Atlantic Theater Company has announced casting for Asian American MixFest, a series of free readings of full-length plays, one acts, and a short play by playwrights Carla Ching, Qui Nguyen, A. Rey Pamatmat, Madhuri Shekar, Lloyd Suh, Jessica Huang, Leah Nanako Winkler, Jiehae Park, and Rajiv Joseph.
The series will kick off August 9 with a panel featuring the writers in a discussion of their process and work. Asian American MixFest is co-produced by playwrights Suh and Nguyen and will run August 9–17 at Atlantic Stage 2, located at 330 West 16th Street, New York.
“We are in such an exciting time for Asian American playwriting, with an extraordinary community of writers doing varied, adventurous and important new work. I'm looking forward to spending this MixFest in conversation with Atlantic and this eclectic group of playwrights and extended collaborative teams,” comments Suh in a statement.
See below for the complete schedule and casts:
House of Joy
By Madhuri Shekar
Directed by Saheem Ali
Featuring: Melis Aker, Karen Huie, Mahira Kakkar, Layla Khosh, Hubert Point-du-Jour, Debargo Sanyal, Ayana Workman, and Rasha Zamamiri
August 10 at 3 PM
Set some time like the 17th century, in some place like Delhi, India, House of Joy tells the story of Hamida, an elite female bodyguard in the Emperor's Imperial Harem. Faced with an impossible ethical quandary, Hamida tries to help an abused Queen escape the heavily guarded harem, thus risking her life and going against everything she was raised to believe. A swashbuckling action-adventure romance inspired by the legends of Indian history.
One Acts:
Of Milk and Mirrors by Jessica Huang
Indira & Condoleezza by Rajiv Joseph
For Steve Wozniak, On His 67th Birthday by Jiehae Park
Legs by Leah Nanako Winkler
Directed by Seonjae Kim and David Mendizábal
Featuring: Eboni Booth, Dave Thomas Brown, Allison Buck, Harriett D. Foy, Emma Kikue Munson, Alison Rogers, Jenny Seastone Stern, Ricardo Vasquez, and Tiffany Villarin
August 11 at 3 PM
Nomad Motel
By Carla Ching
Directed by Ed Sylvanus Iskandar
Featuring: Molly Griggs, Alex Hernandez, Christopher Larkin, Ken Leung, and Heidi Schreck
August 14 at 7 PM
Alix lives in a tiny motel room with her mother and two brothers, scrambling to make weekly rent. Mason lives comfortably in a grand, empty house while his father runs jobs for the Hong Kong Triad. Until the day his father disappears and Mason has to figure out how to come up with grocery money and dodge Child Services and U.S. Immigration. Mason and Alex develop an unlikely friendship, struggling to survive and trying to outrun their parents’ mistakes. Will they make it out or fall through the cracks? A play about Motel Kids and Parachute Kids raising themselves and living at the poverty line in a land of plenty.
Franklinland
By Lloyd Suh
Directed by Ralph B. Peña
Featuring: Brad Bellamy, Sasha Diamond, William Jackson Harper, and Daniel K. Isaac
August 15 at 7 PM
The story of growing up as the only son of Benjamin Franklin: the greatest scientific mind in the world, inventor of the lightning rod and the urinary catheter and the glass harmonica and bifocal glasses and in his spare time, the United States of America.
War Is F**King Awesome
By Qui Nguyen
Directed by Robert Ross Parker
Featuring: Sheldon Best, William Jackson Harper, Jon Hoche, Margaret Odette, Nicky Schmidlein, Paco Tolson, Temar Underwood, and Emily Williams
August 16 at 7 PM
A politically incorrect action-comedy following the adventures of Unity Spencer, a young colonial girl who has been imbued with immortality.
A Power Play; Or, What’s-Its-Name
By A. Rey Pamatmat
Directed by May Adrales
Featuring: Ethan Dubin, Will Hochman, Teresa Lim, Sarah Nealis, Maulik Pancholy, Mirirai Sithole, Luis Vega, and Rocky Vega
August 17 at 7 PM
After State Assemblywoman Alex Hathaway’s district suffers a terrible tragedy, she goes to great lengths to capture a House seat in the next election. She even employs a strange, nameless thing to gain victory over her enemies through supernatural practices. But with all that determination and those ancient powers on her side, how did Alex end up with a community in shambles and a gun pointed at her head?
Admission is free, but reservations are required by emailing [email protected].
