Dmae features veteran playwright Philip Kan Gotanda. She first talked to him three years ago when he came to do a talk at Reed College. Now he's a Traveling Master for the Dramatists Guild Fund and will be teaching a class called "Challenges of Writing From a Racial and Cultural Perspective" at Portland Center Stage. Using his play After the War Blues as an example, he will discuss how he writes cultural roles in his plays. Dmae talked to him via FaceTime and we'll also hear about his writing process and his new projects including an opera at A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle.
(Airs Tues 11am May 24th on KBOO.FM and StagenStudio.com.)
More about Philip Kan Gotanda:
- Philip Kan Gotanda
Over the past 30 years, Philip Kan Gotanda’s plays and advocacy have been instrumental in bringing stories of Asians in the United States to mainstream American theatre, as well as to Europe and Asia. The creator of one of the largest bodies of Asian American themed work, Gotanda’s plays and films are studied and performed at universities and schools across the U.S. He is also a respected independent filmmaker, and his works are seen in film festivals worldwide. Gotanda’s extensive talents have garnered countless awards including the Guggenheim, Rockefeller, Lila Wallace, National Endowment for the Arts, PEN Center West Award, Asian American Theater Company Life Time Achievement, and NEA’s Theater Communications Playwriting Award. Full biography at www.philipkangotanda.com/bio
More about the Master Class:
Philip Kan Gotanda will teach a playwriting master class at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, June 3, 2016, as part of The Dramatists Guild Fund’s Traveling Masters Program. This prestigious national outreach program brings prominent dramatists into communities across the country to lead master classes, workshops, talkbacks, and other public events. The class will be free to the public and will be at Portland Center Stage (128 NW 11th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209), which donated the space for this event. To register for the class visithttps://www.pcs.org/blog/playwriting-masterclass-with-philip-kan-gotanda.
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More about a Portland staged reading of After the War Blues:
After the War Blues takes place in the aftermath of World War II in San Francisco’s Western Addition District where some Japanese Americans returned from internment camps. African Americans who came to San Francisco were seeking work, white Southern migrants were looking for economic opportunity, and Russian Jews were arriving to start new lives. All the characters struggle to get along with limited resources while trying to find their place in this mix of cultures.
Theatre Diaspora presents the Oregon premiere of After the War Blues by award-winning playwright Philip Kan Gotanda, directed by Bobby Bermea and Jamie Rea.
Two staged-reading performances will be at1:30pm on Saturday, June 4, 2016, and at1:30pm on Sunday, June 5, 2016. Both at Portland State University’s Lincoln Hall Studio Theatre (1620 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97201) with the playwright attending the performances and post-show audience talkbacks.
Tickets are $10 each for general seating and $5 each for students and Oregon Trail cardholders. Tickets will be available for purchase beginning May 1, 2016, atwww.theatrediaspora.org and Brown Paper Tickets.
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- 'After The War' at American Conservatory Theater.
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