East West Players (EWP), the nation’s longest-running Asian American theater and the largest producer of Asian American theatrical works, announces a free, public screening of “East West Players: A Home on Stage.”
This documentary film explores the history of EWP and is produced through KCET’s Emmy Award-winning arts and culture series “Artbound,” which returns for its 14th season. “Artbound” examines the contributions of California-based artists and art movements in today’s American culture.
EWP Interim Managing Director Adrian Budhu shares, “In a time when theaters are fighting to remain visible and heard in the public consciousness, it is an incredible opportunity and privilege for our 58-year-old legacy to be celebrated on such a wide platform, just a few years prior to our 60th anniversary. East West Players has fought to be a champion of marginalized voices since its inception in 1965. We hope sharing our story will inspire countless others to do the same.
“We ask that members of our Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, and theater communities come to our public screening of ‘East West Players: A Home on Stage’ on Nov. 8, and join us in celebrating almost six decades of advocating for equity through artistic excellence.”
For 58 years, EWP has been hosting Asian American artists such as George Takei, John Cho, Daniel Dae Kim, James Hong and many others featured in this documentary. Through candid conversations, the film chronicles the history of one of the longest-running theatres of color in the U.S. Featured prominently throughout the documentary is EWP’s recent world premiere musical “On This Side of the World.”
The documentary is created by production company Rooster and Pig Productions.
“East West Players is not only the longest-running Asian American theater in the country, but one of the longest-running theaters of color, and for that reason alone, a documentary was long overdue,” says consulting producer Philip W. Chung. “But the EWP story is also the story of the Asian American community’s decades-long struggle to tell our diverse and authentic narratives. Our goal was to not only document this important history, but inspire future generations to continue creating and building on the foundation that the theater’s founders laid in 1965.”
Tickets to the screening may be reserved online at www.eastwestplayers.org or by calling the box office at (213) 625-7000.
The screening will take place Wednesday, Nov. 8, at the Japanese American National Museum’s Tateuchi Democracy Forum, 111 N. Central Ave. in Little Tokyo. A pre-screening reception will begin at 6 p.m., with the screening of to begin at 7 p.m. Expected run time is 1 hour. A post-show panel featuring some of the stars of the documentary will follow.
At time of reservation, mention any wheelchair/accessible seating needs. Box office is available 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, as well as 90 minutes before showtime.
“East West Players: A Home on Stage” will also be broadcast live on Nov. 8 at 9 p.m. on KCET, as well as Friday, Nov. 10, at 8 p.m. on PBS SoCal. Following the broadcast, each episode will stream on the free PBS app. Members of PBS SoCal and KCET will get early access to stream all six episodes of “Artbound” on PBS Passport.