Leslie Ishii To Receive 2025 Paul Robeson Award

Actors' Equity Association and the Actors' Equity Foundation have  announced jointly that they will bestow the Paul Robeson Award for 2025 on Leslie Ishii.

The Paul Robeson Award recognizes the ongoing work in our communities to leverage theatre beyond the stage and enact a commitment to the freedom of expression and conscience for all. The award upholds Paul Robeson's belief in the artist's responsibility to society and dedication to the betterment of humankind that he embodied in his life and work.  It is the only award jointly administered by the union and the foundation, given annually since Robeson himself received the first citation in 1974. This announcement comes on the eve of Robeson's 127th birthday.

Leslie Ishii is a director, dramaturg, performer and the artistic director of Perseverance Theatre, a 45-year-old company dedicated to creating professional theatre by and for Alaskans.

In response to receiving this award, Ishii said:

“I have been a member of Equity since 1990, and I have my dear longtime friend and colleague, Mary Jo McConnell, a fellow Equity member, to thank for submitting me for this award.

“I have long admired the esteemed Paul Robeson for his brilliant artistry, impactful activism and support of his family and many communities. He was truly a brilliant change-maker. I have always aspired to do the same.

“I am so deeply moved, humbled, and grateful to receive this prestigious Paul Robeson Award presented by the Paul Robeson Award Committee.”

“Leslie courageously advocates for and implements equity and inclusion of multiracial and BIPOC artists in every initiative, space and creative process she curates and engages in,” said Mary Jo McConnell, who nominated Ishii for this award. “Leslie embodies integrity and is a seeker of truth and justice. Leslie has found and continues to develop support for decolonization and re-Indigienization as it is healing colonization at the root cause and brings collective liberation for all.”

About Leslie Ishii

Leslie Ishii (Artistic Director, Perseverance Theatre), a Yonsei, fourth generation Japanese American, debuted as an actor in Northwest Asian American Theater's Breaking The Silence that raised legal defense funds for, WWII US Concentration Camp Resister, Gordon Hirabayashi and his Supreme Court Case. This standing room-only event featured the first play to publicly share the history and stories of Japanese American WWII Concentration Camp survivors, resisters, and their descendants. It also began the intergenerational healing of the Seattle Japanese American community. Since then, Leslie has felt called to support the storytelling that is the healing justice of Black/Indigenous/People of Color (BIPOC) artists and communities.

As a director, arts educator, activist, and community builder/organizer, Leslie is deeply grateful to have also worked with legacy BIPOC theatres; El Teatro Campesino, East West Players, National Black Theatre, Penumbra Theatre, Theatre Mu, Native Voices, and emeritus, Asian American Theatre Company. These artistic opportunities have informed her passion for directing and creating theatre deep in community. Leslie thrives on her creative and learning edge when advocating for BIPOC, LGTQ2SIA artists and those of marginalized groups in every initiative, space and creative process with which she curates and engages.
Humbly, she continues to learn and practice decolonization and re-indigenization to operationalize racial equity and healing justice to liberate and celebrate artists, their histories, their Ancestors.

(Service) Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists (CAATA): Board President; National New Play Network: Board Member, Strategic Planning Co-Chair, Membership Committee; Juneau Arts and Humanities Council: E/D/I/A Committee; Anchorage Arts Alliance: Steering Committee; Professional Non-Profit Theater Coalition: Founding Planning Committee, Co-Chair Coalition Building and Website Subcommittee working to advocate for Federal funding for covid pandemic and ongoing economic recovery; National Theatre Conference Member; artEquity: National Faculty.

(Awards) 2024 SDCF Zelda Fichandler Director Award and 2022 Finalist; 2023 United States Artist Fellowship; SDC 2016, 2017 National Standout Recognition for championing equity/inclusion; 2015-2018 Doris Duke Charitable Foundation National Theatre Grant Recipient; New England Foundation for the Arts Capacity Building Grant Recipient; James P. Shannon Leadership Institute; Teachers Making A Difference, Los Angeles County Supervisors/City of Los Angeles, 2017; Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival Integrity Award, 2019.

(Social Justice Leadership & Community Organizing) Tsuru For Solidarity: Co-Chair, Direct Action SecurityDesign/Artist Committee advocating for immigrant/refugees inhumanely treated during deportation and/or in detention centers; Perseverance Theatre: To prepare for a production regarding Missing/Murdered/Indigenous Peoples (M/M/I/P), offered Stalker Awareness/Prevention Training for staff/crew/artists and in-community given the highest US percentages of M/M/I/P are in Alaska; offered CAATA national and Alaska state-wide De-escalation/Upstander/Bystander Trainings to Arts and Culture Staff and Artists to offer resources and skills-building regarding Anti-Asian Hate/Violence during the covid pandemic and following the Atlanta spa shootings; Community-organized and co-directed the 1st and 2nd Freedom and Focus International Fitzmaurice Voicework Conferences in Spain and Canada. Leslie has been a featured presenter at voice and performance conferences in Mexico and Austria; artEquity Facilitator Team: Served to launch the Theatre Communication Group's Equity/Diversity/Inclusion Institute; Arts For LA: ACTIVATE Cultural Policy Cohort; Los Angeles County Supervisors: Cultural Equity Inclusion Initiative Work Groups; East West Players: National Liaison for the 2042 See Change Initiative; National BIPOC Theatre Coalition/Commons: Co-Founder/Director advocating for the sustainability of US BIPOC Theatres— designed and circulated a national BIPOC Theaters and Artists Covid-19 pandemic survey funded by the UCLA Asian American Studies Program in order to provide direct access to qualitative and quantitative data/research for BIPOC Theaters and Artists on-going recovery, resource building, and fundraising.

Paul Robeson (1898–1976) was one of the most significant figures of the twentieth century at the intersection of performance and politics. His most famous roles included Joe onstage and screen for Show Boat and being one of the first Black performers to play Othello. As an activist, he protested injustice in the United States and abroad, including fighting segregation, apartheid and fascism. He received many accolades and was honored as the first recipient of the original Robeson Citation awarded in 1974.