miku and the gods runs June 16 – July 3

Fresh from our Unleashed 2020 Festival, miku and the gods greets the world in its world premiere on the ArtsWest stage!

Miku wants to be a god. Ephraim wants to be an Olympian. Grandma Seiko wants to remember. And minor god Shara just wants people to include him in the conversation, you know? As they journey from the schoolyard to the river to the underworld and back again, Miku and company will learn what it actually takes to become a god. As funny as it is moving, miku, and the gods. is an epic adventure that braids together friendship, death, memory, time, rhythm – and power beyond what one could ever desire. 

More info at ArtsWest! Buy tickets at the ArtsWest website!

Runtime is subject to change: approximately 100 minutes with no intermission.

Thank you for your generosity in getting SHE DEVIL to the stage!  You’ve helped raise $6,181 to bring the pirate queen to the Theatre Off Jackson this August!

Many thanks to  Leah Adcock-Starr, Marc Amiscua, Scot Anderson, Anonymous, Stan Asis, Julia Buck, Julia Buck, Anthea Carns, Aimee Chou, Aya Clark, Khanh Doan, Luisia Gale, Suzanne Gerrard, Mona Grife, Kathy Hsieh, Intiman Theatre, David Kane, Catherine Kettrick, Agastya Kohli, Laura Lee, Maggie Lee, Hakme Lee, Patrick Lennon, Emily Leong, Mike Lion, Wei Low, Kayoko Mathews, Kyoko Matsumoto-Wright, Katrina Morgan, Chris Newell, Alena Nolder, Rebecca and Peter O’Neil, Chrissy Ong (Chin), Chris Parker, Roger Rigor, David Sebba, Kyna Shilling, Stephanie Sola, Sokha Song, Steven Sterne, Tim Takechi, Zheng Wang, Lindsay Welliver.

Early giving is now live! Presented by 501Commons, GiveBIG carries the banner for Seattle’s non-profits, large and small, to magnify and gather funding for groups like PFP.

The first $750 in gifts gets matched, so scheduling your donation today can double your impact on May 3 and 4! 

Community supporters like you make our mission possible by helping us produce shows like The Brothers Paranormal and the New Providence steampunk plays.

In 2022, we are aiming for $6,000 to support our biggest production yet, She Devil of the China Seas, the true (more or less) story of the greatest pirate leader in history. We’re assembling one of the largest Asian American casts in recent history for this swashbuckling story that blends Chinese history and (yes, true believer!) Marvel comics! 

Schedule your gift now and help PFP keep making bright, bold, inclusive theatre!

At last, after extensive searches of the Puget Sound Asian American talent pool, PFP announces the cast for our big summer production, She Devil of the China Seas!

Heading the cast is Kristine Ota as Shih, the steel-eyed woman who rose from refugee to sex worker to pirate queen. Van Lan Pham is Cheng Ai,the pirate lord who’s more than her match. Anna Saephan is Shih’s sister, Xi, and Aaron Jin is Cheng Pao, adopted son of Cheng Ai and someone who has more than a passing fancy in Xi,

In opposition to this crew is ageless sorceress Wu Tsu, played by Eloisa Cardona, and the Man in the Golden Dragon mask. But who knows what role is played by Xuan Nu (Steph Sola), the goddess of war and love?

Rounding out the cast are Michael Latham, Alvina Hsiao, Archie Sugiyama, Kaughlin Caver, Michelle Lin, Dylan Smith and Andreya Pro. Carol Tagawa will understudy the role of Shih (and will be performing in a number of shows).

Shih knows one thing in life: survival. She clawed her way up from refugee using every means 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! 

Based on the real-life pirate who commanded the largest pirate fleet in history, She Devil is one part true history, one part swashbuckler, one part Marvel comics = full length fun on stage in the mode of SHANG CHI and BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, complete with pirate queens, swords and sorcery!

She Devil of the China Seas is by PFP head honcho Roger Tang and directed by Kiefer Harrington. It will hit the Theatre Off Jackson August 11, 2022 and run through August 27, 2022. Keep your eyes peeled for the latest news on She Devil.

GiveBig to PFP for a Big Year of Art

GiveBIG, Seattle’s day of giving, returns May 3 and 4, 2022!  Co-ordinated by WashingtonGives and 501Commons, GiveBIGraises the banner for Seattle’s non-profits, large and small, to magnify funding for groups like Pork Filled Productions. 

Our goal for 2022 is our most ambitious yet! $6000 to produce and develop geek theatre (like our steampunk plays). And we imagine fantastical, inclusive, and FUN universes. The first $750 in gifts gets matched, so that doubles the wallop of your contribution!

 You got a taste of this with our Slow Cooker Unleashed!Reading  series with Cafe Nordo (and you know both groups have plans for Wolves on the Fold, The Rainshadow Distpatch and Autocorrect Thinks I’m Dead!)

But we’re not finished. Here are some things to look forward to:

• In June, we are co-presenting, with ArtsWest, the world premiere of miku and the gods—you saw it emerging from our 2020 Unleashed program 

• In August, we are bringing you the greatest pirate queen of all time in She Devil of the China Seas. 

• And we have a super secret project coming up that’ll knock your socks off!

LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN!                                     

Mark your calendars for GiveBIG on May 3 AND 4. Or avoid the rush and schedule your donation when early giving begins April 19. Keep an eye on our Facebook or Instagram accounts to stay current.

Get ready for GiveBig! And support PFP today!

Our friends at the Seattle Asian American Film Festival are celebrating their 10th Anniversary!

The Seattle Asian American Film Festival (SAAFF) proudly celebrates ten years of sharing Asian American independent films with the Pacific Northwest with its 10th annual film festival March 3–13, 2022. This year’s 11-day festival will offer 13 outstanding feature-length films and 12 exciting shorts programs, including 2 free programs.Due to continued pandemic precautions, there will be 5 limited in-person events, including 4 drive-in screenings andone special presentation screening at Northwest Film Forum (NWFF).

 

To kickstart the festival, this year’s Opening Night Party will be livestreamed on March 3 at 7:00PM PST. The evening will include performances and conversations with Massive Monkees, Chong the Nomad, and headlinerRuby Ibarra with host Prometheus Brown. Audience questions for the live Q&A with the performing artists may besubmitted at bit.ly/saaffON22.

 

The four drive-in screenings will showcase the Special Presentation feature films at The Stonehouse Cafe (9701 Rainier Ave S, Seattle, WA 98118). Drive-in screening tickets are $35 per vehicle. They will also screen concurrentlyonline throughout the entire festival.

 

• MARVELOUS AND THE BLACK HOLE (Opening Night Narrative – March 4 7:00PM PST) will premiere in Seattle and is a coming-of-age comedy that touches on unlikely friendships, grief, and finding hope in the darkest moments. A teenage delinquent befriends a surly magician who helps her navigate her inner demons and dysfunctional family with sleight of hand Limited tickets will be available for the online screening.
• CANE FIRE with MALIHINI (Centerpiece Documentary – March 11 7:00PM PST) will premiere in Seattle and examines the past and present of the Hawaiian island of Kauai, interweaving four generations of family history, numerous Hollywood productions, and troves of found footage to create a kaleidoscopic portrait of the economic and cultural forces that have cast Indigenous and working-class residents as “extras” in their own

• MALIHINI is a short film that will precede CANE FIRE. An introspective look into Hawaiian identity and living on the mainland, filmmaker Ha’aheo Auwae-Dekker uses a candid conversation with their mother to dissect and deconstruct where they come from and how their family has lived in
• SEE YOU THEN (Centerpiece Narrative – March 12 6:00PM PST) is a drama about the reconnection of atransgender computer programmer and an Asian American performance artist who used to date in Over the course of a one night encounter, they engage in a series of increasingly intimate and revealing conversations, before a revelation sends everything spiraling out of control. SEE YOU THEN focuses on the universal truth that no matter how much you change, a part of you will always stay the same. Limited ticketswill be available for the online screening.
• FREE CHOL SOO LEE (Closing Night Documentary – March 13 6:00PM PST) had its world premiere at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival and will be making its Pacific Northwest premiere. The film chronicles the union of the Asian American community to free a Korean immigrant who was wrongly convicted of a 1973 SanFrancisco Chinatown gang murder. A former street hustler becomes the symbol for a landmark movement. But once out, he self-destructs, threatening the movement’s legacy and the man himself. Limited tickets willbe available for the online

Other Special Presentation screenings this year include:

• AFTER YANG (Northwest Film Forum / March 5 9:30PM PST / General Ticket $13, On Sale Monday February 21) had its world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival. When his young daughter’s belovedcompanion — an android named Yang (Justin Min)

— malfunctions, Jake (Colin Farrell) searches for a way to repair him. In the process, Jake discovers the life that has been passing in front of him, reconnecting with his wife (Jodie Turner-Smith) and daughter (Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja) across a distance he didn’t know was there.

• TURNING RED (Online Exclusive Preview / March 10 / Free, First Come First Serve) is Disney and Pixar’s new animated film about a 13-year-old Mei Lee who “poofs” into a giant panda when she gets too excited (which for a teenager is practically ALWAYS). The screening will be followed by a pre-recorded Q&A with director Domee Shi, who helmed Pixar’s 2018 Oscar®-winning short BAO. The film launches exclusively onDisney+ on March

In addition to being the first decade milestone for SAAFF, this year marks the 80th anniversary of Executive Order 9066 and the 110th anniversary of the Titanic sinking. SAAFF’s 2022 program includes films that commemorateboth anniversaries. THE SIX tells the stories of the six Chinese men who survived the Titanic sinking and faced racism upon their arrival to New York in 1912. MANZANAR, DIVERTED: WHEN WATER BECOMES DUSTshowcases the

unexpected alliance of intergenerational women who are Japanese American World War II incarcerees, Native Americans, and environmentalists defending their local lands and water rights.

Media personnel can contact press@seattleaaff.org for film screeners in advance and interview requests. Requestfestival press passes here.

Other festival highlights include some of our short film programs:

• The Call Your Mom shorts program explores the experience of motherhood. These films bring attention to thegenerational, cultural, and migrational disconnects between us and our mothers and other maternal
• The Haru Haru: Korean American Shorts and Pamilya: Filipino/a/x Shorts are shorts programs that each speak to the unique experiences of their communities. Haru Haru: Korean American Shorts includes BJ’sMOBILE GIFT SHOP, a short film that premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Pamilya: Filipino/a/xShorts includes award winning films HONOR THY MOTHER, KALINGA (CARE), and LOLO.
• The Reflections: Refugee Stories and Legacies shorts program highlights the experiences, stories, and lasting legacies of refugee communities. From their experiences building their own small businesses and community within the United States, to the second-generation young adults redefining their own relationship to America, these films capture the complexities, histories, healing, and pain of refugeecommunities and the futures that they have helped pave the way

 

Online Ticket Prices:

• General Ticket: $10 | $8 (Discounted) | $20 (Household)
• Festival Pass: $120
• Shorts Pass: $80
• Festival 6-Pack: $50

 

Other ticketing information:

• Tickets for the shorts programs SAAFF Storytime and Not So New Normal: COVID-19 Shorts, Series 2 arepay-what-you-can.
• All films with drive-in screenings also will be available for virtual
• Viewers will be able to start watching at any time during the festival dates (12:00AM PST March 3, 2022 to11:59PM PDT March 13, 2022) after a purchase is made, and will have 48 hours to finish watching once theyclick

 

Visit bit.ly/saaff2022 to purchase passes, browse the online catalog, and buy tickets. Most screenings will befollowed by a pre-recorded Q&A with director(s) and/or cast and crew.

 

About SAAFF

SAAFF showcases works by Pacific Northwest Asian American filmmakers, as well as films from across North America dealing with Asian American people, issues, and themes. SAAFF is the only film festival in Seattle to provide a space for Asian American voices, perspectives, and histories. For more information about SAAFF, visitseattleaaff.org.

 

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Full Line-Up

 

Narrative Features

• AMERICANISH
• BELOVED
• SEE YOU THEN
• SILENT RIVER
• MARVELOUS AND THE BLACK HOLE DocumentaryFeatures
• A SEXPLANATION
• BECAUSE WE ARE GIRLS
• CANE FIRE WITH MALIHINI
• FREE CHOL SOO LEE
• KUNG SAAN MAN TAYO (WHEREVER WE MAY BE)
• MANZANAR, DIVERTED: WHEN WATER BECOMES DUST
• NO MAN IS AN ISLAND
• THE SIX 《六人》SpecialPresentations
• AFTER YANG (Tickets on sale 2/21)
• TURNING RED (TBA) Short Films Programs
• SAAFF Storytime
  • LEMONS
  • PUA WARRIORS
  • THE COOKIE HEIST
  • THE BEST GIFT
  • THE PAKALA KIDS
  • ANTON
  • CYMK (COLORS YOU MAY KNOW)
  • WANDER
• We Need to Talk About It
  • THE GREENHOUSE
  • UNFIT
  • ACTION POTENTIAL
  • LAST DAY
  • THE BLUE BED
  • RED HOUSE
  • PAIN OF THE ANONYMOUS
  • LOVE, LAUGH, DOOM, TEARS
• Call Your Mom
  • NIGHT & DAY
  • SNAKE TRAIL
  • ESTHER & SAI
  • CROUCHING COMIC
  • PLUS ONE
  • CHASING CLOUDS
  • TENTH OF JULY
  • DEAR NANAY

 

• Not So New Normal: COVID-19 Shorts, Series 2
  • WHERE ARE YOU REALLY FROM?
  • YELLO
  • EXHAUSTED
  • THIRD CULTURE: ADOPTED STORY
  • ONLY ASIAN FRIEND
  • HOME AWAY FROM HOME
  • INVITED IN
• Queer AF
  • I DON’T LIVE A VERY INTERESTING LIFE
  • IMPERFECTLY COMPLETE
  • F1-100
  • MUTYA
  • THO
  • BIGGER IS BETTER
• Family Portraits
  • I FIND HIM IN THE WEATHER
  • GOOD NEWS
  • 1056 METRES
  • LONELY BLUE NIGHT
  • THE CHILDREN
  • THERE WAS NOBODY HERE
  • RASPBERRY
• Sweet & Salty
  • WATERMELON SECRETS
  • HAVE YOU EATEN?
  • A BOWL FULL OF LOVE
  • KOTO: THE LAST SERVICE
  • LEFTOVERS
  • A HUNDRED JOYS
  • NO PLACE LIKE KASAMA
• Snapshots
  • SHILPI
  • 婦人 (FUJIN)
  • MELT
  • SYNCHRONIZED
  • ASCEND: REFRAMING DISABILITY IN THE OUTDOORS
  • CASHBACK
  • ANYTHING FOR YOU
  • CONGRATULATIONS (MABROOK)
  • LIGHTNING
  • LEARNING TO DROWN
• Growing Pains
  • JITTERS
  • TRILL
  • MAN BROWS
  • EXTRA CREDIT
  • ALIEN
  • AMERICANIZED
  • SINGLE BROWN MALE
  • POACHERS
  • WHAT WE FIND IN THE SEA

 

• Pamilya: Filipino/a/x Shorts
  • LOLO
  • AS AMERICAN AS IT GETS
  • HONOR THY MOTHER
  • KALINGA (CARE)
• Haru Haru: Korean American Shorts
  • JACKRABBIT
  • BADUK
  • STATE OF BEING
  • WHEN MAKING SUJEBI
  • SOFT SOUNDS OF PEELING FRUIT
  • BJ’S MOBILE GIFT SHOP
  • A PORTRAIT OF US
• Reflections: Refugee Stories and Legacies
  • MY NAME IS LAI
  • ELVIS OF LAOS
  • BUILT FROM SCRATCH
  • MOUNTAINS
  • HOPE AND GRACE
  • TRANSLATION OF SILENCE
  • AFTER IMAGES: CHANNARA TOM “PHILLY” PHEAP

Get your videos in to us at 5 pm, March 7!

Audition details at https://porkfilled.com/wp/auditions-now-open-for-she-devil-of-the-china-seas/

Audition form at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1l0ANEZywcoSWPHaM1CoJ3x1ZpxXM8u72wiweUOa9H6I/ 

Presenting LIVE readings of 3 world premiere plays in Nordo, themed around Pacific Northwest Lore.

Mondays in March, join us for cocktail hour 6-7 PM before each new play reading in Nordo’s intimate venue in the heart of historic Pioneer Square.

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Wolves on the Fold by Dylan Elwood
Monday, March 14 at 7:00 PM

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Dylan Thomas Elwood, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, has been a member of Red Eagle Soaring Native Youth Theatre, located in Seattle, Washington, for sixteen years. He has acted in and co-written numerous productions and engaged with the Seattle Native community, culminating in the premiere of his production Killer Whale and the Black Rush at ACT Theatre in August 2019 as part of the ACTOne festival. He currently serves RES and YTT (Yesterday – Today – Tomorrow) as artistic associate.

ABOUT THE PLAY
Wolves on the Fold draws a lot of thematic and visual influence from the poem “The Destruction of Sennacherib” by Lord Byron, as an explosion of unexpected violence and uneasy peace that precedes and follows it. I drew a lot of tonal inspiration from narrative video games as well, cribbing themes of loneliness, isolation, and revenge from works like Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain and The Wolf Among Us (based on Bill Willingham’s Fables Comic Series). This play began as a meditation on hope, and now stands as a monument to the idea that buried hatred is seldom forgotten.

FEATURING THE TALENTS OF
Nicole Suyama (Direction)
Kiefer Harrington (Dramaturgy)
Alissa Cattabriga
Heidi Cheyenne
Asia Gellein
Marion Jacobs
Sydney Maltese

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The Rainshadow Dispatch by Maggie Lee
Monday, March 21 at 7:00 PM

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT Maggie Lee is an award-winning Seattle playwright who creates diverse and imaginative new worlds on stage in genres like science fiction, fantasy, and horror, with productions in Seattle, New York, Seoul, Chicago, and San Francisco. Her play Sheathed was the recipient of the 2019 Gregory Award for Outstanding New Play, the 2019 Gypsy Rose Lee Award winner for Excellence in Local Playwriting, and a semi-finalist for the 2018 Bay Area Playwrights Festival. Her other plays include A Hand of Talons (2016 Gypsy Rose Lee Award nominee for Excellence in Local Playwriting), The Tumbleweed Zephyr (2016 Gregory Award nominee for Outstanding New Play), The Clockwork Professor, The Flight Before Xmas, and The Journey of the Bell. She was recently a 2021 Hedgebrook writer-in-residence, and currently the Resident Playwright at Macha Theatre Works, a board member of Rain City Projects (an organization supporting Pacific Northwest playwrights), and a member of the Dramatists Guild. Her plays are available on New Play Exchange and published by Mneme Press (mnemepress.org).

ABOUT THE PLAY
The Rainshadow Dispatch is a 3-part horror anthology that takes historical events and lore in the Pacific Northwest on a fantastical journey, peering below the surface of our familiar landscape into strange, dark places. Some influences include The Twilight Zone, Channel Zero, The Terror season 1, Stranger Things, the works of H.P. Lovecraft, Devolution by Max Brooks, Occultation by Laird Barron, and podcasts like Tanis, Limetown, Forest 404, and From Now.

FEATURING THE TALENTS OF
Gavin Reub (Direction & Dramaturgy)
Michael Blum
Christi Cruz
Pearl Lam
Alanah Pascual
Michael Wu

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Autocorrect Thinks I’m Dead by Aimee Chou
Monday, March 28 at 7:00 PM

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT
Aimee is a Taiwanese-American theatre multi-hyphenate. She recently performed in an outdoor pandemic production of Children of a Lesser God (Hope Summer Repertory Theatre), a green-screened Please Untranslate Me (IRT Theatre), and has understudied at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Offstage, she loves writing stories that meld imaginary scenarios with real-life elements. Writing credits include Thoreauly Zoomed Out (Ars Nova), Motherclucker! (Theatre Battery), Humanly Possible (Deaf Spotlight), and Plumb Crazy Pipe Dream (Deaf Spotlight and RIT/NTID Deaf Performing Arts). This Spring, you can catch her onstage as Nancy in Sound Theatre’s production of Gaslight (Angel Street). Fun fact: Aimee is squeamish about horror movies and wouldn’t be caught deaf watching them solo.

ABOUT THE PLAY
Genre-wise, I jokingly label my play “dumblecore mumblecore.” It has young adults who sit around yakking a lot, while coping with the fantasy/sci-fi elements intruding in their lives.

More seriously though, if you’re a fan of horror flicks, sign language, police procedurals, irreverent comedy, and the home invasion genre, this play is for you.

If you’re living in a Seattle technopolis yet (sometimes) pine for simpler analog days, you’ll probably relate to the storyline.

If you’ve ever wondered how the heck Deaf people live in a haunted house that goes bump in the night, then pull up a seat at Nordo. You’re about to find out.

RUNTIME: 1 hour 30 minutes with a 15-minute intermission

FEATURING THE TALENTS OF
Darren Frazier (Stage & ASL Direction)
Kayla Walker (Dramaturgy)
Jake Merz (Stage Manager)
Van Lang Pham
Brittany Rupik
Lindsay Welliver
Kai Winchester
Zerek White
Aaron Johnson (voice)
Jacque Larant (voice)
Malcolm Reed (voice)

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GET YOUR TICKETS NOW!

Pay-What-You-Will tickets are available for each reading, as well as festival-style ticket packages for all 3 plays.

Ticket Package for All Three

What is a Pay-What-You-Will ticket? You choose the price of your ticket. All ticket proceeds help us curate more events like this and pay our artists. Higher-tier tickets subsidize the ticketing fees for the lower-tier tickets. PFP thanks you for your generosity and collaboration in making new works accessible.

Questions? Email info@porkfilled.com

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ACCESSIBILITY

UPDATE: Due to some projector technical issues, each play’s text will be available via QR code to all audience members.

Autocorrect Thinks I’m Dead will also feature ASL/English interpretation for the reading and talkback.

Nordo’s space is wheelchair accessible. If you have specific questions about navigating the space, please contact the venue at info@cafenordo.com.