About Andrew Saito

Andrew Saito was the Andrew W. Mellon Resident Playwright at The Cutting Ball Theater (2013 - 2016), which produced his plays Krispy Kritters in the Scarlett Night and Mount Misery, as well as his translation of Life is a Dream, by Pedro Calderón de la Barca.  His play Stegosaurus (or) Three Cheers for Climate Change was produced at FaultLine Theater.  

Saito was a Fulbright Scholar in Papua New Guinea, a Core Apprentice at the Playwrights Center (Minneapolis), a member of Playwrights Foundation's Resident Playwrights Initiative (San Francisco), Just Theater's Writer-Director Lab (Berkeley), the PlayGround Writer's Pool, and the Asian American Theater Company's New Works Incubator.

He has developed work with Victory Gardens, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, ArtsEmerson, Crowded Fire, East West Players, Mu Performing Arts, Brava Theater, the Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and Mixed Phoenix Theatre. 

Residencies: Montalvo Arts Center, Djerassi Resident Artists Program, Blue Mountain Center

Education: UC Berkeley, Stanford, University of Iowa Playwrights Workshop

---

Artist Statement

My writing explores upheaval and transition.  My characters contend with war, displacement, and destruction of land.  They are often multiracial or bicultural, or otherwise occupying two or more disparate worlds.

I write for actors' bodies, seeding theatrical physicality and imagery in dialogue.  I include multiple languages to represent multiple worlds, and invite disparate audiences.  I interweave differing aesthetics, such as surrealism and Afroperuvian dance.  I employ humor to facilitate audiences examining difficult realities.  

My practice prioritizes research, collaboration, and revision.  I live in libraries for spells, and immerse myself in locations: the Río Grande, Papua New Guinea, Maryland's Eastern Shore.  I relish in details of history, individuals, and places.  I thrive in rehearsal, valuing dramaturgical insights from all collaborators.  I overhaul scripts until production drafts barely resemble first drafts, distilling my plays find their ideal evolved forms.  

Internationalism

Andrew Saito has lived and worked in Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, and Papua New Guinea.