We’re kicking off 2019’s UNLEASHED festival with our first reading on March 25th at 7:30PM: I Wanna Fuck Like Romeo & Juliet, by Andrew Rincón, winner of the 2019 New Light New Voices Award.  The world is thrown into chaos as Cupid rips off her wings and gives up on Love. But Saint Valentine has a plan to bring her spirits back up; and it involves the relationship between two men. From outer space to Hackensack NJ, this queer love story of epic proportions investigates the shame and joy within queer love of color. I Wanna … will be playing Off-Broadway in 2020, and Pork Filled Productions is delighted to be giving Seattle a sneak peek of this funny, daring, magical script.

Our staged reading is directed by Ana Maria Campoy, whose work has been seen all over Seattle with groups like Pork Filled Productions, Thriving Artists/Proof Porch Project, and Seattle Public Theatre.

::: Content warning: Explicit sexual language and discussion of sexual assault. :::

Reserve your Pay-What-You-Can tickets today!

Show #2: Caught by Christopher Chen

Intiman Theatre brings back this modern classic of Asian American theatre, directed by Desdemona Chiang, and featuring Bradford Farwell, Jonelle Jordan, Justin Huertas and former PFP Producer Narea Kang.

PFP is a Community Partner for this production as we welcome Narea back from the bright lights of New York for this tour de force performance.

An art gallery hosts a retrospective of the work of a legendary Chinese dissident artist who was imprisoned in a Chinese detention center for a single work of art. Recently profiled in the New Yorker, the artist himself is present, and shares with patrons the details of an ordeal that defies belief. A labyrinthine exploration of truth, art, social justice, and cultural appropriation, where nothing is as it first appears. 

This irreverent new genre-bending work invites you to navigate a shape-shifting trail between truth and perception, authority and authenticity, illusionary art and real jeopardy.

March 7-March 30, 2019 at 12th Ave Arts, 1620 12th Ave, Seattle. Tickets available here. Or check out the Facebook events page!

Pork Filled Productions presents the second Unleashed: New Pulp Stories for the 21st Century, a staged reading new works festival that includes I Wanna Fuck Like Romeo and Juliet, a Queer love story by Andrew Rincon; Old and New, a mystery thriller in two time periods by local playwright Kendall Uyeji; and a collection of short, science fiction plays: Interventions by Greg Lam, The Adventures Of Captain Cork’s Janitor by local playwright Brian Dang, and Utopiaby Angeli Primlani.

Unleashedis presented in partnership with University Heights Theatre Alliance on Monday, March 25, 2019, Monday, June 17, 2019, and again in the winter at University Heights Center (5031 University Way NE Seattle, WA 98105).

“We’re thrilled to continue Unleashed,” says PFP Executive Director Roger Tang, “because it was clear there ISN’T a shortage of plays by playwrights of color—it’s a shortage of theatres with the courage to produce them. So we sought out playwrights who explored new worlds and imagined civilizations that transcend our present-day norms. We wanted their plays, which exist on their own terms, unshackled by the past or by American theatre orthodoxy.

“We can’t wait to share these stories with Seattle audiences. They continue to expand the theatrical canon with bold new work by playwrights of color–and they’re loads of fun!”

Unleashedopens with I Wanna Fuck Like Romeo and Juliet, winner of the 2019/20 New Light New Voices Award, by New York based playwright Andrew Rincón on March 25 at 7:30 pm. The world is thrown into chaos as Cupid rips off her wings and gives up on love. But Saint Valentine has a plan to bring her spirits back up; and it involvesmendingthe relationship between two men. From outer space to Hackensack NJ, this is a Queer love story of epic proportions that investigates the shame and joy within Queer love of color.

On June 17 at 7:30 pm, Unleashedcontinues with a collection of sci-fi short plays:

• Interventions, by Boston-based playwright Greg Lam (first introduced to Seattle in 2017’s Unleashed): A couple go on a hike but find their special plans keep getting interrupted by a succession of time travelers, each with a different message from the future.
• Utopia, by Chicago-based playwright Angeli Primlani: Tom and Marsha love Utopia. They believe in Utopia. They helped build Utopia. But the children of Utopia, including their daughter, Robin, are learning to read and a mysterious Poet wants them to destroy the paradise their parents built.
• The Adventures Of Captain Cork’s Janitorby Seattle’s own Brian Dang: Captain Cork has just successfully captured the Golden Bagel. Aboard his ship, the crew announces a party to celebrate. However, a group of Mothman worshippers ambush the ship. And the only person who can save the day is… Captain Cork’s janitor?

The final play presented in Unleashedthis winter is Old and New, by Seattle playwright Kendall Uyeji (co-writer of Night Parade with REBATEnsemble). Two eras converge as a detective hunts a time traveling murderer and a tribal leader tries to save his village. Through humor, pain, and sharedhumanity, they manage to find something old and new in one another.

All shows will be at the University Heights Neighborhood Center, and attendance will be Pay What You Can. For the latest information, check the PFP website at www.porkfilled.com.

University Heights Center promotes life-long learning, creativity, culture, community activism, and the preservation of our historic building. For more info, go to https://www.uheightscenter.org/who-we-are.

The oldest Asian American theatre group in the Pacific Northwest, Pork Filled Productions produces and develops genre plays, promoting Asian American and POC artists to imagine fantastical, inclusive and FUN universes. Through the genres of science fiction, noir, steampunk 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. groups are fiscally sponsored by Shunpike. Shunpike is 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.

Pork Filled Productions is proud to join with the University Heights Center in its new UHeights Theatre Alliance! With rents on the rise, displacement has become a serious threat to the arts in general. Many thoughtful, talented theatre companies in the Seattle area are struggling to find reasonable accommodations for rehearsal, performance, and workshop space.

We have partnered with UHeights and a dozen local groups (another group or two may be added in the near future) to fulfill our need for space in exchange for free or low-cost performances and workshops for the community! Our Unleashed series of script readings of new pulp stories for the stage by playwrights of color will be the focus of our work at UHeights.

Keep your eyes peeled for our announcement of what’s on tap for Unleashed!

Poster by Sarah Neurath

#GivingTuesday is a global day of giving fueled by the power of social media and collaboration.

 Celebrated on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) and the widely recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday kicks off the charitable season, when many focus on their holiday and end-of-year giving.
 
Keep PFP in your thoughts. Visit our giving portal and donate to PFP to bring fun, larger than life stories by Asian Americans and other playwrights of color to the stage! Your #GivingTuesday dollars support PFP’s season which includes Unleashed 2019 (the next wave of playwrights of color creating new pulp/adventure stories for the stage) and a couple pending projects (We’re figuratively bursting at the seams to tell you, but, trust us, they’re worth the wait!).  

From venue rentals to production costs to artist compensation, we weather the financial storms of creating art in Seattle. On Giving Tuesday, help us navigate these rough seas as we provide safe harbor for POC created and centered genre theatre. Thank you!

Everyone, look in the same direction!

Point at the terror you see!

Claw at your eyes as you shout its name!

GOJIRA!!!

PFP is raising money for our upcoming season of bright, fun, inclusive stories. Our fall fundraising campaign features a special screening of Shin Godzilla (2016) on Sunday, November 18 to support our ongoing new works program, UNLEASHED: New Pulp Stories for the 21st Century.

When we launched UNLEASHED in 2017, we brought 7 brand-new genre plays by playwrights of color to the stage with 4 directors of color and 40 local actors of color! These plays ran the gamut from pirate queens to zombie support groups to avenging samurai ancestors, while examining deeply human questions of identity, inequity, memory, and the impact of technology on our lives. Several plays featured in last year’s festival have already gone on to full productions in Seattle and across the nation, including Seayoung Yim’s Persimmon Nights at Cafe Nordo. Now, we want to keep up the momentum with a season of new works. Representation matters and, at PFP, we are committed to showcasing and reflecting what our creative communities actually look like.

With the success of recent genre films by and featuring artists of color like Get Out, Black Panther, Crazy Rich Asians, and Sorry to Bother You, we’re screening a modern take on one of the original greats: Shin Godzilla, a 2016 reimagining of the classic kaiju movie. Join us as we celebrate fun, larger-than-life stories of monsters and mayhem with popcorn, swag bags, and more.

Support PFP today to help us continue to make exciting genre plays and expand the theatrical canon with work by and featuring artists of color.

Get a ticket!
$18 – See the movie and get free popcorn + 1 entry for the door prize.
$25 – Enjoy a complimentary snack bag of Japanese goodies + 2 entries for the door prize.
$50 – Receive a swag bag + 4 entries for the door prize!
Seating is limited.

The fabulous door prize: Monster Isle (11″x23″ print) by Justin Orr

Can’t come to the screening but still want to show your support? Donate to PFP online and help us meet our goal!

Deadline for submissions extended to October 31, 2018!

• Call for genre plays is open to all playwrights of color
• Send plays to – submissions@porkfilled.com
• Questions? – info@porkfilled.com
• Plays are not required to have specifically diverse casts or racial themes; however, Pork Filled Productions is dedicated to casting all of our shows with at least 51% actors of color, so please keep that in mind when considering your submissions.

Submission guidelines are below.

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS!

Pork Filled Productions sounds the call again, seeking new genre plays from playwrights of color, as PFP continues Unleashed! New Pulp Stories for the 21st Century. What began as a week-long festival of seven brand-new genre plays expands into an ongoing series of staged readings throughout the year.  Deadline for submission is October 15, 2018. Extension through October 31, 2018.

“We’re looking for one acts, shorts, and full lengths,” says Roger Tang, executive director of PFP. “We embrace the gamut of genres, from detective stories to horror to science fiction and fantasy to super heroes. What we’re looking for are larger than life characters, with strong adventure-flavored storylines and plots.

“We have more stories in us than oppression porn or identity plays. We want to give writers of color free rein to let loose their full storytelling potential on stage. And we want the audience to have fun and we get to tell our stories.”

Key info:

– Deadline for submissions – ​ October 15, 2018
– DEADLINE EXTENSION – October 31, 2018!
– Send plays to – submissions@porkfilled.com
– Questions? – info@porkfilled.com
– Plays are not required to have specifically diverse casts or racial themes; however, Pork Filled Productions is dedicated to casting all of our shows with at least 51% actors of color, so please keep that in mind when considering your submissions.

Submission guidelines:

​1 – ​We are looking for short plays (10-20 minutes), one acts (30-45 minutes), and full length plays (90+ minutes) by playwrights of color.

2 – ​We are specifically seeking bold,​ imaginative new work in genres such as noir, science fiction, fantasy, horror, exploration, action adventure, or any mashup in-between. We are especially looking for strong, plot-oriented stories, larger than life characters and/or adventured-oriented plays.​

3 – ​Selected plays will receive a public staged reading in the Seattle, WA area.

4 – ​All submitted plays will be considered for a full production by Pork Filled Productions.

5 – ​Deadline for submissions is October 15,2018. Extension through October 31, 2018.

6 – ​Only emailed submissions will be considered. Please submit all materials as attachments in MS Word or PDF format to submissions@porkfilled.com.

7 – Playwrights may make multiple submissions, but plays must not have had a stage production at the time of submission. Readings and workshops are not considered productions.​

8 – While PFP is primarily an Asian American theatre company, this festival is open to all playwrights of color. 

9 – ​Local writers from the Pacific Northwest are strongly encouraged to submit.

UNLEASHED-1819-SubmissionGuidelines

In time for Halloween, Pork Filled Productions (PFP) and REBATEnsemble present The Night Parade, a theatre experience that immerses audiences in the supernatural and horror, based on the old Japanese folk tale,Hyakki Yagyō, Night of a Hundred Demons.

Taking place at a secret location revealed only to ticket buyers, Night Parade runs October 17 to November 3, with shows at 7 pm and 8:30 pm Wednesdays through Sunday nights, with special late night shows at 10 pm on Friday and Saturdays.

Night Parade revolves around the brilliant, innovative and deeply troubled Shunkuno Arashi, a pioneer of Japanese art uncovered in the last decade. Her legacy spanned one hundred pieces, all suffused with the theme of demons. But when an art show featuring her work arrives in town, mysterious, unsettling events begin to  place. The walls begin to move and shadows take form. Be warned: nothing is as it seems!

“We (REBATEnsemble) push ourselves to engage with theatre in innovative and spectacular ways,” says Artistic Director Tom Dang. “Creating in the form of immersive theatre is where we are currently putting our energies.” He adds, “I’ve been developing Night Parade for over two years and it is a (pun intended) monster of a show. Being our most ambitious undertaking to date, this production requires a lot of help and a lot of expertise in all areas. When Roger asked about joining forces, I was more than happy to bring this show to life with PFP as collaborative partners.”

“Pork Filled has been looking to grow, both artistically and genre-wise,” says PFP Executive Director Roger Tang. “We were especially interested in expanding into immersive forms. When we heard REBATEnsemble was thinking about The Night Parade,we jumped on that and approached Tom about joining forces.”

The Night Paradecast includes Eloisa Cardona, Aimee Decker, Duncan Pound, Frank Sun and Buddy Todd. Designers include Natalie Shih (costumes), Robin Macartney (Sets and Lights), Steven Dang (Immersive Concept Design), Tim Han (Cinematography), Beverly Poole (Props) and Sherilyn Eng (Animation Design). Script is by Kendall Uyeji and Tom Dang, direction by Tom Dang.

Tickets are $30 General / $20 Industry /$10 Student  and are available at http://www.rebatensemble.org. PFP participates in TeenTix. The Night Parade is rated PG-13 for intense emotional situations, suggested sexual situations and stage violence. For more info, email rebatensembletheatregroup@gmail.com.

The oldest Asian American theatre group in the Pacific Northwest, Pork Filled Productions produces and develops genre plays, promoting Asian American and POC artists to imagine fantastical, inclusive and FUN universes. Through the genres of science fiction, noir, fantasy, steampunk and more, we envision a bright universe informed by diverse experiences and perspectives, populate 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.

REBATEnsemble produces contemporary, classical and original plays with an experimental twist for the greater Seattle area. We pursue a dialogue with our audiences by generating theatre inspired by immediate and relevant socio-political issues. Our work blends theatre with other artistic mediums in unconventional and non-traditional spaces. Our company believes in the strength of an ensemble and our artistic philosophy is rooted in the idea that theatricality and spectacle begins with the actor. Our plays are ensemble driven and we look to nurture our relationship with the artists that work with us.

Night Paradeis a co-production of Pork Filled Productions and REBATEnsemble. Both groups are fiscally sponsored by Shunpike. Shunpike is 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.