SIS Productions Presents THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING 2/20-3/15

SIS Productions is excited to present the Northwest premiere of The Theory of Everything by Prince Gomolvilas running February 20-March 15, 2009 playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 4pm.

There will also be an additional performance on Thursday, March 12 at 8pm. All performances will be at Richard Hugo House located at 1634 11th Avenue (11th Avenue, off of Pine Street) on Seattle's Capitol Hill. 

"A refreshing look at Asian-American issues of race, gender and
identity, layered with deeper questions of life and death.
Gomolvilas's writing is tight, intelligent and funny. . . likeable
characters and sharply written dialogue . . . a play worth seeing for its humor and humanity." - The Business Times, Singapore

 

Seven Asian Americans gather atop a Las Vegas wedding chapel every week and discover a unique personal bond as they each search for their own life's meaning. This vibrant and insightful comedy won the
International Herald Tribune/SRT Playwriting Competition, the Julie
Harris Playwright Award, and the PEN Center USA West Literary Award
for Drama. A funny, moving, brilliantly written play about life and
the meaning of existence by America's foremost Thai American writer.

The Theory of Everything is written by Prince Gomolvilas, directed by
Manuel R. Cawaling, produced by Lorna Chin, Kathy Hsieh and Miko Premo
with support from Steve Hayatsu, Agastya Kohli, Lisa Marie Nakamura
and Roger Tang. The cast features Jose Abaoag, Stan Asis, Leilani
Berinobis, Aya Hashiguchi Clark, Kathy Hsieh, Miko Premo and Sam
Tsubota with Jessamyn Bateman-Iino and Tiffany Koyano!

SIS Productions is a production company that strives to create,
develop and produce quality works that involve Asian American women,
their themes, and Asian American issues. SIS Productions encourages
opportunities and support for Asian American women to be involved in
all aspects of the production of artistic endeavors.

The Theater Residency at Richard Hugo House provides a home for all
aspects of the companies' work during their two-year residencies
including the venue, unlimited rehearsal space, office space, and
storage as well as cross marketing with Hugo House events. Hugo
House awards two theater companies with residencies for two years each
to bring the work of local playwrights to the stage. More information
on these and other Hugo House writers-in-residence can be found at
www.hugohouse.org/residencies.

Special Events:

SIS Productions is excited to announce some very special events that
will take place during the run of The Theory of Everything by Prince
Gomolvilas.

OPENING NIGHT GALA: Join the cast for a gala reception and opening
night party after the 8:00pm performance on Friday, February 20.
Admission to the gala is free with an opening night ticket to the show.

POST PLAY DISCUSSION: Join us Sunday, February 22 after the 4:00pm
performance for a post-play discussion.

 

Special thanks to the Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, City of
Seattle and 4Culture King County Lodging Tax for their support of our
2009 season.

 

Bios:

Prince Gomolvilas (Playwright) is the author of Big Hunk o' Burnin'
Love, Seat Belts and Big Fat Buddhas, The Theory of Everything,
Debunking Love, Bee, Boyz of All Nationz: The Rise and Fall of a
Multiethnic Boy Band and Mysterious Skin (based on the novel by Scott
Heim). His plays have been produced in Arlington (Virginia), Los
Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Singapore and Washington
(D.C.), by such companies as Asian Stories In America (ASIA) Theatre,
East West Players, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, New Conservatory
Theatre Center (where he is playwright-in-residence), Singapore
Repertory Theatre and the Smithsonian Institution. His Donut Holes in
Orbit was published in Smith and Kraus' EST Marathon 1998: The One-Act
Plays. He has received grants from the NEA/TCG Theatre Residency
Program for Playwrights and the Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation.
He is the recipient of the International Herald Tribune/SRT
Playwriting Award, Julie Harris Playwright Award and PEN Center USA
West Literary Award for Drama. Gomolvilas has also created theatre
pieces exclusively for the San Francisco Day School and University of
California at Davis. He received his MFA degree in Playwriting and BA
degree in Film from San Francisco State University, and he resides in
San Francisco, the center of the known universe.

Stan Asis (Hiro) lives on Phinney Ridge and played Mr. Ko in Sex in
Seattle, Episode 5: Intimate Secrets. He has performed locally with
numerous theatre groups including ReAct, NWAAT, The Group Theatre and
Civic Light Opera.

Jose Abaoag (Gilbert) lives on Capitol Hill and played Colin in
previous Sex in Seattle episodes and Chester in Cowboy Versus Samurai.
Other local credits include Martin in References to Salvador Dali Make
me Hot at The Empty Space, Angel Obregon in Giant with Book-It
Repertory Theatre and Winston in Pork Filled Players' Northwest
premiere of Big Hunk O' Burnin' Love. Since graduating from Cornish
College of the Arts, Jose has taught theatre and hip-hop in Florence,
Italy and has performed with Northwest Asian American Theatre, Seattle
Public Theatre and Open Door Theatre.

Leilani Berinobis (Shimmy) lives in Lake City and worked with SIS
Productions playing Tess Matsudaira in numerous Sex in Seattle
episodes. Previous roles include: Tien in Ghostwritten (Seattle
Repertory Theatre); Lady Thiang in The King and I (Coeur d'Alene
Summer Theatre); touring around western Washington as Mother in
Baseball Saved Us (5th Avenue's AMT Program); Chesty Prospects in
Saucy Jack & the Space Vixens (BS Productions); Bloody Mary in South
Pacific, Sister Sophia in Sound of Music and Wen Yu in Making Tracks
(Village Theatre); and Esther in To Gillian on her 37th Birthday
(ReAct Theatre).

Manuel R. Cawaling (Director) lives in Wallingford and previously
played the role of Colin in the Fall 2008 production of Sex in
Seattle, Episode 16: The Space In-Between. Manuel became Youth Theatre
Northwest's new Executive Director in May 2008. A Seattle native,
Manuel has been working professionally as an artist and administrator
for his entire career. In 1989, Manuel co-established Capitol Hill's
Pilgrim Center for the Arts. He also served as a founding board member
for Seattle's League of Fringe Theatres, the predecessor of today's
Theatre Puget Sound and the organization credited with establishing
Seattle's Fringe Theatre Festival, the first such festival in the
United States. Between 1992 and 1998, Manuel worked at the Northwest
Asian American Theatre. In 1999, Manuel became Exhibit
Developer/Manager at the Wing Luke Asian Museum. Manuel is active in
outreach to youth, including immigrant and refugee communities. From
2003-08, Manuel worked at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center,
initially in artistic programming and then as Managing Director. He
has served two terms on the Seattle Center Advisory Commission and as
a member of the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture's Public Art
Advisory Committee. Currently, Manuel serves as Vice President for the
Washington State Arts Alliance.

Lorna Chin (Co-Executive Producer / Co-Producer) was born in Honolulu,
HI and resides in West Seattle. She has been a co-producer since 2001
in different capacities. She volunteers at the Make-A-Wish Foundation
and raises funds for the animals at Woodland Park Zoo. Lorna graduated
from the University of Puget Sound in 1997.

James h Frounfelter (Stage Manager) lives on Capitol Hill and stage
managed Sex in Seattle, Episode 16: The Space In-Between. He has been
working backstage as well as onstage since moving to Seattle in 2005
with Kirkland Performance Center, 4 Culture, Studio East, Capitol Hill
Arts Center, Center House Theatre, Village Theatre, One World Theatre
and the 14/48 Theatre Festival.

Marilyn Gonzalez (Properties Designer) lives in Lynnwood and has
worked with SIS from the very beginning as a stage manager and
properties designer. She has also worked with numerous companies
including ReAct and volunteers at Driftwood Players.

Aya Hashiguchi Clark (May) lives in Tacoma and played Mrs. Ko in Sex
in Seattle, Episode 12: My Ultra Quirky Asian American Wedding. Aya
has also performed in The King and I with Encore! Theater, Stepping
Out with Tacoma Musical Playhouse, Nude With Violin with BLT, The
Performance Circle and Valley Community Players, 12-1-A with NWAAT and
Into the Woods with ReAct Theatre.

Steve Hayatsu (Assistant Producer) lives in North Seattle and is a SIS
fan who has been helping as an assistant producer for the past 4
productions.

Kathy Hsieh (Co-Executive Producer / Co-Producer / Patty) was born in
Logan, UT and resides in Rainier Beach. Kathy has been involved with
SIS Productions from the beginning as the co-conceiver, co-creator and
co-producer. She has also played Elizabeth in most Sex in Seattle
episodes and has written ten of the sixteen Sex in Seattle episodes.
Kathy is an award-winning actor, writer and director. As an actor she
has worked with the Seattle Rep, Book-It, ACT, Intiman, Taproot,
ReAct, Freehold, Living Voices and more. Her scripts have been
produced by the Northwest Asian American Theatre, Vancouver Asian
Canadian Theatre, featured at the Seattle Fringe Theatre Festival,
14/48, and for the National Asian American Theatre Conference at Mixed
Blood Theatre and The Guthrie. Her script B4 was selected as part of
the International Centre for Women Playwrights' Chicago Her-rah
Festival and won Honorable Mention in New York's New Works of Merit
Playwriting Contest. She was also featured in The Dramatist Magazine
as 50 to Watch. Her short script Family Time is being adapted to
film by local filmmaker Zheng Wang. As an artist she has been honored
by the National Association of Asian American Professionals - Seattle
as an Artist of the Year and by ArtsFund. By day she works for the
Mayor's Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs. You can also catch Kathy
monthly on Seattle Channel's Art Zone In Studio as she chats about
local theatre with Nancy Guppy - seattlechannel.org/artzone

Agastya Kohli (Assistant Producer) lives on the Eastside and has
worked with SIS as an Assistant Stage Manager and volunteer in past
productions. A telecom engineer by day, Agastya also teaches Hindi on
Sunday mornings at Gurukul (www.gurukul-wa.org) - a local Indian
language school. He has been serving as the lead for the drama wing of
Pratidhwani, an association of South Asian artists and has
directed/produced a number of plays under Pratidhwani's banner
including Hatyaare, Aath Ghante, Sangharsh Ki Oar (Staged Reading)-all
in Hindi and a staged storytelling presentation (in English) of
Birbal's Vegetable Stew presented at Barnes & Noble's Divali
Celebration in Bellevue. He co-created, co-wrote and directed a
"movie-cal" (not quite a musical) titled Bolly'hood: Men in Churidar
for Ballet Bellevue.

Lisa Marie Nakamura (Co-Executive Producer / Assistant Producer) was
born in Seattle and lives in West Seattle. She has been a co-producer
since Episode 1 and was the fight choreographer in Episodes 2, 3, 10
and the encore staged readings of Episode 2, co-creator for Episodes
9-14 and played Tess in Episode 15. Lisa has acted, fought and
choreographed fights all over the Northwest. She has toured with
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes for Book-It Repertory Theatre's
Book-It All Over! Education & Community Outreach Program and also
worked with ReAct, Joe Boston Productions, Pork Filled Players and
NWAAT.

Miko Premo (Co-Producer / Lana) was born and raised in Seattle and
currently resides on Capitol Hill. Miko has directed and performed in
episodes of Sex in Seattle, directed Cowboy Versus Samurai and
costumed BFE for SIS. Miko is a graduate of New York University and
she acts, directs and costume designs. She has worked with various
theatres around town including Pork Filled Players, Sight Nine Theatre
Company, Exchange Theatre, Theater Schmeater, West Seattle Kids
Theatre and ArtsWest, where she directed The Judas Kiss by David Hare.

Roger Tang (Assistant Producer / Literary Manager) was born in
Phoenix, AZ and lives in Shoreline. Roger was the Sound Designer for
Sex in Seattle, Episodes 10-16 and Cowboy Versus Samurai, the
Properties Designer for Episodes 5-9, Sound Engineer for BFE and an
Assistant Producer for the encore staged readings of Episode 1 &
Episode 2. Roger is also Literary Manager for SIS Productions and part
of the SIS Writers Group. He is a theatre veteran of three decades,
who began as a designer for David Henry Hwang and Philip Kan Gotanda.
As a writer, he is the author of Third Generation Heritage and Mac 'n
Dex as well as numerous sketches for the Pork Filled Players. As a
producer, he helmed the Northwest premieres of Gotanda's Dream of
Kitamura, Genny Lim's Paper Angels, Hwang's Bondage, Prince
Gomolvilas' Big Hunk O' Burnin' Love and Qui Nguyen's Living Dead in
Denmark. He has taught Asian American history at the University of
Washington and was instrumental in building the Theatre Off Jackson as
Development Director for the Northwest Asian American Theatre. Called
the "Godfather of Asian American theatre" by A. Magazine, he is
Managing Producer for the Pork Filled Players (Seattle's oldest sketch
comedy group), sits on the board at Repertory Actors Theatre, edits
the Asian American Theatre Revue and administers the aa-drama mailing
list. As well, he is a sound designer for various local theatres.
Roger is an employee at the University of Washington.

Sam Tsubota (Nef) played Lefty in SIS' 2008 production of BFE. Around
Seattle, Sam has performed in Line One with Annex Theatre, Wild White
Rose with Experimental Theatre Project, Kaiki Shoku with Aono Jikken
Enemble, and Antigone, All the Rage, Bald Soprano, Away and the Ten
Minute Play Festival at the University of Washington. Sam has trained
at the University of Washington Professional Actor Training Program
and with the Moscow Arte Theatre.

Rex Waters (Sound Board Operator) has worked with SIS since 2004 and
has more than 20 years of providing tech support for numerous troupes
throughout the Puget Sound area.

Patti West (Lighting Designer) is working with SIS Productions for the
first time. Patti has designed lights for companies around Seattle and
manages the Theatre Off Jackson in the International District.

Craig B. Wollam (Scenic Designer/Technical Director) designed the set
for the very first SIS Production of Sex in Seattle, Episode 1:
Deceptions & Reflections. Craig is Technical Director and Co-Founder
of Seattle Scenic Studios.

Rick Wong (PR Photographer) was born in Seattle, lives in Rainier
Beach and has worked with Sex in Seattle since 2001. Rick freelances
as a photographer and teaches at Seattle Central Community College.
His photos have been exhibited at the Paris Air Shows, the Smithsonian
Air & Space Museum, the Wing Luke Asian Museum, Seattle Central
Community College, the King County Arts Commission, and featured in
national magazines and books such as Sunset, KoreAm and America 24/7.
His work was featured in the Museum of Chinese in the Americas'
exhibit Have You Eaten Yet? in New York City and on CBS Sunday
Mornings.

Tickets are $14 for general admission, $10 for
students/seniors/actors. Group rates are also available. Please call
(206) 323-9443 or email tickets@sis-productions.org for reservations
and information or see our website at www.sis-productions.org.

Advance tickets may be purchased at Brown Paper Tickets ~ call 1-800-838-3006
or go to their website at www.brownpapertickets.com for more
information.

Photo by Rick Wong