Pan Asian Repertory Theatre To Present NuWorks 2025 in June

Pan Asian Repertory Theatre will present NuWorks 2025, the annual experimental series of self-created work from innovative and diverse artists exploring an eclectic range of genres and techniques using poetry, text, dance, and music. NuWorks 2025 takes place over eight days with 4 programs of new work by a diverse group of artists Bee Vang, Myka Cue, Momo Akashi, Chacha Tahng, Aiyu Collective, Howard Ho, Katsuto Sakogashira and Youlim Nam.

NuWorks 2025 is supervised by Chongren Fan, curated by playwright Damon Chua (Warrior Sisters of Wu), and features lighting design by Ayumu Poe Saegusa.

Performances begin in repertory on Saturday, June 14, 2025, and continue through Sunday, June 22, 2025, at Theatre Row (410 W 42nd St) in Theatre One. Tickets are $35 plus $2.5 restoration fee, are currently on sale at

NuWorks 2025 Schedule of Events

PROGRAM A

Premieres Saturday, June 14 at 7:00PM
Second performance Thursday, June 19 at 7:00PM

Your Movie Guide to Life by Bee Vang

Bee Vang, at 16, landed the leading Hmong American role of Thao Vang Lor in Clint Eastwood's 2008 film Gran Torino. He went on to perform in independent films and on stage at Brown University, where he earned a liberal arts degree in 2016, studying international politics, philosophy, and cultural theory. He also trained in Chinese opera and Japanese performance techniques in China. Over several years of working in broadcast and print journalism, nonfiction writing, and policy research, he has continued to pursue acting, filmmaking, and other creative work both in Los Angeles and in Minnesota. In addition to his professional work and advocacy, Vang also serves on the board of the War Legacies Project, an international NGO supporting communities in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia still affected by toxic herbicides such as Agent Orange and unexploded ordnance. He is currently the inaugural artistic director of the Minnesota Asian American Film Festival.

Written and Performed by: Bee Vang
Directed by and Dramaturg: Jeff Liu

Chasing the Butterflies by Myka Cue

Myka Cue (she/her) is a Filipino-Chinese actor, theatremaker, and fierce collaborator from Manila. Select Credits: Export Quality (HERE Arts), Sweeney Todd (Trinity Rep), Valor (Guthrie Theater), I'll be in my Hanukkah palace (Ars Nova ANT Fest), Wolf Play, Mr. Burns: a Post-Electric Play, Much Ado About Nothing, and Angels in America (Brown/Trinity Rep). She has participated in workshops and readings at New York Theatre Workshop, Manhattan Theatre Club, New Dramatists, Fiasco Theater, Ping Chong + Co., and Baryshnikov Arts Center, among others. Myka holds an M.F.A. in Acting from Brown/Trinity Rep and a B.A. in Multimedia Storytelling from NYU Gallatin. Love and gratitude to her family, friends, and collaborators who keep her going! mykacue.com

Created & Performer: Myka Cue
Co-Directors: Katusha Jin & Sophie Zmorrod
Dramaturg: Carol Ann Tan

PROGRAM B

Premieres Sunday June 15 at 3PM
Second Performance Friday, June 20 at 7PM

Kotsu-Kotsu by Momo Akashi

Momo Akashi is a New York-based playwright and lyricist who creates East-meets-West stories that blend the aesthetic elements of Japanese anime such as reverence for nature, the omnipresence of the supernatural, and the search for beauty with American theatrical writing.

New York City premieres include: Letter (Downtown Urban Arts Festival), Everest (NAAP Discover Musicals), VOICE (Time Capsule Project, Commissioned by Mai Ozeki), The Show Must Go On (The Sixth Festival), Serenity and Delight (Ren Gyo Soh), The Restaurant of Many Orders (MuSE), and MINORU: Scrape the Sky (The Tank). Akashi made her off-Broadway songwriting debut in Village Songs at the Rattlestick Theatre. As a lyricist, Momo released her first J-pop single, "Tokimeki," with music by Zachary Catron and vocals by Joo Won Shin (Squid Game), which received nearly 20,000 streams within its first year of release.

She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and PlayPenn's writers' cohort program.

Playwright: Momo Akashi
Director: Saki Kawamura
Producer/Performer: Minami Yoshimura
Projection/Sound Designer: Chase Kniffin
Costume Designer: Jeanna Dipaolo
Production Manager: Emily Howe-Tuladhar
English Consultant: Alex York

Boat Noodle Burglary by Chacha Tahng

Chacha Tahng (she/they) is a Thai-American artist born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. Theatre: This Is Not A True Story (Artists at Play, Latino Theatre Company). Seven Hoshi (CalArts), The Water Station (CalArts), Oedipus the King (CalArts). Film: Song Sung Blue (Focus Features) in theaters this Christmas. Training: BFA Acting, CalArts; Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). For grandma.

Written by Chacha Tahng
Actors: Chacha Tahng and Benjamin Lang
Director: Chloe Chow
Sound Designer: Howard Ho
Projection Designer: Zoë Danger Lappin

PROGRAM C

Premieres Tuesday June 17 at 7PM
Second Performance Saturday June 21 at 7PM

EVEN HERE by Aiyu Collective

Aiyu Collective is a multidisciplinary arts company founded by An-Li Bogan and ChiWen Chang. The NYC-based company was born out of the duo's shared desire to create work that feels like the familiar, afterschool dessert your grandparent treats you to.
As individual artists, An-Li and ChiWen's credits include: Ars Nova, Ma-Yi Theatre Company, Taipei Fringe Festival, Powerhouse Theater Festival, Soho Playhouse, Maihouse Studio, New York Asian Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, and Palm Springs Shorts Fest.
Formalized during our residency at Fresh Ground Pepper in 2024, Aiyu Collective is excited to premiere its first project "EVEN HERE" at Pan Asian Repertory's NuWorks Festival! Later this summer Aiyu will shoot its first film, "Vivi", in New York City.
IG @aiyu.collective

Created by Aiyu Collective
Performed by An-Li Bogan and ChiWen Chang
Sound Design by JC Chang

Where I'm From by Howard Ho

Howard Ho is a Chinese-American playwright, composer, and Youtuber. WHERE I'M FROM was previously produced as part of Center Theatre Group's Community Stories. His play PARITY was performed in last year's NuWorks Festival. He sound-designed and composed music for Pan Asian Rep's MY MAN KONO. He is a 2024 winner of the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival for BEETHOVEN'S THIRD. His full-length play RESET was produced at Moving Arts and is published by Next Stage Press. Other works include VARIOUS EMPORIA (2017 O'Neill Finalist), END OF THE LINE (currently licensed by MTI), and PRETENDO THE MUSICAL (CTG Library Reading Series). His design work has earned multiple nominations from the Ovation Awards and SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. His Youtube channel (youtube.com/HowardHoMusic) has over 130,000 subscribers and was recognized by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jon M. Chu. He holds degrees from UCLA and USC.
Howard Ho - writer/composer
Jully Lee - director
Cast: James Seol and Viet Vo

PROGRAM D

Premieres Wednesday June 18 at 7PM
Second Performance Sunday June 22 at 3PM

What Oppenheimer (2023) Did Not Show You by Katsuto Sakogashira

Katsuto Sakogashira is a writer and actor from Amakusa, Japan. He earned BA in Theatre and BS in Biology with a minor in Music from Albright College, and MFA in Acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep. He is also an alumnus of the National Theater Institute. Katsuto is a recipient of the Miranda Family Fellowship and a member of the BIPOC Critics Lab at The Public Theater.

What Oppenheimer (2023) Did Not Show You was developed through his research in Hiroshima. Katsuto interviewed 15 Legacy Successors, individuals appointed by Hiroshima city to preserve and share the testimonies of atomic bomb survivors, and visited key sites across the city to deepen his understanding of Hiroshima and its people. Special thanks to his brother, Akito Sakogashira, whose steady support made the trip possible, and Junko Tezuka, who generously provided additional materials and granted permission to use recorded testimonies as source material.

Director: Louis Blachman
Performer/Writer: Katsuto Sakogashira
Dramaturg: Aysha Zackria & Mario Vega

Just a Yellow Cab in New York City by Youlim Nam

Youlim Nam is a NYC-based actor, playwright, and director from Seoul, Korea. Her work has been presented at Chain Theatre, Gene Frankel Theatre, The Clemente, and more. Her full-length play a connected place received the City Artist Corps Grant and was later featured in the Dramatists Guild's Friday Night Footlights series. In 2023, she was awarded an artist residency at El Barrio's Artspace PS109, where she presented her full-length play New Year's Day (Sae Hae). Youlim has been collaborating with renowned artists, including three-time Emmy winner Cady McClain on various theater projects. Her screen credits include award-winning independent films such as Mingle, Sunkissed Sky, and her own short Acting Is My Destiny, which earned her Best Actress at the International Independent Short Awards. She is a member of AEA, the Dramatists Guild, and an ensemble member of Axial Theatre. youlimnam.com

Writer/Director: Youlim Nam
Cast: Delil Baran and Han Na Shin
Sound Designer: Coleman Chambliss