NYC Hosts 2nd National Asian American Theatre Festival Oct 13-18

National and local Asian American theater artists and companies are "Articulating New Bodies of Words" at the 2nd NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN THEATER FESTIVAL

One Week Only!, October 13-18 at Theater for the New City and Julia Miles Theatre

Highlights include new works by Kristina Wong, Alice Tuan, Soo-Jin Lee, Sheetal Gandhi, and Shishir Kurup, Also on tap during FESTIVAL week in NYC: Readings of new plays from Ma-Yi Theatre Company's Writers Lab, National Asian American Theater Company's new adaptation of THE SEAGULL and Pan Asian Repertory Theatre's new musical IMELDA

The 2nd NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN THEATER FESTIVAL (NAATF) will feature works by established and emerging Asian American theater artists -- including Kristina Wong, Alice Tuan, Soo-Jin Lee, Sheetal Gandhi, Shishir Kurup, and others -- in New York City from October 13 to 18, 2009, it has been announced by the Festival's organizers, Mia Katigbak and Lloyd Suh.

Performances of the 2nd NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN THEATER FESTIVAL will be held at Theater for the New City (155 First Avenue at 10th Street) in Manhattan.

"NAATF celebrates and affirms Asian American theater artists, their significant contributions to the national cultural landscape, and the dynamic innovations they bring to the field," says Ms. Katigbak, a member of the Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists (CAATA), the organization that presents NAATF.

The 2nd NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN THEATER FESTIVAL will feature performances of:

-- Shishir Kurup's play SHARIF DON'T LIKE IT about the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's dubious treatment of people of Asian and Middle Eastern descent post-9/11.

-- Sheetal Gandhi's dance/theatre piece, BAHU-BETI-BIWI (DAUGHTER-IN-LAW, DAUGHTER, WIFE), about the lives of contemporary women in Northern India, set to ancient songs performed by women from that region.

-- 20th CENTURY PERFORMANCE IN THE 21st CENTURY: THE FUTURE OF ASIAN AMERICAN THEATRE, public forums that examine Asian American theatre past and present through a variety of performance art and interactive panels, presented by Asian Pacific Americans C*ntemporary Unilateral Neo-Theatre (APAC*NT), a collective of playwrights and directors including Kristina Wong ("Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"), Alice Tuan ("Ajax [por nobody]"), Katie Pearl ("Nita & Zita") and Hatnim Lee.

Additionally, New York City members of CAATA (Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists), the organization that presents the Festival, will present the following in tandem with the 2nd NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN THEATER FESTIVAL:

-- LABFEST III, readings of new plays presented by the Ma-Yi Writers Lab, the resident company of Asian American Playwrights under the aegis of the Obie Award-winning Ma-Yi Theater Company. "Labfest" is curated by Qui Nguyen and Lloyd Suh, respectively the authors of the recently acclaimed Off-Broadway plays "Soul Samurai" and "American Hwangap." LABFEST III will be presented at Theater for the New City (155 First Avenue), October 6-17. For additional information about LABFEST III, visit www.ma-yitheatre.org

-- IMELDA, a new musical about Imelda Marcos, presented by the Obie Award-winning Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, Tisa Chang artistic producing director, in association with East West Players. Written by Sachi Oyama, Nathan Wang and Aaron Coleman, IMELDA is a new musical about the former First Lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos, spanning the years from Philippine Independence in the 1940's to the Marcos' fall from grace in the 1980's. Tim Dang directs. IMELDA will be presented at the Julia Miles Theater (424 West 55th Street), through October 18. For additional information about IMELDA, visit www.panasianrep.org

-- Anton Chekhov's THE SEAGULL, with an all Asian-American cast, presented by the Obie Award-winning National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO), directed by Gia Forakis. The production will pay particular attention to Chekhov's subtitle: "A Comedy in 4 Acts." Commedia, clowning, slapstick, farcical, presentational, Symbolist, anything by naturalistic -- the production will serve the human comedy so masterfully achieved by Chekhov in his characterization of despair and the will to live despite this condition. THE SEAGULL will be presented at Theater for the New City (155 First Avenue), through October 18. For additional information about THE SEAGULL, visit www.naatco.org

The first NATIONAL ASIAN AMERICAN THEATER FESTIVAL was held in New York in June, 2007.

For additional performance and ticket information to all NAATF events, please call 646-522-0931 or visit www.naatf.org.