THEATREWORKS SILICON VALLEY SUPPORTS AAPI COMMUNITY THROUGH BENEFIT LIVESTREAM Writing Fragments Home By Jeffrey Lo Directed by Victor Malana Maog Video Production by Stephen Muterspaugh Livestream 7pm PDT Saturday, June 5 (PLus streaming on-demand June 6-9) A fundraiser for the Bay Area AAPI Community through Compassion in Oakland REDWOOD SHORES, CA (12 May 2021) – In a time where the manifestation of prejudice and violence toward the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community has reached an extreme high, TheatreWorks SiLicon ValLey will stream a benefit reading of Writing Fragments Home to raise funds to support and uplift the AAPI community. Written by Filipino American playwright and TheatreWorks Director of Community Partnerships/ Casting Director Jeffrey Lo, this comedic play is an unapologetically Filipino American story about art, family, and culture, exploring one playwright’s journey to rediscover his voice while combatting systemic racism. Co-presented by more than 40 leading theatres and arts organizations in the Bay Area and beyond, this reading will benefit Compassion in OakLand, a nonprofit formed in response to the surge of anti-Asian attacks and dedicated to promoting safety and community in Oakland Chinatown and beyond. Writing Fragments Home will be streamed live 7pm PDT, Saturday, June 5, 2021 (with streaming on-demand access available June 6 at 12pm PDT through June 9 at 7pm PDT). Viewers can sign up at TheatreWorks.org to receive a link to view Writing Fragments Home without charge, although donations are encouraged to support Compassion in OakLand—donation levels from $10-$100 are available in tiers named for popular Filipino dishes, including Lumpia Platter, Lechon, Pancit, and Adobo. For more information or to reserve streaming access the public may visit TheatreWorks.org. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ MEDIA CONTACT: Lauren Goldfarb, CARLA BEFERA & CO. Email: [email protected] “One of the big themes in Writing Fragments Home is loneliness and how sharing stories is a way for us to cure loneliness and build empathy in our world,” said Jeffrey Lo. “When I think about the tragic rise in hate crimes against the AAPI community, I can’t help but think about how scared, anxious and alone our community feels right now. I keep thinking about how these hate crimes were activated from a lack of empathy for people with different backgrounds and identities. My hope is that this project—in addition to financially supporting the incredible work of Compassion in OakLand—can inspire empathy, hope and make the members of the AAPI community feel a little less lonely and a little more understood.” Developed in a 2020 reading at TheatreWorks, Writing Fragments Home was a finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival and a semi-finalist for the O'Neill Playwright's Conference. This reading is co-presented by Actor’s Reading ColLective, American Conservatory Theater, Aurora Theatre Company, BerkeLey PLayhouse, BerkeLey Repertory Theatre, BindLeStiff Studio, Brava! For Women in the Arts, Broadway by the Bay, California Shakespeare Festival, Capital Stage, CentralWorks, City Lights Theater Company, Crowded Fire Theatre, Custom Made Theatre Company, Cutting BalL Theatre, Dragon Productions Theatre, EnActe Arts, Ferocious Lotus, HiLLbarn Theatre Company, Hypokrit Productions, Juneteenth Theatre Justice Project, Livermore Shakespeare Festival, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, Los ALtos Stage Company, Marin Shakespeare Company, Marin Theatre Company, More Más Marami Arts, New Conservatory Theatre, OakLand Theatre Project, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Our Digital Stories, Palo ALto PLayers, PLayground, Red Ladder Theatre Company, San Francisco PLayhouse, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, San Jose Stage Company, Shotgun PLayers, Tabard Theatre, Teatro Visión, Theater Mu, Theatre Bay Area, Yerba Buena Center for Arts, and Z Space. Writing Fragments Home tells the story of Jay, a playwright who is forced to move in with his Filipino immigrant Mom after his girlfriend leaves him and he loses his job. Struggling with writer’s block and stuck sleeping on the couch, Jay must finally come face to face with the pressures and dreams of his parents while finding the bravery to fight for his voice as a young artist of color in America. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ MEDIA CONTACT: Lauren Goldfarb, CARLA BEFERA & CO. Email: [email protected] Director Victor Malana Maog leads a stellar cast including Bay Area theatre veteran Jomar Tagatac as Jay and “Gilmore Girls” actor/ theatre mainstay EmiLy Kuroda as Jay’s mother, Mary Gwen. Actors WiLL Dao, Kausar Mohammed, and Moses ViLLarama round out the cast for this reading, and Jenny Nguyen NeLson reads the stage directions. Scenic design is by TheatreWorks Properties Master Christopher Fitzer and video production is by TheatreWorks Artistic Digital Production and Operations Manager / Company Manager Stephen Muterspaugh. Jomar Tagatac (he/him/his, Jay) starred as George in TheatreWorks’ production of The Language Archive, a role for which he won a San Francisco Bay Area Critics Circle Award. Tagatac has been seen at theatres including SHN’s Orpheum Theatre (Holes), American Conservatory Theater (Vietgone, Hamlet, Monstress, A Christmas Carol), California Shakespeare Theatre (As You Like It, War of the Roses, Everybody), San Francisco Playhouse (King of the Yees, Tiny Beautiful Things, You Mean to Do Me Harm), The Magic Theater (The Happy Ones, Dogeaters), New Conservatory Theatre Center, and Shotgun Players. In June 2021, Tagatac will also star as Gordon Hirabayashi in Hold These Truths at San Francisco Playhouse, directed by Jeffrey Lo—this inspiring play made its Regional Premiere at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. EmiLy Kuroda (she/her/hers, Mary Gwen) was seen in TheatreWorks’ productions of The Language Archive and Calligraphy. Known to national television audiences for her role as Mrs. Kim on “Gilmore Girls,” she has enjoyed a lengthy career on stage, screen, and in TV series/movies. Her major film appearances include Red, Minority Report, Shop Girl, Maybe Someday, Hotel for Dogs, and many more. On television Kuroda has been seen in “Bloodline,” “Six Feet Under,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “The Practice,” “ER,” “The Good Doctor,” “Chicago Hope,” “Melrose Place,” among others. Kuroda has won five Drama- Logue Awards for “Outstanding Performance,” and has appeared on national stages including The Public Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, South Coast Repertory Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, Playwright’s Arena, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Mark Taper Forum, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. WiLL Dao (he/him/his, Actor) has recently appeared in virtual performances of The Matchmaker (American Conservatory Theater), The Conservation of Parity (Kitchen Theatre ______________________________________________________________________________________________ MEDIA CONTACT: Lauren Goldfarb, CARLA BEFERA & CO. Email: [email protected] Company and Ma-Yi Theater Company) and Final Boarding Call (Ma-Yi/WP Theater and Playwrights Foundation). As a four-season company member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, his performances included Snow in Midsummer, Vietgone, The Winter’s Tale, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Antony and Cleopatra. Recent Bay Area credits include The Chinese Lady (Magic Theatre) and King of the Yees (San Francisco Playhouse). Kausar Mohammed (she/her/hers, Actress) is a South-Asian writer and actress born in San Jose, California. She is a writer/performer in the distinguished all-South Asian comedy troupe, The Get Brown, and in the 2021 CBS Diversity Showcase. She has worked on and written a variety of award-winning digital projects, such as "Smyle" and "Namaste" featured on Huffington Post, NBC, and Al-Jazeera. Kausar plays series lead in Paul Feig's (Bridesmaids) dramedy, “East of La Brea.” She has worked alongside Taraji P. Henson on the film What Men Want (Paramount), Issa Rae on the film Little (Universal), and has additional credits from shows on HBO, CW, CBS. Kausar also voices series lead characters on both Spielberg’s hit show “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous” and the hit anime show, “Great Pretender.” Moses ViLLarama (he/him/his, Ronaldo) has performed with TheatreWorks Silicon Valley in the New Works Festival presentation of tokyo fish story. He was recently seen in Cambodian Rock Band at Signature Theatre in New York City, La Jolla Playhouse, and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He has performed Off-Broadway with Ensemble Studio Theatre, The Play Company, and Ma-Yi Theatre Company. Moses is a company member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, performing with this prestigious repertory company for five seasons. Other regional credits include productions at Alliance Theatre, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center, and Pig Iron Theatre. In addition to his work onstage, Moses is a professor in acting at Southern Oregon University. Jenny Nguyen NeLson (she/her/hers, Stage Directions) has performed with California Shakespeare Theatre in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Everybody. She is a third year MFA Actor at Brown University/ Trinity Repertory Company. Victor Malana Maog (he/him/his, Director), named one of American Theatre Magazine’s inaugural “People to Watch,” has worked at the Public Theater, Second Stage, Williamstown ______________________________________________________________________________________________ MEDIA