Lia Chang
Orville Mendoza © Lia Chang
The National Asian American Theatre Company’s (NAATCO) new adaptation of Chekhov’s THE SEAGULL, has a limited engagement at Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave in New York through October 17. The all-Asian-American cast features Rajesh Bose, Cindy Cheung, Jojo Gonzalez, Marcus Ho, Peter Kim, Lavrenti Lopes, Mia Katigbak, Orville Mendoza, Andrew Pang, Sophia Skiles, and Tiffany Villarin. Helmed by Gia Forakis, the play kicks off NAATCO’s 20th season and is part of the 2nd National Asian American Theatre Festival lineup in New York.
Taking a cue from Chekhov’s subtitle: “A Comedy in 4 Acts,” director Forakis excavates the vaudevillian sense of humor in the play and couples it with the bitter despair of Chekhov’s characters to provoke what she calls “comedy’s wicked step-cousin, the grotesque,” where tragedy and comedy live alongside one another.
(left to right): Tiffany Villarin and Marcus Ho in the National Asian American Theatre Company production of THE SEAGULL. Photo Credit: William P. Steele
With set design by Lee Savage, lighting design by Stephen Petrilli, costume design by Alixandra Gage Englund, video production by S. Katy Tucker and sound design and original music by Robert Murphy.
(left to right): Orville Mendoza and Peter Kim in the National Asian American Theatre Company production of THE SEAGULL. Photo Credit: William P. Steele
Performances of THE SEAGULL run Mondays through Saturdays at 7:00pm, with a Wednesday matinee performance at 1:00pm on October 14. Tickets are $15-20, and available online at TheaterMania.com or by calling TheaterMania at 212-352-3101. For additional details, visit www.naatco.org
(left to right): (counterclockwise from top left) Rajesh Bose, Tiffany Villarin, Cindy Cheung, Orville Mendoza and Andrew Pang in the National Asian American Theatre Company production of THE SEAGULL. Photo Credit: William P. Steele
Lia Chang is an actor, performance and fine art botanical photographer, and a multimedia journalist. She has been documenting her colleagues and contemporaries in the arts, fashion and journalism since making her stage debut as Liat in the National Tour of South Pacific, with Robert Goulet and Barbara Eden. She is currently working on several botanical portrait commissions for the New York City Health and Hospital Corporation Art Collection and on a book of portraits of her favorite Asian American men in the arts and space. The former syndicated KYODO News columnist is the New York Bureau Chief for AsianConnections.com.
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