ANDREW P. SAITO
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/andrew-saito-a715b47/
Website: andrewsaito.com
Blog: saitopng.wordpress.com
Community-engaged playwright and theater artist with a practice rooted in immersive research and social justice. Taught theater, theater history, and playwriting at undergraduate and graduate levels, and in four other countries. Experienced in devised processes, producing, fundraising, dramaturgy, editing, translation, and curating new play festivals. Strong emphasis on multiracial, cross-cultural, and transnational narratives and collaborations.
EDUCATION
2011 MFA in Theatre Arts / Playwriting
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Thesis title: Landless
Thesis supervisor: Professor Art Borreca
2002 BA in Ethnic Studies
University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Thesis title: El Río
Thesis supervisors: Professor Tiya Miles and Professor Cherríe Moraga
PUBLICATIONS
“Writing in the Woods,” published by HowlRound Theatre Commons, 2017
“The Revisions of Mount Misery,” published by HowlRound Theatre Commons, 2015
“Between Me and the World” (memoir), published in Teaching Artist Journal, 2008
sociogastronomy, limited-edition handmade artist book (with photographer Victoria Heilweil), 2006
Editor, The School is a Giant T-Rex, Performing Arts Workshop, 2006
Editor, What Goes Up: WritersCorps at the SF Public Library, WritersCorps, 2005
Editor, Memories Like Night Falling: WritersCorps at Newcomer High School, WritersCorps, 2005
Editor, Fish Walking on their Fins, Performing Arts Workshop, 2005
Ode to my mother’s hands: poems, Self-published chapbook, 2002
Oda Corporal: love poems, Self-published chapbook, 2002
GRANTS and FELLOWSHIPS
Rella Lossy Playwriting Award, 2020
Theater Communications Group In the Lab Travel Grant, 2018
National Performance Network Artist Engagement Fund, 2018
Kenneth Rainin Foundation Grant, 2018
National Performance Network Development Fund, 2018
Theater Bay Area CA$H Grant, 2016
San Francisco Foundation Career Investment Grant, 2016
National Performance Network Americas Exchange Grant, 2016
National Performance Network Creation Fund, 2016
Center for Cultural Innovation NextGen Arts Leadership Grant, 2015
San Francisco Arts Commission Individual Artist Commission, 2015
Andrew W. Mellon Playwright Residency Grant, 2013
Fulbright Scholarship in Creative Writing, 2012
Kenneth J. Cmiel Human Rights Award, 2010
Richard Maibaum Scholarship for Playwriting, University of Iowa, 2010
Association of Performing Arts Presenters Travel Grant, 2008
Iowa Arts Fellowship, University of Iowa, 2008 - 2011
Theatre Bay Area CA$H Grant, 2008
Zellerbach Community Arts Grant, 2008
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Higher Education
State University of New York, Purchase
Assistant Professor of Applied Theatre
Forthcoming courses: Introduction to Applied Theatre,Introduction to Theatre & Performance, Documentary Theatre, Community-Engaged Playwriting, Playwriting
Appointment commences August 2020
Universidad de las Américas, Puebla
Guest playwriting lecture
May 2020
John Jay College
Guest lecture on Latin American Theater
November 2018
Carnegie-Mellon University Graduate School of Drama
Seminars taught: Playwriting (Language, Thetricality, & Revision); Grantwriting
April 2017
University of Goroka, Department of Language and Literature
Seminar taught: Playwriting
April - October 2012
University of Iowa, Department of Theatre Arts
Courses taught: Playwriting, Theater History, Theater & Society
January 2010 - May 2011
University of California, Berkeley
Courses taught: Poetry for the People (African American Studies),
Inclusion Initiative (Disability Studies)
January 2001 - May 2002
City College of San Francisco
Guest lecture in poetry
November 2000
Other
Spanish Teacher, School for Young Performers, New York, NY
March 2020 – Present
ELA/Math Test Prep Tutor, SmartStart Education, New York, NY
January 2018 – July 2020
ELA/Math Tutor, EBL Coaching, New York, NY
February 2018 - February 2020
Performance Master Class, Asociación Xajooj Tuun, Rabinal, Guatemala
Co-taught with Lakin Valdez
June 2018
SSAT/SHSAT Test Prep Tutor, Boys Club of New York, NY
February - June 2018
Spanish Tutor, OnLocation Education, New York, NY
January - March 2018
Spanish Teacher, School for Young Performers, New York, NY
September 2017 - June 2018
Playwriting Teacher, Conjunto Cultural Korimakao, Pálpite, Cuba
January & April 2016
Guest Artist, San Francisco School of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
August 2016, September 2019
Playwriting Teacher, Cutting Ball Theater, San Francisco, CA
July 2013, December 2015
Radio Drama Teacher, Cultural Survival, Guatemala
May -August 2010
Teaching Artist Fellow, Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA
August - December 2009
Playwriting Teacher, Iowa City Senior Center, Iowa City, IA
April 2009
Playwriting Teacher, Lincoln Elementary School, Iowa City, IA
October - December 2008
Playwriting Teacher, Bridgemont High School, San Francisco, CA
March 2008
Playwriting Teacher, Galileo High School, San Francisco, CA
October 2006
Playwriting Class, Centro Cultural Kusiwasi, Urubamba, Peru
August 2005
Playwriting Master Class, Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani, Lima, Peru
July - August 2005
Teaching Artist, Performing Arts Workshop, San Francisco, CA
October 2004 - May 2006
Teaching Artist/Intern Coordinator, WritersCorps, San Francisco, CA
October 2004 - July 2006
Teaching Artist, ArtCorps, Ixcán, Guatemala
January - October 2003
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Japan = Black Men’s Heaven – African American POWs in World War II; Japanese military propaganda
Converging Worlds Project – History of Cuba-US relations; CIA attempts on Fidel Castro’s life; Cuban Revolution; organization of Cuban society, Afro Cuban religion*†
Men of Rab’inal – Text and history of the Rabinal Achi; history and culture of Rabinal; Guatemalan Civil War; Spanish Invasion of Guatemala; Spanish Colonia in Guatemala; Mayan music*†
The 51st Star – Gulf War; Saddam Hussein; George H. W. Bush
YellowCake – Uranium mining in the Diné Nation; depleted uranium weapons use in Iraq; uranium enrichment process
whisper fish – Peruvian son del diablo and diablada masked dances; Japanese oni matsuri masked festival†
Mount Misery – Enhanced interrogation techniques (CIA-approved and otherwise); War on Terror; slavery; Frederick Douglass; Donald Rumsfeld; history of the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay†
Sister Cities – Drug War in Mexico; George and Martha Washington celebration (Laredo, TX) †
Loner’s War – Japanese straggler soldiers; WWII in Papua New Guinea*†
Boot-Heel – Great Depression; 1939 Sharecropper strike of southeast Missouri; Cherokee Trail of Tears; Southern Tenant Farmworkers Union; Cherokee spirituality and cosmology
Dance of Pawns – History of Japanese in Peru; WWII internment of Japanese Peruvians in Texas
El Río – Mexico-US border; immigration; Border Patrol; indigenous cultures on the border; Chixoy Dam and massacre (Guatemala)*†
* included significant number of interviews
† included field research
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES
OTHER EMPLOYMENT
Grantwriter
Represented Foundation, May 2020 – August 2020
Researched and applied for COVID emergency and other grant funding to support community-engaged programs designed to increase leadership by social entrepreneurs of color in the nonprofit sector.
Development Coordinator/Consultant
The Climate Museum, October 2019 - March 2020
Research funding sources. Apply for grant applications. Cultivate and sustain relationships with individual donors. Plan agendas and packets for board meetings.
Program Associate
Circle for Justice Innovations, February 2018 - September 2019
Planned board meetings. Facilitated grantmaking process. Advised grant applicants. Conducted outreach
to activist organizations nationwide. Researched trends and developments in criminal justice activism and
reform. Managed online application system.
Converging Worlds Project
Director, July 2016 - May 2017
Interviewed 50+ people in Cuba about their daily realities. Taught playwriting workshops at Cuban arts centers. Raised money to fund this long-term exchange.
Editor and Translator
Fish Creek Productions, March 2016 - Present
Resident Playwright
The Cutting Ball Theater, March 2013 - February 2016
Taught playwriting workshops to generate earned income for organization. Wrote and edited marketing copy, and assisted on grant proposals and reports. Cultivated new board members, and researched potential new funders. Attended meetings with neighborhood stakeholders and community organizations.
Arts & Culture Grantmaking Fellow
The San Francisco Foundation, July 2011 - April 2012
Evaluated grant applications from 120 nonprofit arts organizations. Performed due diligence with grant seekers, including site visits and interviews. Administered literary, playwriting, visual arts awards.
Scripted the Community Leadership Awards ceremony.
ARTISTIC TRAINING
Playwriting Workshops
Paula Vogel, TCG Conference, June 2015
Gabriel Calderón, Casa de las Américas, June 2014
Dael Orlandersmith, Playwrights Foundation, July 2013
Jason Grote, Playwrights Foundation, May 2013
Sherry Kramer, University of Iowa, August - December 2010
Abi Basch, University of Iowa, November 2010
Kathleen Tolan, University of Iowa, September 2010
Tanya Barfield, University of Iowa, May 2009
Kia Corthron, University of Iowa, January - April 2009
David Adjmi, University of Iowa, December 2008
Naomi Wallace, University of Iowa, August - September 2008
Erik Ehn, Playwrights Foundation, June 2008
Annie Smart, Playwrights Foundation, March 2008
Marcus Gardley, Playwrights Foundation, September - October 2007
Migdalia Cruz, Playwrights Foundation, July 2006
Julie Jensen, Playwrights Foundation, 2006
Arthur Kopit, Playwrights Foundation, August 2005
Jeannie Barroga, Asian American Theater Company, March - May 2005
Octavio Solís, Playwrights Foundation, October 2004
TV Writing Workshops
Andrea Ciannavei, April - May 2020
Jason Grote, May 2013
Sheila Callaghan, March 2011
NOHSpace, Butoh Workshop, Ryuzo Fukuhara, 2006
Augusto Boal, Theatre of the Oppressed, University of San Francisco, April 2005
Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani (Lima, Peru)
Acting: Teresa Rallí and Ana Correa, July 2005
Maskmaking: Veronica Zela and José Beriche, July 2005
The Actor in the Moment of Performance: Miguel Rubio and Teresa Ralli, November 2004
DAH Theatre (Belgrade, Serbia), Playwriting Workshop, Dijana Milosevic, December 2004
SF Mime Troupe, Collective Theater Workshop, Dan Chumley and Joan Holden, June - Aug 2004
Apprenticeship with master puppet maker José Ascona, Oaxaca, Mexico, January 2003
BOARD SERVICE
Movimiento, Oakland, CA,August 2011 - September 2016
Asociación Generando, Guatemala, August 2010 - May 2011
PROFESSIONAL THEATER PRODUCTIONS
Japan = Black Men’s Heaven, Miranda Haymon, dir., Montalvo Arts Center, Summer 2022
Men of Rab’inal, Lakin Valdez, dir., El Teatro Campesino, Spring 2022
Br’er Peach, dir. TBA, AlterTheatre, Spring 2021
El Río, Edris Cooper, dir., Brava for Women in the Arts, September 28 - October 20, 2019
to all persons…, Jen Chang, dir., East West Players, February 17 - May 15, 2017
Stegosaurus (or) Three Cheers for Climate Change, Rem Myers, dir., Faultline Theater, April 1 - 16, 2016
Life is a Dream (trans.), Paige Rogers, dir., The Cutting Ball Theater, October 2 - November 1, 2015
Mount Misery, Rob Melrose, dir., The Cutting Ball Theater, May 14 - June 21, 2015
Another Fine Day in the Park, Chase Ramsey, dir., The Cutting Ball Theater, 10 April 2015
Krispy Kritters in the Scarlett Night, Rob Melrose, dir., The Cutting Ball Theater, May 17 - June 23, 2013
Evolve!, Myers Clark, dir., Handful Players at Yoshi’s San Francisco, May 23, 2009
Nuestra Señora de las Enfermedades, Lakin Valdez, dir., Brava Theatre Center, November 1 - 3, 2008
Agüita: “Ama qellichahuaychu”, Marilu Flores, dir., Teatro Andino Kusiwasi, Sept. 22 – Oct. 30, 2007
UNIVERSITY AND WORKSHOP THEATER PRODUCTIONS
Men of Rab’inal, Lakin Valdez, dir., La Peña/El Teatro Campesino, May - June 2019
“Wormholes for Sale at the Corner Bodega,” at Signature Theater, June 25, 2018
five tries, Addie Gorlin, dir., The Cutting Ball Theater, June 4 - 7, 2014
Landless, Kristin Clippard, dir., University of Iowa, May 7, 2011
sunshine, Nathan Halvorson, dir., University of Iowa, February 24 - 27, 2011
Stegosaurus (or) Our Golden Years, John Kaufmann, dir., University of Iowa, February 18 - 21 2010
La Lechera, Sarah Ballema, dir., University of Iowa, May 4, 2009
Smooth Hands, False Cures, Dan Chumley, dir., San Francisco Mime Troupe, August 27, 2004
PLAY DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
whisper fish, Sango Tajima, dir., Bay Area Playwrights Festival, July 7 - 24, 2016
whisper fish, Tamilla Woodard, dir., ArtsEmerson, June 13 - 19, 2016
Bootheel, Marissa Wolf, dir., ArtsEmerson, June 6 – 10, 2016
Santa & His Slaves, Graham Smith, dir., Playwrights Foundation, March 30, 2016
Santa & His Slaves, Deena Selenow, dir., December 20, 2015
whisper fish, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, October 2 - 3, 2015
whisper fish, Bonnie Metzgar, dir., Victory Gardens Theater, September 24 - 25, 2015
Beauty Secrets, Rem Myers, dir., Cutting Ball Theater, June 10 - 15, 2015
whisper fish, Molly Aaronson-Gelb, dir., Cutting Ball Theater, June 2 - 8, 2015
La Lechera, Marissa Wolf, dir., Crowded Fire Theater, November 26 - 2 December 2, 2014
Mount Misery, Rob Melrose, dir., Cutting Ball Theater, March 10 - 15, 2014
Sam the Ham, Randy Reyes, dir., Theater Mu New Eyes Festival, January 26, 2014
The Patron Saint of Monsters, Peter Rothstein, dir., Playwrights’ Center, June 9 - 12, 2012
Krispy Kritters..., Rob Melrose, dir., Cutting Ball Theater, May 17 - 22, 2011
DRAMATURGY
The Box, by Sarah Shourd, The Pulitzer Center , Winter - Summer 2019
Fidelidad, by Reynaldo Tejadilla, Conjunto Artístico Korimakao (Pálpite, Cuba), January - April 2017
Superheroes, by Sean San José, Cutting Ball Theater, October - November 2014
Chokehold, by Mordecai Ettinger, Cutting Ball Theater, October 2013
PLAYS AUTHORED
full-length
Tansu
Men of Rab’inal (with Lakin Valdez)
Br’er Peach
Cartograph
Santa & His Slaves
Mount Misery: A Comedy of Enhanced Interrogations
Boot-Heel (formerly titled Landless)
Beauty Secrets
whisper fish
The Patron Saint of Monsters
Lightning Birth
sunshine
La Lechera
Krispy Kritters in the Scarlett Night
Stegosaurus (or) Three Cheers for Climate Change
The Melisaloggia
just like hermanos
semilla
Sam the Ham
Helix2
I Won You at Sotheby’s
Greetings from the Klondike...Wish You Were Here!
El Río
one act
to all persons…
Evolve! (children’s musical)
five tries
She & He
Agüita: “Ama qellichahuaychu” (collaborative creation with Teatro Andino Kusi Wasi)
white moon, grey sea
Isisu
Smooth Hands, False Cures (head writer)
Nuestra Señora de las Enfermedades (devised piece)
ten-minute
Kingmeal
needleye
Essential Affairs
Painless
Xmas Eve in Donner Pass
Another Fine Day in the Park
hearthside (movement piece)
OTHER MEDIA
feature films
Übermann Lives!
Loner’s War
Wendy & Peter
Dance of Pawns
to God, in all His forms…
Sam the Ham
YellowCake
television pilots
Ride
Latter-Day Space (with Chase Ramsey)
Sister Cities
Dimensia
The 51st Star
fiction
Verre (novel)
“Beeswax” (short story)
“Gallos” (short story)
“My Siren” (short story)
“Some Things Survived” (short story)
“Suckers” (short story)
PLAYS TRANSLATED
Pedro Calderón de la Barca (Spain):
La Vida es Sueño
Qorpo-Santo (Brazil):
As Relações Naturais
Mateus e Mateusa
Certa Entidade em Busca de Outra
Eu Sou a Vida; Eu Não Sou a Morte
WRITING RESIDENCIES
Arquetopia Foundation, Puebla, Mexico, March - April 2020
AlterLab, AlterTheater, San Rafael, CA, August 2016 - May 2017
Djerassi Resident Artists Program, April - May 2016
Writer-in-Residence, Idle Spoke Ranch, Healdsburg, CA, October 2015 - September 2016
Resident Playwright, Playwrights Foundation, SF, CA, September 2011 - December 2015
Writers Pool, PlayGround, Berkeley, CA, September 2013 - May 2015
Writer/Director Lab, Just Theater, Berkeley, CA, September 2013 - June 2014
Core Apprentice, Playwrights Center, Minneapolis, MN, July 2011 - June 2012
Lucas Artists Residency Program, Montalvo Arts Center, August - December 2009
Blue Mountain Center, Adirondacks, NY, July - August 2009
Writer-in-Residence, Centro Cultural Kusiwasi, Urubamba, Peru, July 2005 - January 2009
Writer-in-Residence, Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani, Lima, Peru, July - August 2005
New Works Incubator, Asian American Theater Company, October 2003 - April 2005
LANGUAGES & SKILLS
Spanish (fluent)
Tok Pisin (fluent)
Portuguese (proficient)
Japanese (novice)
German (novice)
Apple OS X
Windows
MS Office
Raiser’s Edge
Survey Monkey
WordPress
Weebly
HTML
CSS
Little Green Light
Submittable
SlideRoom
Kung Fu San Soo – Fourth-degree Black Belt
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/andrew-saito-a715b47/
Website: andrewsaito.com
Blog: saitopng.wordpress.com
Community-engaged playwright and theater artist with a practice rooted in immersive research and social justice. Taught theater, theater history, and playwriting at undergraduate and graduate levels, and in four other countries. Experienced in devised processes, producing, fundraising, dramaturgy, editing, translation, and curating new play festivals. Strong emphasis on multiracial, cross-cultural, and transnational narratives and collaborations.
EDUCATION
2011 MFA in Theatre Arts / Playwriting
University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Thesis title: Landless
Thesis supervisor: Professor Art Borreca
2002 BA in Ethnic Studies
University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Thesis title: El Río
Thesis supervisors: Professor Tiya Miles and Professor Cherríe Moraga
PUBLICATIONS
“Writing in the Woods,” published by HowlRound Theatre Commons, 2017
“The Revisions of Mount Misery,” published by HowlRound Theatre Commons, 2015
“Between Me and the World” (memoir), published in Teaching Artist Journal, 2008
sociogastronomy, limited-edition handmade artist book (with photographer Victoria Heilweil), 2006
Editor, The School is a Giant T-Rex, Performing Arts Workshop, 2006
Editor, What Goes Up: WritersCorps at the SF Public Library, WritersCorps, 2005
Editor, Memories Like Night Falling: WritersCorps at Newcomer High School, WritersCorps, 2005
Editor, Fish Walking on their Fins, Performing Arts Workshop, 2005
Ode to my mother’s hands: poems, Self-published chapbook, 2002
Oda Corporal: love poems, Self-published chapbook, 2002
GRANTS and FELLOWSHIPS
Rella Lossy Playwriting Award, 2020
Theater Communications Group In the Lab Travel Grant, 2018
National Performance Network Artist Engagement Fund, 2018
Kenneth Rainin Foundation Grant, 2018
National Performance Network Development Fund, 2018
Theater Bay Area CA$H Grant, 2016
San Francisco Foundation Career Investment Grant, 2016
National Performance Network Americas Exchange Grant, 2016
National Performance Network Creation Fund, 2016
Center for Cultural Innovation NextGen Arts Leadership Grant, 2015
San Francisco Arts Commission Individual Artist Commission, 2015
Andrew W. Mellon Playwright Residency Grant, 2013
Fulbright Scholarship in Creative Writing, 2012
Kenneth J. Cmiel Human Rights Award, 2010
Richard Maibaum Scholarship for Playwriting, University of Iowa, 2010
Association of Performing Arts Presenters Travel Grant, 2008
Iowa Arts Fellowship, University of Iowa, 2008 - 2011
Theatre Bay Area CA$H Grant, 2008
Zellerbach Community Arts Grant, 2008
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Higher Education
State University of New York, Purchase
Assistant Professor of Applied Theatre
Forthcoming courses: Introduction to Applied Theatre,Introduction to Theatre & Performance, Documentary Theatre, Community-Engaged Playwriting, Playwriting
Appointment commences August 2020
Universidad de las Américas, Puebla
Guest playwriting lecture
May 2020
John Jay College
Guest lecture on Latin American Theater
November 2018
Carnegie-Mellon University Graduate School of Drama
Seminars taught: Playwriting (Language, Thetricality, & Revision); Grantwriting
April 2017
University of Goroka, Department of Language and Literature
Seminar taught: Playwriting
April - October 2012
University of Iowa, Department of Theatre Arts
Courses taught: Playwriting, Theater History, Theater & Society
January 2010 - May 2011
University of California, Berkeley
Courses taught: Poetry for the People (African American Studies),
Inclusion Initiative (Disability Studies)
January 2001 - May 2002
City College of San Francisco
Guest lecture in poetry
November 2000
Other
Spanish Teacher, School for Young Performers, New York, NY
March 2020 – Present
ELA/Math Test Prep Tutor, SmartStart Education, New York, NY
January 2018 – July 2020
ELA/Math Tutor, EBL Coaching, New York, NY
February 2018 - February 2020
Performance Master Class, Asociación Xajooj Tuun, Rabinal, Guatemala
Co-taught with Lakin Valdez
June 2018
SSAT/SHSAT Test Prep Tutor, Boys Club of New York, NY
February - June 2018
Spanish Tutor, OnLocation Education, New York, NY
January - March 2018
Spanish Teacher, School for Young Performers, New York, NY
September 2017 - June 2018
Playwriting Teacher, Conjunto Cultural Korimakao, Pálpite, Cuba
January & April 2016
Guest Artist, San Francisco School of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
August 2016, September 2019
Playwriting Teacher, Cutting Ball Theater, San Francisco, CA
July 2013, December 2015
Radio Drama Teacher, Cultural Survival, Guatemala
May -August 2010
Teaching Artist Fellow, Montalvo Arts Center, Saratoga, CA
August - December 2009
Playwriting Teacher, Iowa City Senior Center, Iowa City, IA
April 2009
Playwriting Teacher, Lincoln Elementary School, Iowa City, IA
October - December 2008
Playwriting Teacher, Bridgemont High School, San Francisco, CA
March 2008
Playwriting Teacher, Galileo High School, San Francisco, CA
October 2006
Playwriting Class, Centro Cultural Kusiwasi, Urubamba, Peru
August 2005
Playwriting Master Class, Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani, Lima, Peru
July - August 2005
Teaching Artist, Performing Arts Workshop, San Francisco, CA
October 2004 - May 2006
Teaching Artist/Intern Coordinator, WritersCorps, San Francisco, CA
October 2004 - July 2006
Teaching Artist, ArtCorps, Ixcán, Guatemala
January - October 2003
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Japan = Black Men’s Heaven – African American POWs in World War II; Japanese military propaganda
Converging Worlds Project – History of Cuba-US relations; CIA attempts on Fidel Castro’s life; Cuban Revolution; organization of Cuban society, Afro Cuban religion*†
Men of Rab’inal – Text and history of the Rabinal Achi; history and culture of Rabinal; Guatemalan Civil War; Spanish Invasion of Guatemala; Spanish Colonia in Guatemala; Mayan music*†
The 51st Star – Gulf War; Saddam Hussein; George H. W. Bush
YellowCake – Uranium mining in the Diné Nation; depleted uranium weapons use in Iraq; uranium enrichment process
whisper fish – Peruvian son del diablo and diablada masked dances; Japanese oni matsuri masked festival†
Mount Misery – Enhanced interrogation techniques (CIA-approved and otherwise); War on Terror; slavery; Frederick Douglass; Donald Rumsfeld; history of the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay†
Sister Cities – Drug War in Mexico; George and Martha Washington celebration (Laredo, TX) †
Loner’s War – Japanese straggler soldiers; WWII in Papua New Guinea*†
Boot-Heel – Great Depression; 1939 Sharecropper strike of southeast Missouri; Cherokee Trail of Tears; Southern Tenant Farmworkers Union; Cherokee spirituality and cosmology
Dance of Pawns – History of Japanese in Peru; WWII internment of Japanese Peruvians in Texas
El Río – Mexico-US border; immigration; Border Patrol; indigenous cultures on the border; Chixoy Dam and massacre (Guatemala)*†
* included significant number of interviews
† included field research
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES
OTHER EMPLOYMENT
Grantwriter
Represented Foundation, May 2020 – August 2020
Researched and applied for COVID emergency and other grant funding to support community-engaged programs designed to increase leadership by social entrepreneurs of color in the nonprofit sector.
Development Coordinator/Consultant
The Climate Museum, October 2019 - March 2020
Research funding sources. Apply for grant applications. Cultivate and sustain relationships with individual donors. Plan agendas and packets for board meetings.
Program Associate
Circle for Justice Innovations, February 2018 - September 2019
Planned board meetings. Facilitated grantmaking process. Advised grant applicants. Conducted outreach
to activist organizations nationwide. Researched trends and developments in criminal justice activism and
reform. Managed online application system.
Converging Worlds Project
Director, July 2016 - May 2017
Interviewed 50+ people in Cuba about their daily realities. Taught playwriting workshops at Cuban arts centers. Raised money to fund this long-term exchange.
Editor and Translator
Fish Creek Productions, March 2016 - Present
Resident Playwright
The Cutting Ball Theater, March 2013 - February 2016
Taught playwriting workshops to generate earned income for organization. Wrote and edited marketing copy, and assisted on grant proposals and reports. Cultivated new board members, and researched potential new funders. Attended meetings with neighborhood stakeholders and community organizations.
Arts & Culture Grantmaking Fellow
The San Francisco Foundation, July 2011 - April 2012
Evaluated grant applications from 120 nonprofit arts organizations. Performed due diligence with grant seekers, including site visits and interviews. Administered literary, playwriting, visual arts awards.
Scripted the Community Leadership Awards ceremony.
ARTISTIC TRAINING
Playwriting Workshops
Paula Vogel, TCG Conference, June 2015
Gabriel Calderón, Casa de las Américas, June 2014
Dael Orlandersmith, Playwrights Foundation, July 2013
Jason Grote, Playwrights Foundation, May 2013
Sherry Kramer, University of Iowa, August - December 2010
Abi Basch, University of Iowa, November 2010
Kathleen Tolan, University of Iowa, September 2010
Tanya Barfield, University of Iowa, May 2009
Kia Corthron, University of Iowa, January - April 2009
David Adjmi, University of Iowa, December 2008
Naomi Wallace, University of Iowa, August - September 2008
Erik Ehn, Playwrights Foundation, June 2008
Annie Smart, Playwrights Foundation, March 2008
Marcus Gardley, Playwrights Foundation, September - October 2007
Migdalia Cruz, Playwrights Foundation, July 2006
Julie Jensen, Playwrights Foundation, 2006
Arthur Kopit, Playwrights Foundation, August 2005
Jeannie Barroga, Asian American Theater Company, March - May 2005
Octavio Solís, Playwrights Foundation, October 2004
TV Writing Workshops
Andrea Ciannavei, April - May 2020
Jason Grote, May 2013
Sheila Callaghan, March 2011
NOHSpace, Butoh Workshop, Ryuzo Fukuhara, 2006
Augusto Boal, Theatre of the Oppressed, University of San Francisco, April 2005
Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani (Lima, Peru)
Acting: Teresa Rallí and Ana Correa, July 2005
Maskmaking: Veronica Zela and José Beriche, July 2005
The Actor in the Moment of Performance: Miguel Rubio and Teresa Ralli, November 2004
DAH Theatre (Belgrade, Serbia), Playwriting Workshop, Dijana Milosevic, December 2004
SF Mime Troupe, Collective Theater Workshop, Dan Chumley and Joan Holden, June - Aug 2004
Apprenticeship with master puppet maker José Ascona, Oaxaca, Mexico, January 2003
BOARD SERVICE
Movimiento, Oakland, CA,August 2011 - September 2016
Asociación Generando, Guatemala, August 2010 - May 2011
PROFESSIONAL THEATER PRODUCTIONS
Japan = Black Men’s Heaven, Miranda Haymon, dir., Montalvo Arts Center, Summer 2022
Men of Rab’inal, Lakin Valdez, dir., El Teatro Campesino, Spring 2022
Br’er Peach, dir. TBA, AlterTheatre, Spring 2021
El Río, Edris Cooper, dir., Brava for Women in the Arts, September 28 - October 20, 2019
to all persons…, Jen Chang, dir., East West Players, February 17 - May 15, 2017
Stegosaurus (or) Three Cheers for Climate Change, Rem Myers, dir., Faultline Theater, April 1 - 16, 2016
Life is a Dream (trans.), Paige Rogers, dir., The Cutting Ball Theater, October 2 - November 1, 2015
Mount Misery, Rob Melrose, dir., The Cutting Ball Theater, May 14 - June 21, 2015
Another Fine Day in the Park, Chase Ramsey, dir., The Cutting Ball Theater, 10 April 2015
Krispy Kritters in the Scarlett Night, Rob Melrose, dir., The Cutting Ball Theater, May 17 - June 23, 2013
Evolve!, Myers Clark, dir., Handful Players at Yoshi’s San Francisco, May 23, 2009
Nuestra Señora de las Enfermedades, Lakin Valdez, dir., Brava Theatre Center, November 1 - 3, 2008
Agüita: “Ama qellichahuaychu”, Marilu Flores, dir., Teatro Andino Kusiwasi, Sept. 22 – Oct. 30, 2007
UNIVERSITY AND WORKSHOP THEATER PRODUCTIONS
Men of Rab’inal, Lakin Valdez, dir., La Peña/El Teatro Campesino, May - June 2019
“Wormholes for Sale at the Corner Bodega,” at Signature Theater, June 25, 2018
five tries, Addie Gorlin, dir., The Cutting Ball Theater, June 4 - 7, 2014
Landless, Kristin Clippard, dir., University of Iowa, May 7, 2011
sunshine, Nathan Halvorson, dir., University of Iowa, February 24 - 27, 2011
Stegosaurus (or) Our Golden Years, John Kaufmann, dir., University of Iowa, February 18 - 21 2010
La Lechera, Sarah Ballema, dir., University of Iowa, May 4, 2009
Smooth Hands, False Cures, Dan Chumley, dir., San Francisco Mime Troupe, August 27, 2004
PLAY DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
whisper fish, Sango Tajima, dir., Bay Area Playwrights Festival, July 7 - 24, 2016
whisper fish, Tamilla Woodard, dir., ArtsEmerson, June 13 - 19, 2016
Bootheel, Marissa Wolf, dir., ArtsEmerson, June 6 – 10, 2016
Santa & His Slaves, Graham Smith, dir., Playwrights Foundation, March 30, 2016
Santa & His Slaves, Deena Selenow, dir., December 20, 2015
whisper fish, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, October 2 - 3, 2015
whisper fish, Bonnie Metzgar, dir., Victory Gardens Theater, September 24 - 25, 2015
Beauty Secrets, Rem Myers, dir., Cutting Ball Theater, June 10 - 15, 2015
whisper fish, Molly Aaronson-Gelb, dir., Cutting Ball Theater, June 2 - 8, 2015
La Lechera, Marissa Wolf, dir., Crowded Fire Theater, November 26 - 2 December 2, 2014
Mount Misery, Rob Melrose, dir., Cutting Ball Theater, March 10 - 15, 2014
Sam the Ham, Randy Reyes, dir., Theater Mu New Eyes Festival, January 26, 2014
The Patron Saint of Monsters, Peter Rothstein, dir., Playwrights’ Center, June 9 - 12, 2012
Krispy Kritters..., Rob Melrose, dir., Cutting Ball Theater, May 17 - 22, 2011
DRAMATURGY
The Box, by Sarah Shourd, The Pulitzer Center , Winter - Summer 2019
Fidelidad, by Reynaldo Tejadilla, Conjunto Artístico Korimakao (Pálpite, Cuba), January - April 2017
Superheroes, by Sean San José, Cutting Ball Theater, October - November 2014
Chokehold, by Mordecai Ettinger, Cutting Ball Theater, October 2013
PLAYS AUTHORED
full-length
Tansu
Men of Rab’inal (with Lakin Valdez)
Br’er Peach
Cartograph
Santa & His Slaves
Mount Misery: A Comedy of Enhanced Interrogations
Boot-Heel (formerly titled Landless)
Beauty Secrets
whisper fish
The Patron Saint of Monsters
Lightning Birth
sunshine
La Lechera
Krispy Kritters in the Scarlett Night
Stegosaurus (or) Three Cheers for Climate Change
The Melisaloggia
just like hermanos
semilla
Sam the Ham
Helix2
I Won You at Sotheby’s
Greetings from the Klondike...Wish You Were Here!
El Río
one act
to all persons…
Evolve! (children’s musical)
five tries
She & He
Agüita: “Ama qellichahuaychu” (collaborative creation with Teatro Andino Kusi Wasi)
white moon, grey sea
Isisu
Smooth Hands, False Cures (head writer)
Nuestra Señora de las Enfermedades (devised piece)
ten-minute
Kingmeal
needleye
Essential Affairs
Painless
Xmas Eve in Donner Pass
Another Fine Day in the Park
hearthside (movement piece)
OTHER MEDIA
feature films
Übermann Lives!
Loner’s War
Wendy & Peter
Dance of Pawns
to God, in all His forms…
Sam the Ham
YellowCake
television pilots
Ride
Latter-Day Space (with Chase Ramsey)
Sister Cities
Dimensia
The 51st Star
fiction
Verre (novel)
“Beeswax” (short story)
“Gallos” (short story)
“My Siren” (short story)
“Some Things Survived” (short story)
“Suckers” (short story)
PLAYS TRANSLATED
Pedro Calderón de la Barca (Spain):
La Vida es Sueño
Qorpo-Santo (Brazil):
As Relações Naturais
Mateus e Mateusa
Certa Entidade em Busca de Outra
Eu Sou a Vida; Eu Não Sou a Morte
WRITING RESIDENCIES
Arquetopia Foundation, Puebla, Mexico, March - April 2020
AlterLab, AlterTheater, San Rafael, CA, August 2016 - May 2017
Djerassi Resident Artists Program, April - May 2016
Writer-in-Residence, Idle Spoke Ranch, Healdsburg, CA, October 2015 - September 2016
Resident Playwright, Playwrights Foundation, SF, CA, September 2011 - December 2015
Writers Pool, PlayGround, Berkeley, CA, September 2013 - May 2015
Writer/Director Lab, Just Theater, Berkeley, CA, September 2013 - June 2014
Core Apprentice, Playwrights Center, Minneapolis, MN, July 2011 - June 2012
Lucas Artists Residency Program, Montalvo Arts Center, August - December 2009
Blue Mountain Center, Adirondacks, NY, July - August 2009
Writer-in-Residence, Centro Cultural Kusiwasi, Urubamba, Peru, July 2005 - January 2009
Writer-in-Residence, Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani, Lima, Peru, July - August 2005
New Works Incubator, Asian American Theater Company, October 2003 - April 2005
LANGUAGES & SKILLS
Spanish (fluent)
Tok Pisin (fluent)
Portuguese (proficient)
Japanese (novice)
German (novice)
Apple OS X
Windows
MS Office
Raiser’s Edge
Survey Monkey
WordPress
Weebly
HTML
CSS
Little Green Light
Submittable
SlideRoom
Kung Fu San Soo – Fourth-degree Black Belt