Monday, December 7, 2020 (New York, NY): Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists (CAATA) announces its roster of speakers and performers for the fifth episode of its ongoing monthly ConFest Virtual Series, “From the Source, Seeds for a Myriad of Worlds,” on Monday, December 14, 2020 at 1PM HST, 2PM AKST, 3PM PST, 4PM MST, 5PM CST, and 6PM EST. The episode will be hosted by Roger Tang (Producer, Pork Filled Productions, Seattle; Board Member, CAATA).

“From the Source, Seeds of Myriad Worlds” will celebrate the rich tapestry of Asian American theatre throughout the country with presentations from Asian American Theatre Artists of Boston (Boston, MA), Bindlestiff Studio (San Francisco, CA), East West Players (Los Angeles, CA), Ma-Yi Theater Company (New York, NY), Pork Filled Productions (Seattle, WA), SIS Productions (Seattle, WA), and Theater Mu (Minneapolis, MN). The episode will be broadcast on Howlround and on CAATA’s Facebook page

The online event include archival footage from Bindlestiff Studio’s 30th Anniversary Gala and a short sketch comedy play from the show “HOEVID-19” by the all Asian American womxn comedy troupe Granny Cart Gangstas; excerpts from Pork Filled Productions’ 2015 production of The Tumbleweed Zephyr by Maggie Lee, as well as clips from their sketch comedy performances; and a visual history celebrating SIS Productions’ 20th year as a female-run Asian American theatre company. This episode will also feature presentations from Asian American Theatre Artists of Boston, East West Players, Theater Mu, and Ma-Yi Theater Company that focus on their histories and achievements as Asian American theatres as well as their transition into the digital space during COVID-19.

The CAATA December Virtual ConFest is a showcase featuring the richness of Asian American theatre across the country.

“From the Source, Seeds for a Myriad of Worlds,” is the fourth episode of CAATA ConFest’s Virtual Series exploring the theme of the upcoming 7th Asian American Theater Festival & Conference (ConFest) “Kuʻu ʻĀina, Kuʻu Piko, Kuʻu Kahua – Return to the Source” in Honolulu, Hawaii. The in-person ConFest will center the voices of Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander theater practitioners, and feature the thriving theater community of Hawaiʻi, where Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander faces on stage are the norm, not the exception.

“Ku‘u ‘Āina, Ku‘u Piko, Ku‘u Kahua – Return to the Source” is a call to all theatre artists to reconnect with their foundations and their sources of knowledge: their land, their family, their center. The online series and its presentation of the wide diaspora of Pan Asian/Pacific Islander/MENA/Native/Indigenous American stories will be a vehicle through which both the audience and artists can ground themselves in their cultural knowledge and the many identities that we bring to our communities.

“Future episodes of the series will feature artists from across the country who represent some of the most groundbreaking work in American theatre, and includes stories from across the breadth of the Pan Asian/Pacific Islander/MENA/Native/Indigenous American diaspora, including Hawaii, Egypt, Vietnam, and more,” said ConFest Co-Chairs Leilani Chan (Founding Artistic Director, TeAda Productions) and Tammy Haili‘ōpua Baker (Associate Professor, Department of Theatre and Dance, University of Hawaii at Mānoa).

They added, “This series is not meant to be a replacement for the conference and festival, but is an offering to begin discussions around artists, topics and themes proposed by the field that we hope will culminate in celebration when we are able to gather in person again next year. Our goal is to also continue dialogue with other BIPOC networks of color and connect artists with current BIPOC movements.”

The ConFest Virtual Series is being produced in partnership with HowlRound Theatre Commons in Boston, MA, a nonprofit organization that operates as part of Emerson Collegeʻs Office of the Arts. HowlRound provides a free and open platform for theatre-makers worldwide that amplifies progressive, disruptive ideas about the art form and facilitates connection between diverse practitioners. The series will be presented on HowlRound TV, HowlRoundʻs global, commons-based peer produced, open access live streaming and video archive project.

Maximiliano Urruzmendi-Mele will be the series Technical Director, and CAATA staff member Ariel Estrada will be the series Line Producer. A full schedule of broadcast dates for the ConFest Virtual Series can be found on CAATAʻs website at https://caata.net/monthly-confest-virtual-series/.

Tickets are now available for Unleashed 2020: New Pulp Stories for the 21st Century. PFP’s staged reading festival features new scripts by playwrights of color, exploring the genres of horror, science fiction, fantasy and mythology.

All tickets are available at https://pork-filled.ticketleap.com. All shows begin at 7 pm and will be streamed to a YouTube address provided to ticket buyers.

Pork Filled Productions is using a Name-Your-Price structure to work with our audience and what they can afford to give. Thank you for supporting local theatre and local theatre artists.

The lineup begins Tuesday, November 10, with I Thought I Was Safe, by Patrick Zhang, directed by Anna Ly, with dramaturgy by Daniel Rector. An amalgamation of the noir and horror genres, I Thought I Was Safe explores multigenerational immigrant trauma as it converges with decaying urban America.  Tickets for this show are available at https://pork-filled.ticketleap.com/i-thought-i-was-safe/.

Next, on Wednesday, November 11, will be a night of shorts. The Golden Disc, by Greg Lam, directed by Gecia Leal Pardo, dramaturgy by Lydia K. Valentine, is about two friends who have their day interrupted by the sudden arrival of an alien object. For the Living by Chie-Hoon Lee, directed by Zenaida Rose Smith, dramaturgy by Lydia K. Valentine, introduces us to a world of scientific reincarnation, and asks profound questions of where one life ends, and another begins. Perennial PFP favorite Maggie Lee rounds out the night with a new version of her short The Sight. They always knew they must lose their sight to become true Oracles of the Goddess. But now that the day of Initiation has arrived, two young novice seers struggle with their choice to live in darkness in order to see the light within.. Tickets for these shows are at https://pork-filled.ticketleap.com/a-night-of-shorts/.

On Thursday, November 12, PFP presents 100 Hungry Ghosts, by Jesse Jou, directed by Nabra Nelson, dramaturgy by Gavin Reub. Graham lives on the most haunted road in America. After multiple tragedies upend his life, he begins to see spirits, as his neighbors’ own painful histories surface. Will he learn to let go of grief or will he meet a grisly end at the hands of one hundred hungry ghosts? Tickets are at  https://pork-filled.ticketleap.com/100-hungry-ghosts/

Friday, November 13 sees miku and the gods, by Julia Izumi, directed by Kiefer Harrington, dramaturgy by Stephanie Kim-Bryan. Miku wants to be a god. Ephraim wants to be an Olympian. Grandma wants to remember. And Shara wants people to just include him in the conversation, you know? miku, and the gods is an epic and small adventure that braids friendship, death, and power beyond what one could ever desire. Tickets are at https://pork-filled.ticketleap.com/miku-and-the-gods/   

Finally, the festival caps off with a co-production with The Hansberry Project: Mustard Seeds, by Michelle Tyrene Johnson, directed by Valerie Curtis-Newton, with dramaturgy by Martine Kei Green-Rogers. On the banks of the Missouri River, a group of researchers gather at a former site of the Underground Railroad where slaves fought for their lives and swam for freedom. Under a full moon, old friends and colleagues are at each other’s throats as they struggle to reconcile their past. Nearby, spirits watch, as spirits do, trying to make sense of these mortals and find a way out.  Tickets at https://pork-filled.ticketleap.com/mustard-seeds/.

Festival passes for all shows are available at https://pork-filled.ticketleap.com/unleashed-2020/

Graphic design by Kayli Putaportiwon

Summer is the time for big action and big adventure — and Pork Filled Productions is bringing some of our favorite big stories to your small screens with our Summer Blockbuster Readings! (Popcorn optional, but highly encouraged.) We’re excited to venture into the world of livestreamed theatre with all-new readings on Zoom, and old favorites on NASH!

JULY 18: Live reading of SHE-DEVIL OF THE CHINA SEA

Written by Roger Tang

Directed by Kiefer Harrington

Shih knows one thing in life: survival. She clawed her way up from refugee to prostitute to support her injured sister. But when China’s pirate lord offers her a chance at something more, the sorceress Wu and her dark forces gather to destroy her before she can even accept…and fulfill a destiny from the gods! An action fantasy a la BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA and MULAN, complete with pirate queens, swords and sorcery!

Get access through Eventbrite; name your ticket price starting at $5!

On-line program here!

Update:

Here’s the Youtube video of the reading:

Like it? Chip in money via  PayPal 
Or use our Click and Pledge page

PFP has joined the Northwest Arts Streaming Hub! We’re streaming our work so you can see for yourself what Pork Filled is all about!

Right now, we have stuff from our early years as a sketch comedy group, but we hope to add more recent stuff as time goes on.

If you’ve never seen us before, check us out (and drop a few coins in the bucket if you like us!)

https://nwartstream.org/pork-filled-productions

From Voyager’s golden discs to ghostly encounters of the unsettling kind, the slate for Pork Filled Productions’ Unleashed 2020 (New Pulp Stories for the 21st Century) showcases genre stories and POC voices seldom seen on stage.

“This is just our third year of Unleashed” says Executive Director Roger Tang, ,”and we’ve already had five of our scripts receive offers of productions from five different theatres. That’s a testament to the quality of work we get.

“Every year we’ve received more plays to read and meet more new playwrights from across the main. This year we got more than a hundred submissions, with the same quality of work. The market for genre work by POC artists simply thrives.” 

 The seven pieces include

•   I Thought I Was Safe by Patrick Zhang 
  An amalgamation of the noir and horror genres, I Thought I Was Safe explores multigenerational immigrant trauma as it converges with decaying urban America. 
•  For the Living, by Chie-Hoon Lee
  “If the clone had to be incarnated it would remember everything I do, as of today. But it still wouldn’t be me, would it? I’d still be dead, wouldn’t I?”
•  The Golden Record, by Greg Lam
  Two friends have their day interrupted by the sudden arrival of an alien object.
•  CJ: An ASpanglish Play, by Mercy Floresislas
  Carolina Juarez, CJ, is a fifteen year old forced to live with her estranged aunt and Deaf grandmother when her mom overdoses again. She has been disconnected from her Latino heritage and is not interested in getting to know her family including her grandmother who is Deaf and has dementia. During a teenage tantrum, she destroys her grandmother’s childhood toy and the family’s comadre conjures up a recipe to intervene as her personal Nahual. Two Aztec deities appear to her to give her a chance to change her life before is too late.
•  Mustard Seeds, by Michelle Tyrene Johnson
  On the banks of the Missouri River, a group of researchers gather at a former site of the Underground Railroad where slaves fought for their lives and swam for freedom. Under a full moon, old friends and colleagues are at each other’s throats as they struggle to reconcile their past. Nearby…spirits watch, as spirits do…trying to make sense of these mortals and find a way out.
•  100 Hungry Ghosts, by Jesse Jou
  Graham lives on the most haunted road in America. After multiple tragedies upend his life, he begins to see spirits, as his neighbors’ own painful histories surface. Will he learn to let go of grief or will he meet a grisly end at the hands of one hundred hungry ghosts?
•  miku and the gods, by Julia Izumi
  Miku wants to be a god. Ephraim wants to be an Olympian. Grandma wants to remember. And Shara wants people to just include him in the conversation, you know? miku, and the gods is an epic and small adventure that braids friendship, death, and power beyond what one could ever desire.

The next step is to match each script with a dramaturg, who will aid the playwright in re-writes and development over the summer. This culminates in a staged reading of the work, produced by PFP, set for late fall, this year.

“We’re following in the footsteps of our brethren at Theater Mu and Ma-Yi,” says Tang, “as we support the playwright at every step of the way, with dramaturgs and workshop readings to make the script the best it can possibly be.”

Directors and casting for the entire festival will be announced later.

The oldest Asian American theatre group in the Pacific Northwest, Pork Filled Productions centers Asian American and POC artists to imagine fantastical, inclusive and FUN universes. Through the genres of science fiction, noir, fantasy, steampunk, horror,  and more, we envision a bright universe informed by diverse experiences and perspectives, populated by larger than life characters, where everyone’s story can be told. PFP’s season is supported by 4Culture and the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.

Pork Filled Productions is fiscally sponsored by Shunpike, the 501(c)(3) non-profit agency that provides independent arts groups in Washington with the services, resources and opportunities they need to forge their own paths to sustainable success.  

Playwright Bios:

Mercedes Floresislas is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who writes trilingual plays to create opportunities for Deaf and Hard of Hearing actors to spread awareness of Deaf related issues and American Sign Language. Her first play, Tamales de Puerco revolutionized American Theater by introducing the first Latino Deaf characters. Floresislas first MFA play, Los Moreno, is the recipient of the 2016 Kennedy Center American Theater Festival Latinidad Award, the first alternate for the National Partners American Theater Award 2016, it was selected as the 50 Playwrights Project Best Unproduced Latinx plays 2017, Austin Latino Play Festival at Teatro Vivo, Milargo Theater Latinx Festival, and it was a runner up for Met Life’s 2017 Nuestras Voces. Floresislas is a recipient of the Gerbode Special Awards in the Arts. 

Julia Izumi’s work has been developed at MTC, The Bushwick Starr, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, WP Theater, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor Residency and NNPN/Kennedy Center’s MFA Playwrights’ Workshop. She is a current member of Clubbed Thumb’s Early-Career Writers’ group and New Georges’ Audrey Residency. MFA: Brown University.

Michelle Tyrene Johnson is a public radio journalist, a writer and a former attorney. As a playwright, Johnson’s plays have been staged nationally, including in California, Texas, Illinois, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Kentucky. Several of her plays, such as Wiccans in the Hood, The Negro Whisperer, Trading Races: From Rodney King to Paula Deen, Echoes of Octavia, and Buried Roots have been in New York City festivals and readings.

Primarily a director of new and contemporary plays, Jesse Jou is currently on faculty at Texas Tech University. He is an alumnus of the Cherry Lane Mentor Project, the Drama League’s Directors Project, and the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab. Jesse is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama. 

Greg Lam is a playwright and podcaster who’s just moved to the Bay Area. His full-length play REPOSSESSED received its world premiere at Theatre Conspiracy in Fort Myers, FL in 2018. His newest play LAST SHIP TO PROXIMA CENTAURI received readings in 2019. For more about Greg, see https://greglam.wixsite.com/home.

Chie-Hoon Lee‘s credits include the short plays “For the Living” and “Half Life”. Chie-Hoon has worked in non-creative capacities for the renowned Belvoir and Griffin theatre companies in Sydney.

Patrick Zhang is a Philadelphia-born, but LA-based actor, writer, filmmaker, and student. He is inspired by the intersection of social justice and art. Patrick ultimately desires to democratize creativity through his work.  

Spice up your meetings! Use production photos from past PFP shows as virtual backgrounds to give a little character to your interactions under social isolation!

Best of all, it’s free to use! Go here for Fast Company virtual backgrounds! Go here for The Brothers Paranormal backgrounds! And go here for A Hand of Talons backgrounds! And just click on the photos!

Just added! The Tumbleweed Zephyr photos.

More shows and more backgrounds. to come!

We’re launching our IndieGoGo campaign to raise money in support of THE BROTHERS PARANORMAL! Your contribution helps us give our designers more financial freedom to create fantastical props, sets, and costumes to give our audiences the most terrifying experience possible. And of course, there are perks — from signed posters to backstage tours, and maybe even some one-on-one time with the playwright!

Check out our IndieGoGo campaign and start donating!

You can also buy your tickets now — and make sure to share with your friends! A night at the theatre is always better with a buddy, and word of mouth is our best advertising.

Featuring Kathy Hsieh as Tasanee, Sean Nguyen as Max, Van Lang Pham as Visarut, Selena Whitaker-Paquiet as Delia, Margaret Luxamon Hotchkiss as Jai, and Ronnie Hill as Felix. Photos by Alan Alabastro.

This talented cast will be directed by Mimi Katano (Youth Theatre Northwest), and supported by a design team of PFP veterans and newcomers: Brian Dang (ASM), Carolina Johnson (Lights), Janelle Kimbrough (Costumes), Troy Lund (Sound), Robin Macartney (Props and Set), and Josh Valdez (SM). We’re pleased to be working as well with a team of consultants and dramaturgs who are bringing their lived experiences and subject matter expertise to the production: Kim Douthit, Luzviminda Marcotte, Itsara Namtapi, Merri Ann Osborne, Chanya Swartz, and Lydia Valentine.

Follow us on Facebook and Instagram to learn more about our cast and crew!