian American women.
THE JOY LUCK CLUB brings to life the authentic and heartfelt stories of eight Asian American women, interwoven into a beautiful narrative about mothers and daughters. Beyond Presence: Her Stories Our Stories is a 4-part forum series inspired by THE JOY LUCK CLUB.
Fresh, informative and insightful, the forum will discuss issues relevant to Asian American women and it will feature Asian Pacific American luminaries from the media and creative community. Fans will be delighted by the special appearances from Tamlyn Tomita and Rosalind Chao, stars from The Joy Luck Club movie. They will share their personal insights and thoughts about their experiences as Asian American women. The Asian Pacific American web community will also be interested to hear from well-known bloggers Jen Wang and Diana Nguyen (DIGRASIAN.com) and Phil Yew (angryasianman.com). Ada Tseng, Managing Editor of Asia Pacific Arts (UCLA Asia Institute) will moderate the forums.
Be further engaged by the captivating journey of this new cast and director, Jon Lawrence Rivera, who have taken on the challenge of bringing THE JOY LUCK CLUB to a new generation of Asian Americans. Two special talk-back sessions with the cast and director of THE JOY LUCK CLUB completes this forum series specially tailored to complement audiences’ experience of the production.
Tim Dang, EWP Producing Artistic Director, says, "At East West Players, we are committed to produce outstanding works and programs that give voice to the diversity of the Asian Pacific American experience. We believe that it is important to continually seek new ways to reach out and stay relevant to the Asian Pacific American community who has been very supportive of us. Beyond Presence: Her Stories Our Stories affirms our unwavering commitment to the Asian Pacific American community.”
Running every Saturday from November 8 to December 6, 2008 (except November 29), the Beyond Presence: Her Stories Our Stories forum topics are:
November 8 - Crouching Tigress Hidden Dragon Ladies: Representing Asian American Women
November 15 - Conversations: Acting The Joy Luck Club for 2008
November 22 - Conversations: Directing The Joy Luck Club for 2008
December 6 - Beyond Brains or Boobs: Beauty in Asia America 2.0.
The November 8 and December 6 forums will be held at 2:00pm at Barnes & Nobles at The Grove at 189 Grove Drive, Los Angeles, 90036. The November 15 and November 22 forums will be held at 5:00pm at the David Henry Hwang Theater at 120 North Judge John Aiso Street, Los Angeles, 90012. Admission to the forums is free.
Celebrating Asian American Women
Building on the spirit of celebration and empowerment of Asian American women, East West Players has organized a series of activities designed to complement THE JOY LUCK CLUB and Beyond Presence: Her Stories Our Stories.
Inspired and want to read up on the contemporary Asian American experience? You can do so and support Asian American theatre at the same time. EWP will be working with Barnes & Noble at the Grove, Los Angeles, to offer patrons an opportunity to support East West Players. A bookfair will be held in conjunction with the two forums at the bookstore (Nov 8 and Dec 6, 2008) and Barnes & Noble will donate to East West Players a percentage of every sale made during the bookfairs. All you need to do is to make a purchase with a special Barnes & Nobel East West Players Bookfair Voucher. Vouchers can be downloaded from www.eastwestplayers.org .
A celebration is in order and what better way to do so than with a party! For the first time, East West Players will be throwing a special Ladies Night Out event on Friday, November 14 at 7:00pm. Ladies can look forward to a night of complimentary champagne (or wine) with a side of succulent strawberries to enjoy with a wonderful night at the theatre. Mothers, daughters and all relations are invited.
THE JOY LUCK CLUB runs from November 6 to December 7, 2008 at the David Henry Hwang Theater. Tickets are on sale and can be bought by calling (213) 625-7000 or visiting the East West Players website www.eastwestplayers.org . For detailed information about each forum please check the East West Players website.
