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ASIAN THEATRE WORKSHOP
The Mark Taper Forum.jpg

From 1995 to 2005, Chay Yew was as an Associate Artist, and the Founder and the Director of the Asian Theatre Workshop at Mark Taper Forum / Center Theatre Group, under Artistic Director Gordon Davidson. 

Asian Theatre Workshop was created to serve Asian American artists and communities in Los Angeles and throughout the country by developing and producing new and provocative Asian American Theatre, and by providing a pubic forum for Asian American theatre artists.

The Workshop programs and activities included local and national productions and co-productions; developmental workshops and readings of new plays like the Asian Pacific Friends readings and the Shoebox Readings that presented informal readings of new works-in-progress; commissioning of new work; the Black Box Performances of one night only performances by cutting edge Asian American artist; and the Lounge Series which hosted dialogue and panels with established and emerging Asian American theatre artists.

Some highlights include the development of plays and playwrights like Diana Son (Stop Kiss, Fishes), Julia Cho (99 Histories, BFE, The Architecture of Loss), Naomi Iizuka (Citizen 13559: The Diary of Ben Uchida), Jodi Long (Surfing DNA), and Jeanne Sakata (Hold These Truths); and the award-winning production and national tour of Alec Mapa's I Remember Mapa and Pointless; the co-production of Alice Tuan's Ikebana with East West Players; The Square with Ma-Yi Theatre Company (New York); A Beautiful Country with Cornerstone Theatre Company; Question 27, Question 28 with East West Players, Japanese American National Museum and The Smithsonian Institute; Sunil Kuruvilla's Rice Boy  at Taper, top; and Denise Uyehara's Maps of City and Body with Highways Performance Space.

The plays commissioned and/or developed by Mark Taper Forum's Asian Theatre Workshop have been produced by the Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwrights Horizons, Arena Stage, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Kennedy Center, Guthrie Theatre, Studio Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Seattle Children's Theatre, San Diego Rep, Pasadena Playhouse. Playmakers Rep, Theatre at Boston Court, East West Players, Ma-Yi Theatre  Company, Asian American Theatre Company, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, amongst others. 

Asian Theatre Workshop ceased activities after Chay Yew's departure from Mark Taper Forum in 2005.

ARTICLES 

"Los Angeles Intersection: Chay Yew" - The Color of Theater  

"Asians Get A Proponent At The Taper" - Los Angeles Times

"Minority Leaders: From public performances in Santa Monica malls to critically acclaimed shows on mainstream stages, original and culturally diverse plays are reaching wider and younger audiences Calendar Live! points you to some of the leading ethnic theater groups in Los Angeles " - Los Angeles Times

"And The People Who Make It Happen" - Mark Taper Forum / Ahamson Theatre

"Will Theatre in Los Angeles Fade To White?" - New York Times

 

PROGRAMMING FROM 1995 to 2015

Asian Theatre Workshop brochure 

Hymn To Her: A Celebration of Asian American Female Voices

The Courage to Stand Alone: Letters from Political Prisoner Wei Jingsheng

Asian Theatre Workshop calendar 1996

World premiere of Ikebana by Alice Tuan produced by East West Players in association with Asian Theatre Workshop 

Asian Theatre Workshop calendar 1997

World premiere of Two at the Too: Alec Mapa's I Remember Mapa and Sandra Tsing Loh's Depth Becomes to Her

Asian Theatre Workshop calendar 1998

World premiere of A Beautiful Country produced by Cornerstone Theatre Company in association with Asian Theatre Workshop and East West Players 

Word Up! A Festival of Asian American Performance 

Asian Theatre Workshop calendar 1999

World premiere of Denise Uyehara's Maps of City and Body co-produced by Highways Performance Space and Asian Theatre Workshop 

World premiere of Pointless produced by East West Players in association with Asian Theatre Workshop 

The world premiere of The Square at Mark Taper Forum's Taper, Too and Asian Theatre Workshop  

Asian Theatre Workshop calendar 2001 

New York Premiere of The Square presented by Ma-Yi Theatre Company in association with Asian Theatre Workshop at the Public Theater. 

Asian Theatre Workshop calendar 2002

New Plays, New Voices: A Celebration of Asian American Female Playwrights (2003)

World Premiere of Question 27, Question 28 produced by Asian Theatre Workshop and Japanese American National Museum

Transfer of Question 27, Question 28 presented by East West Players in association with Asian Theatre Workshop and Japanese American National Museum 

Summerfest: A Festival of New Asian American Theatre Work (2004)

ASIAN THEATRe WORKSHOP PRESENTATIONS

Assorted fliers and programs for the Asian Theatre Workshop's APAF, New Works Festival, and Shoebox Readings  

Assorted programs from Asian Theatre Workshop's Black Box Performances, and Lounge Series Dialogues

Programs and press from Hymn To Her: A Celebration of Asian American Female Voices 

Los Angeles reviews of The Square

New York reviews of Ma-Yi Theatre Company's (in association with Asian Theatre Workshop) The Square 

Program for Los Angeles production of The Square 

Los Angeles reviews for Question 27, Question 28

Program for Question 27, Question 28

Two at the Too promo materials

Two at the Too reviews 

I Remember Mapa San Francisco promo materials 

I Remember Mapa San Francisco reviews and press

Mapa Mia interview (Advocate)

Mapa Mia reviews

"Theatre; Annals of Asia in America, In Small Bites" - New York Times

ARCHIVE

Asian Theatre Workshop Seasons 1995 to 2002 (Internal document)

Asian Theatre Workshop Seasons 1995 to 2002 (collected and published in show programs )

Gallery
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