Elders of the Los Angeles Asian American Theatre Community

In the spring of 2021, during a national gathering of AAPI theatre artists held in the wake of the Atlanta shootings, Artists at Play Producing Artistic Leader Julia Cho learned about The Great AAPI Elder Print Off from For You, Productions. The project connected AAPI artist-activists with AAPI elders living in San Francisco during a time of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing violence against the Asian American community. Based on a series of conversations, the artists created posters to amplify their respective elder’s voices and experiences.

Artists at Play was inspired and wanted to see if we could highlight the voices of “elders” within the AAPI theatre community. We adapted the project to spotlight theatre elders who have contributed much of their professional lives to creating Asian American theatre and nurturing the next generation of artists.

On September 12, 2021, Producing Artistic Leader Stefanie Lau sat down to record an episode of the AAP Podcast, “Elders of the Los Angeles Asian American Theatre Community,” with Tim Dang, Meg Imamoto and Marilyn Tokuda. All three spent many years at East West Players, and are theatre elders who have mentored many — including Stefanie. Listen to “Elders of the Los Angeles Asian American Theatre Community” below.

Hi, We're the Artists at Play Interns! (2022) – Artists at Play Podcast

This year, Artists at Play welcomed new interns/mentees who sought an opportunity to learn about the work we do as a producing collective. In this episode, we learn about them! AAP co-founder and co-producing artistic leader Marie-Reine Velez facilitates a discussion with AAP interns and young theatre artists Sandy Nguyen, Jocelyn Shek, Victoria Vourkoutiotis, and Emi Yoshino about their experiences, interests, and vision for the future. CONTENT NOTE: This episode contains minimal use of expletive language and words. Episode credits:Produced and edited by Marie-Reine VelezAdditional editing by Nicholas PilapilTheme song by Eloise Wong

1. Hi, We're the Artists at Play Interns! (2022) 58:03
2. (Re)Visiting FLOWER DRUM SONG 01:04:29
3. Elders of the Los Angeles Asian American Theatre Community 57:45
4. Why (Still) Theatre? 01:02:49
5. New Play Development: From Idea to Page to Stage 32:37

Artist Shannon Chou selected quotes from the conversation to create Artists at Play’s posters for The Great AAPI Elder Print Off. 

Shannon is a Taiwanese American illustrator and recent graduate based in Southern California. Her primary focus is in narrative artwork, but she enjoys tackling all artistic genres and challenges. When she’s not compulsively adding too many details to her linework, Shannon enjoys binge-watching animated films and shows (for research, she says). See more of Shannon’s work here and here.