Asian Community Block

Pan Asian Repertory Theatre

Mission
To celebrate the artistic expressiveness of Asian and American theatre artists under the highest standards of professional theatre; and professional productions;

To encourage the production of new plays, especially those with contemporary Asian American themes;

To draw upon the unique heritage of Asian Americans by utilizing the style, music and movement of Asian performing arts traditions in order to explore new theatrical forms;

To nurture emerging Asian American talent through professionally led workshops and on-the-job training;

To introduce Asian American Theatre to the general theatre-going public as well as the differently-abled; to deepen the appreciation and understanding of the Asian American cultural heritage.

History
Pan Asian Rep is the professional theatre founded to celebrate Asian American artistic expressiveness on the living stage. It became a major New York theatre presence in 1983 with the long off-Broadway run of Yellow Fever, introducing the tough Japanese private eye with a heart of gold, Sam Shikaze. The company grew out of Tisa Chang’s experimental work at LaMama ETC with a core of Asian actors in such benchmark bi-lingual productions as the Peking Opera adaptation of Return of the Phoenix and the intercultural version of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Memorable productions helped to expand the boundaries of American theatre, including: Lao She’s Teahouse, spanning 50 years of modern Chinese history; Ghashiram Kotwal, the Marathi musical expose of Brahmin abuse of privilege; and the adaptation, Shogun MacBeth.

Pan Asian Rep is now the largest producer of Asian American theatre with regular international and national touring and residencies. In 1992, the company began a five year plan towards institutionalization with support from the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Fund for New Audiences Program and a 1994 Challenge Grant from The National Endowment for the Arts.

URL: www.panasianrep.org

Contact Us
Pan Asian Repertory Theatre
520 8th Avenue, Suite 314
New York, NY 10018

Phone: 212-868-4030
Fax: 212-868-4033
E-mail: panasian@aol.com