Inside A.C.T.

By Michael Paller The tales that populate Monstress , by Lysley Tenorio, are as diverse as they are quirky, alternatively—and sometimes simultaneously—hilarious and heartbreaking. Artistic Director Carey Perloff read these unique short stories and knew that somehow, she had to help these vibrant short stories about Filipino American life find their way to the stage. A.C.T. reached out to some of our favorite artists and offered them the opportunity to select one of Tenorio’s stories to adapt for the stage. One of these artists was Philip Kan Gotanda, who chose to adapt Tenorio’s story, “Save the I-Hotel,” which he has renamed Remember the I-Hotel . Sean San José chose to adapt the title story from Tenorio’s collection (he renamed it Presenting . . . the Monstress! ). We sat down with Tenorio, Gotanda, and San José to talk about writing, Filipinos, and the never-ending chase for the ever-elusive American dream.   From left: Philip Kan Gotanda, Lysley Tenorio, Sean San Jo...

Posted by Selena Chau, A.C.T. Web Development Fellow L to R: Darryl V. Jones, Kehinde Koyejo, Carl Lumbly, Halili Knox, Britney Frazier, Bert van Aalsburg, Edris Cooper-Anifowshe, Philip Kan Gotanda, Awele Makeba, and Steven Anthony Jones. Photo by Diane Takei Gotanda. Learn more about upcoming performances at A.C.T.'s The Costume Shop In January, as part of A.C.T.’s ongoing activation of San Francisco’s thriving Central Market arts corridor, A.C.T.’s Costume Shop theater hosted The Jamaican Wash Project , a staged reading of a new play about the failing marriage of two immigrants with previously compatible traditional values—and the opposing marital advice offered by their two adult daughters. The project united two longtime A.C.T. collaborators and Bay Area residents: playwright Philip Kan Gotanda and A.C.T. Associate Artist Steven Anthony Jones. Jones, a former A.C.T. core acting company member and current artistic director of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre (LHT), directe...

posted by Philip Kan Gotanda January is new-play development month at A.C.T. Although we continue to work with playwrights on new works throughout the year, First Look heats up this month with a series of readings and workshops. The readings are not open to the public, but you can find more information about this program here .  One of this January’s featured writers, Philip Kan Gotanda (author of the A.C.T.–commissioned hit play After the War ) shares his thoughts about making a career in playwriting. Young writers: I would encourage working to cultivate relationships with theaters you respect. More specifically artistic directors. This is as important as the work itself. A playwright is someone who writes plays that are produced, not sit in someone’s hard drive. I think it wise to have working relationships with more than one theater. Ideally a larger, nationally respected institution, then a smaller black box experimental house, and finally, in my case, an Asian American...

posted by Philip Kan Gotanda January is new-play development month at A.C.T. Although we continue to work with playwrights on new works throughout the year, First Look heats up this month with a series of readings and workshops. The readings are not open to the public, but you can find more information about this program here . One of this January’s featured writers, Philip Kan Gotanda (author of the A.C.T.–commissioned hit play After the War ) shares his thoughts about playwriting and his new work I Dream of Chang and Eng . I have this thing where I sit on plays for years before I write them. I can literally feel them inside of me. It’s a kind of amorphous nonspecific locus of knowledge that bumps around inside of me sucking up whatever it deems necessary to building a particular literary house. And it pulls in stuff from every conceivable exchange or encounter, waking or sleeping. My play Ballad of Yachiyo waited around for a good seven years before a night in the hospital k...