All this week LA STAGE Times will present coverage of the 3rd Annual National Asian American Theater Festival via daily vlogs from Krystal Banzon, a first generation Filipina American who is an emerging theater director. To read her previous posts, click here.
It was a gorgeous day for an opening ceremony, delicious food and an open bar underneath a cloudless, turquoise Los Angeles sky in the East West Players courtyard. The Who’s Who of Asian American theater were all there, chatting with drinks, holding babies, and talking shop (or not), and it felt like a big family reunion. There were the folks I knew, the folks I didn’t know, and most of the same elders and some new little ones. There was an overwhelming feeling of community and family – in all its encouraging warmth, and frightening intensity. A tribe of artists with a lineage of struggle. As I sat with my Kirin munching on teriyaki chicken, I felt proud to be part of the brave Asian American theater community and wondered what this week was going to bring.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkB1Nl2vLdc
Tickets for the 3rd National Asian American Theater Festival are $15 for general admission and $12 for students and seniors. Tickets for performances at partner organizations range from $20 to $76. The festival runs June 16–26. $80 Festival Passes are available and give access to all core festival performances. $300 ConFest passes are available and give access to all core festival performances as well as all panels, opening and closing receptions to the National Asian American Theater Conference. The conference runs June 20–22. Festival and ConFest Passes can be purchased online at www.caata.net, by phone at 213-625-7000 or in person at the East West Players’ administrative office, 120 Judge John Aiso St # C, Los Angeles.
The 3rd National Asian American Theater Festival will host core performances at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy (Tateuchi Democracy Forum) at 111 N. Central Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles at the Alameda exit off the Hollywood (101) Freeway in Little Tokyo, part of the Japanese American National Museum, and at the Inner-City Arts Rosenthal Theater at 720 Kohler Street in Downtown Los Angeles between E. 7th St. and E. 8th St. Parking is available off Judge John Aiso St. between E. Temple St. and E. 1st St.
