Trending...
- Ascent Solar Technologies Enters Collaborative Agreement Notice with NASA to Advance Development of Thin-Film PV Power Beaming Capabilities: ASTI - 116
- Fact check: Claims swirling on California gas prices - 108
- Google AI Quietly Corrects the Record on Republic of Aquitaine's Legal Sovereignty
CATS collaborates with local award-winning director and playwright for a one-of-kind AAPI theater experience.
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Californer -- SAN JOSE, Calif. – Contemporary Asian Theater Scene (CATS), in collaboration with award-winning director and playwright Jeffrey Lo, announces the launch of its inaugural Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Playwright Festival, a one-of-a-kind theater arts experience that fosters and showcases the talent of existing and emerging local Bay Area AAPI theater artists, from writers and actors to directors, stagehands and others. Scheduled for Saturday, July 27, 2024, at San Jose Stage theatre (The Stage), the CATS 2024 AAPI Playwright Festival is proudly co-produced with San Jose Stage Company, amplifying the vibrant creativity of both organizations.
The inaugural AAPI Playwright Festival features staged readings of six AAPI short plays written by the following AAPI playwrights: Victoria Chong Der, Anthony Doan, Reed Flores, Kausar Mohammed, Conrad Panganiban, and Christina Ying. The plays will be performed by local Bay Area artists.
"This festival shines a spotlight on these works and their creators, as well as encourages young, emerging artists to discover new and existing plays, performed on stage in front of a live audience who love live theater," says Leianne Wong Lamb, president of CATS.
Lamb continues, "It also brings in new community members who have never experienced live theater and want to support AAPI artists."
Jeffrey Lo, the Artistic Producer for the AAPI Playwright Festival, adds, "It is an exciting time to be an Asian American Theatre maker in the Bay Area. From the early roots of the Asian American Theatre Company to the works being done today by playwrights like Lauren Yee, Jessica Huang and Madhuri Shekar - the Bay Area has always been a center for the development of new AAPI voices and stories. This festival helps us continue that history of lifting up the next generation of storytellers and highlight exciting and emerging artists in our community."
More on The Californer
CATS has committed to presenting The AAPI Playwright Festival for at least three years, as it is deemed a notable addition to CATS' roster of high-quality productions. These presentations include, but are not limited to, three prior staged readings with a fourth staged reading in June 2024, its upcoming 10th Annual Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest in October 2024, past music concerts, most recently Hiroshima in 2022 and last fall's Maui Benefit concert featuring Hawaii-based pop boy band Crossing Rain.
In addition, CATS showcases AAPI artists with intimate artist interviews throughout the year on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and the CATS website.
Collectively, the productions and programs further CATS' mission of supporting and showcasing AAPI artists locally in San Jose and Silicon Valley and beyond.
About the Contemporary Asian Theater Scene (CATS)
Founded in 1995 by the late Dr. Jerry Hiura, the late Steve Yamaguma, and Miki Hirabayashi Bellon, CATS has been a beacon for Asian American artists in the South Bay and the greater San Francisco Bay Area. With a rich history of supporting, mentoring, and presenting Asian American artists and cultural disciplines, CATS has become a pivotal platform for showcasing talent through events, including comedy nights, music concerts, film festivals, and now, the AAPI Playwright Festival. CATS also produces the annual Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest (formerly known as San Jose J-Town FilmFest). CATS continues to fulfill its founders' dream of enriching the cultural landscape of San Jose and Silicon Valley by promoting AAPI artists and their stories. CATS is in San Jose's Japantown and is a 501c3 non-profit organization. More info at CatsAsianTheaterScene.org.
About Jeffrey Lo
Jeffrey Lo (He/Him/His) is a Filipino-American playwright and director based in the Bay Area. He is the recipient of the Leigh Weimers Emerging Artist Award, the Emerging Artist Laureate by Arts Council Silicon Valley and Theatre Bay Area Director's TITAN Award. Selected directing credits include The Language Archive, Little Shop of Horrors and The Santaland Diaries at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Chinglish, The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin and Hold These Truths at San Francisco Playhouse, Vietgone and The Great Leap at Capital Stage, A Doll's House, Part 2 and Eurydice at Palo Alto Players and The Grapes of Wrath, The Crucible and Yellow Face at Los Altos Stage Company. As a playwright, his plays have been produced and workshopped at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, BindleStiff Studio, City Lights Theatre Company and Stanford University. He is the Associate Producer of Casting and Literary Manager at the Tony Award Winning TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, a graduate of the Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute and a proud alumnus of the UC Irvine Drama Department.
More on The Californer
About San Jose Stage
San Jose Stage Company (The Stage) is recognized as the South Bay's leading professional theatre company, having earned a reputation for artistic excellence through imaginative and edgy theatrical experiences that spark ideas and dialogue with the audience. Through powerful, provocative and profound theatre, San Jose Stage Company (The Stage) seeks to expand community, forge creative partnerships and challenge individuals in order to illuminate the human condition. The Stage is a multi-award-winning theatre company, including the 2018 Paine Knickerbocker Award for continued contributions to Bay Area theatre from the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. The Stage has produced over 200 productions, including 20 world premieres and 50 new works and is ranked as the 2nd largest professional theatre and 8th largest performance arts organization in Silicon Valley attracting over 30,000 patrons to downtown and employing more than 150 local artists annually, San Jose Stage Company is a vital force in the region's economic and creative landscape. More info at www.thestage.org.
Follow CATS on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/catsasiantheater/
https://www.facebook.com/catsasiantheater
https://www.youtube.com/@asiantheater
The inaugural AAPI Playwright Festival features staged readings of six AAPI short plays written by the following AAPI playwrights: Victoria Chong Der, Anthony Doan, Reed Flores, Kausar Mohammed, Conrad Panganiban, and Christina Ying. The plays will be performed by local Bay Area artists.
"This festival shines a spotlight on these works and their creators, as well as encourages young, emerging artists to discover new and existing plays, performed on stage in front of a live audience who love live theater," says Leianne Wong Lamb, president of CATS.
Lamb continues, "It also brings in new community members who have never experienced live theater and want to support AAPI artists."
Jeffrey Lo, the Artistic Producer for the AAPI Playwright Festival, adds, "It is an exciting time to be an Asian American Theatre maker in the Bay Area. From the early roots of the Asian American Theatre Company to the works being done today by playwrights like Lauren Yee, Jessica Huang and Madhuri Shekar - the Bay Area has always been a center for the development of new AAPI voices and stories. This festival helps us continue that history of lifting up the next generation of storytellers and highlight exciting and emerging artists in our community."
More on The Californer
- Live Courageously Hosts Ann-Marie Murrell, Author, Journalist, Former Political Commentator
- COSRX x Alfred Coffee Launch Skincare-Coffee Crossover
- $17.4 Million Total Revenue for First Half of 2025 (up 31.8% YOY) for Global Wet Trades Services Provider with High Value Bitcoin Investments
- $12.8 Million Net Revenue for 2024 for Cloud-Based Crowdsourcing Recruitment and SaaS-Enabled HR Solutions Provider: Baiya International Group Inc
- Randall W. Lewis Center for Entrepreneurship Aims to Generate $1 Billion in Economic Impact by 2028
CATS has committed to presenting The AAPI Playwright Festival for at least three years, as it is deemed a notable addition to CATS' roster of high-quality productions. These presentations include, but are not limited to, three prior staged readings with a fourth staged reading in June 2024, its upcoming 10th Annual Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest in October 2024, past music concerts, most recently Hiroshima in 2022 and last fall's Maui Benefit concert featuring Hawaii-based pop boy band Crossing Rain.
In addition, CATS showcases AAPI artists with intimate artist interviews throughout the year on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and the CATS website.
Collectively, the productions and programs further CATS' mission of supporting and showcasing AAPI artists locally in San Jose and Silicon Valley and beyond.
About the Contemporary Asian Theater Scene (CATS)
Founded in 1995 by the late Dr. Jerry Hiura, the late Steve Yamaguma, and Miki Hirabayashi Bellon, CATS has been a beacon for Asian American artists in the South Bay and the greater San Francisco Bay Area. With a rich history of supporting, mentoring, and presenting Asian American artists and cultural disciplines, CATS has become a pivotal platform for showcasing talent through events, including comedy nights, music concerts, film festivals, and now, the AAPI Playwright Festival. CATS also produces the annual Silicon Valley Asian Pacific FilmFest (formerly known as San Jose J-Town FilmFest). CATS continues to fulfill its founders' dream of enriching the cultural landscape of San Jose and Silicon Valley by promoting AAPI artists and their stories. CATS is in San Jose's Japantown and is a 501c3 non-profit organization. More info at CatsAsianTheaterScene.org.
About Jeffrey Lo
Jeffrey Lo (He/Him/His) is a Filipino-American playwright and director based in the Bay Area. He is the recipient of the Leigh Weimers Emerging Artist Award, the Emerging Artist Laureate by Arts Council Silicon Valley and Theatre Bay Area Director's TITAN Award. Selected directing credits include The Language Archive, Little Shop of Horrors and The Santaland Diaries at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Chinglish, The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin and Hold These Truths at San Francisco Playhouse, Vietgone and The Great Leap at Capital Stage, A Doll's House, Part 2 and Eurydice at Palo Alto Players and The Grapes of Wrath, The Crucible and Yellow Face at Los Altos Stage Company. As a playwright, his plays have been produced and workshopped at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, BindleStiff Studio, City Lights Theatre Company and Stanford University. He is the Associate Producer of Casting and Literary Manager at the Tony Award Winning TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, a graduate of the Multicultural Arts Leadership Institute and a proud alumnus of the UC Irvine Drama Department.
More on The Californer
- The Luxury Collection and Michael McGregor Channel the Essence of Three Cities in an Artful New Limited-Edition Collaboration
- Duplitech Expands Manila Operations with New Office
- Hire Virtue Announces Executive Sponsorship Opportunity for Houston Hiring Blitz & Job Fair on August 6, 2025
- National Initiative Equips 1,000 Nonprofits with Business and Tech Skills Amid Job Corps Closure
- Orion Metal Exchange Launches Platinum Bonus Program
About San Jose Stage
San Jose Stage Company (The Stage) is recognized as the South Bay's leading professional theatre company, having earned a reputation for artistic excellence through imaginative and edgy theatrical experiences that spark ideas and dialogue with the audience. Through powerful, provocative and profound theatre, San Jose Stage Company (The Stage) seeks to expand community, forge creative partnerships and challenge individuals in order to illuminate the human condition. The Stage is a multi-award-winning theatre company, including the 2018 Paine Knickerbocker Award for continued contributions to Bay Area theatre from the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. The Stage has produced over 200 productions, including 20 world premieres and 50 new works and is ranked as the 2nd largest professional theatre and 8th largest performance arts organization in Silicon Valley attracting over 30,000 patrons to downtown and employing more than 150 local artists annually, San Jose Stage Company is a vital force in the region's economic and creative landscape. More info at www.thestage.org.
Follow CATS on social media:
https://www.instagram.com/catsasiantheater/
https://www.facebook.com/catsasiantheater
https://www.youtube.com/@asiantheater
Source: Contemporary Asian Theater Scene (CATS)
Filed Under: Entertainment, Arts
0 Comments
Latest on The Californer
- Robert Michael & Co. Real Estate Team Celebrates Industry Recognition and Showcases Premier Central Florida Listings
- Montessori Stoppani Partners with Lifetime Montessori School
- Cymbiotika Celebrates 2025 Great Place To Work Certification™
- Long Beach: LA28 Announces Finalized Sailing Venue Plan for 2028 Olympic Games
- Individual Software Announces New Versions of its Four Typing Programs in 2025
- Britt Michaelian Brings Transformative Art & Wellness to The Ecology Center's Peace Dome
- California: Governor Newsom urges safety this Fourth of July after 600,000 pounds of illegal explosives seized
- AI-Based Neurotoxin Countermeasure Initiative Launched to Address Emerging National Security Needs: Renovaro, Inc. (N A S D A Q: RENB)
- The Naturist World Just Shifted — NaturismRE Ignites a Global Resurgence
- Mental and Emotional Self-Management, Practical Tools for Trauma-Informed Stress Management
- CGI+ Sells Multifamily Development Site in Los Angeles' South Bay to JPI for $40 Million
- MicroStrategy Incorporated (MSTR) Investors Who Lost Money Have Opportunity to Lead Securities Fraud Lawsuit
- Alten Construction awarded Encinal Junior and Senior High School project
- $796,000 in Q2 Revenue Marks Highest Earnings to Date on 3 Trailing Quarters of Profitability in Multi-Billion Homebuilding Sector: Stock Symbol: IVDN
- Cybersecurity is THE Hot Market Sector; Revenues, Earnings & Profit matter; Only 33 Million Shares + a Huge Short Position Equal an Undervalued Stock
- Despite Global Calls for a Ban, US Child Psychiatry Pushes Electroshock for Kids
- Franco Polished Plaster Celebrates 35 Years of Bringing Walls to Life in the UK
- Spartan & Guardians Partner with Guitar Legend Buckethead to Support Global Child Rescue Efforts
- Preliminary.online Introduces Short-Term Job-Readiness Courses with Employer-Verified Certifications
- Psychologist-Turned-Hermeticist Releases Modern Guide to the Seven Hermetic Principles