The National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival comes to Philly

After the controversy of last season’s Japan-“inspired” production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar at the Lantern (which drew ire for its lack of Asian actors and apparently cavalier borrowing of multiple Asian cultures), the 4th annual National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival (ConFest) may be landing in Philly at a propitious time. Venues like FringeArts, InterAct Theatre Company, Painted Bride Art Center, and Underground Arts will host a wide range of events.

Questions about racial diversity on the local theater scene flared through the arts and culture community last winter and spring and continue to resonate. Asian Arts Initiative, the ConFest host, will help further the dialogue with an opening plenary at FringeArts on October 9, with panels and workshops tackling “casting and representation of Asian American performers, building theater programs for Asian American youth, the future of women of color in the theater,” and bringing Asian-American performance beyond the realms of Los Angeles and New York.

A program of the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Actors, ConFest (running October 8-12) also features commissioned full-length stage performances that are open to participants and the general public. These include performer Soomi Kim and director Suzi Takahashi’s multimedia Chang(e) ($15-$25), running October 8-11 at the Adrienne (2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia), which tells the story of Kathy Change, a Chinese-American activist and performance artist born in Ohio as Kathleen Chang. For fifteen years, Change was a fixture of unflappable solo protest at the University of Pennsylvania’s College Green, warning of nuclear holocaust and economic collapse. In 1996, she died by self-immolation in one last attempt to draw attention to her causes.

For the full schedule of Festival performances, events, and workshops, click here.

ConFest’s overarching theme this year is “Home: Here...There...Where?”, continuing the conversation of last spring’s “The Way Home” reading series at Asian Arts Initiative and InterAct, examining “Asian Americans’ relationship to broad definitions and meanings of home.”

The 4th annual National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival is coming to Philadelphia from October 8-12 in several venues across the city. For tickets and more information, click here or call 215-557-0455.