Sixth Day of the National Asian American Theatre Festival

Staggeting to the finish line, there was

The Sugar House at the Edge of the Wilderness by Carla Ching. My flight was scheduled to leave in the early evning, so this was the only event I could catch. It was a reading well catching, as it was a dark, fractured fairly tale, loosely based on Hansel and Gretal. This was a strong, finely constructed piece centered around two adoptees from China, and the family whose center cannot hold when the mom dies. Currently, the piece centers around Greta, the older rebellious sister, who seems an archetypical troubled youth, yet whose background make her unique and fresh. However, I mught think the piece could be even better if made a bit more of an ensemble piece, with a bit more on the brother and father. Or maybe not. An interesting device is the author's insistence on NOT turning off cell phones during the show; audience members are encouraged to text and befriend characters during the show. It's not integrated into the play that well, yet, but it's a fresh and interesting idea that has a lot of potential.

And that's a wrap on the the second National Asian American Theatre Festival.There wer some amazing performances and a sneak peak at what could be some groundhreaking scripts from Asian American authors. A shoutout to Mia K. and NAATCO for the sustained, outstanding bravura performance of The Seagull, which was the anchor for the Festival. Kudos too to Lloyd Suh and the Ma-Yi writers for a fabulous LabFest set of readings.And personal shoutouts to local folks like Nora C., Mrilinalini K. and many others who made the visitors welcome. (And furious waves to Kristina, Soo-Jin, Gayle, Rick and other old friends, who I got to see again)(and please don't get annoyed if I didn't mention you here....I'm getting to it!).