Boba Stories from hereandnow

hereandnow, nationally-touring Asian American theatre company, rediscovers itself with Boba Stories: Tales from the hereandnow Kitchen. The show is a collection of vignettes incorporating storytelling, poetry, dance, video, and music. On February 9, the show will premiere in their black box-style theatre at the Edison Performing Arts Center of East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park.

Boba is a popular drink made of tapioca balls mixed with anything iced, from coffee to tea to fruit juices. But beyond being a drink with a funky texture and a fun sound, it represents a special meaning to the creative team of hereandnow.

"Boba actually takes a long time to make," says artistic director John Miyasaki, "and to a have a boba drink that tastes good, you need to pay attention to it the entire time it's being made and throw out leftovers at the end of each day for a fresh batch. And the same goes for the cast's new show."

"So, symbolically for us, we felt ready for a new show, a fresh batch to come out of our creative kitchen," adds assistant director/cast member Traci Kato-Kiriyama, "similar to the kitchen within a household, the theatre is our sacred space where we nurture our art."

Founded in 1990 by John Miyasaki, the cast toured across the country to festival and college venues, performing a show that consists of a combination of storytelling, improvisation, and scripted pieces based on personal and community issues. The composition of the cast changed from year to year, maintaining many of the original pieces of what the cast simply termed "the hereandnow show."

Since becoming a part of E.L.A.C.ís artist-in-residence program in 1998, hereandnow solidified as a core group who grew into a producing company beyond a singular focus on touring. In their new space, the cast has been involved with a number of exciting, original projects including shows with Los Angeles-based band Visiting Violette, the premiere of Jason Fong's Fentor in 1999 and two successful runs of the modernized Romeo and Juliet Pinoy/Pinay Style in 1998 and 1999. Miyasakiís most recent work was with the development of E.L.A.C. theatre students into the ensemble, Teatro Nueva Alma. The fresh Latino ensemble will begin their own tour this year as they continue working with the hereandnow cast.

After a rich and diverse body of work alongside the tour, hereandnow's challenge is to create an entirely new show for a run in Los Angeles. "It's so exciting to be involved with hereandnow at such a dramatic time of change," says cast member and co-producer of Boba Stories, Keiko Agena. "And even though the nostalgia of the "old show" will be missed, I can't wait for people to see what we're doing now."

hereandnow will open the doors to its creative kitchen on February 9 at 8:30 p.m.
sharp don't be late.