Ma-Yi Theater Company
Encyclopedia
Ma-Yi Theater Company is a professional, not-for-profit, Obie Award
and Drama Desk Award
winning theater company based in New York City
that was founded in 1989. Ma-Yi Theater is headed by Executive Director Jorge Ortoll and Artistic Director Ralph Peña
. Some of its more notable productions include:
In 2006, Ma-Yi Theater Company's production of Warren Leight's No Foreigners Beyond This Point received a Drama Desk nomination for Best Play. In 2010, Ma-Yi Theater received a Special Drama Desk Award for Excellence.
Savage Stage: Plays by Ma-Yi Theater Company is an anthology of selected new works developed and produced by the company since its founding. Edited by Ma-Yi's Literary Manager, Joi Barrios, "Savage Stage" was published in 2007.
Ma-Yi Theater Company is a participant in "Artography: Arts in a Changing America", a pilot program launched by LINC (Leveraging Investments In Creativity) that seeks to map new arts practices in the United States resulting from demographic shifts.
company. Founded in 1989 by Chito Jao Garces (artistic director), Ralph Pena
, Margot Lloren, Ankie Frilles, Luz de Leon, Isolda Oca, Arianne Recto, Cristina Sison, and Bernie Villanueva, its first productions were Filipino, Filipino-American plays, or adaptations. Also instrumental in the founding of Ma-Yi was Chris Millado, who served as advisor to their first performance and returned to write and direct for the group. Jorge Ortoll joined the company a year later in 1990, and became its executive director in 1991, the same year that Ma-Yi became a non-profit company and established a Board of Directors. Ralph Peña and Betty Mae Piccio became co-artistic directors in 1995, and when Piccio moved to Philadelphia in 1996, Peña became its sole artistic director. Ortoll and Peña have, since then, organized a support staff that has included Lourdes Obillo as accountant, Vince Hokia as technical director, Daniel Rech as marketing manager, and Andrew Eisenmann and Suzette Porte as associate artistic directors.
For the past fifteen years since its inception, Ma-Yi has also benefited from the involvement of Filipino theatre artists based in New York – production designer and director Loy Arcenas, composer Fabian Obispo, veteran actors Ching Valdez-Aran and Mia Katigbak, and novelist and playwright Jessica Hagedorn
. Other Filipino artists and writers have also been involved with Ma-Yi: director Behn Cervantes, playwright and actor Rody Vera, and playwright Marina Feleo-Gonzalez; National Artist of the Philippines
for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera
and Virgilio Almario, scholars Preachy Legasto, Nicanor Tiongson
, and Roland Tolentino, and choreographer-dancer Potri Rangkamanis. In 2003, while in the United States as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of California Irvine, Joi Barrios joined the group as its Literary Manager.
In 1998, Ma-Yi Theater expanded its mission to include works by other, non-Filipino, Asian American writers. This move was largely prodded by the company's recognition of the need for more developmental venues for new Asian American plays.
Some of Ma-Yi Theater's recent productions include: Sides: The Fear is Real, The Romance of Magno Rubio (Obie Award), No Foreigners Beyond This Point (Drama Desk Nomination), and Trial By Water.
The Ma-Yi Writers Lab was founded in 2004 by Sung Rno in connection with the TCG/NEA Playwright's Residence Program, and is currently led by Co-Directors Qui Nguyen
and Lloyd Suh. The Lab is Ma-Yi's resident company of emerging professional writers, and represents the largest group of professional Asian American playwrights ever assembled.
In 2005, the Ma-Yi Theater was among 406 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg
. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/06/nyregion/06donate.html?ex=1278302400&en=93a1beabd4ede5b8&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss http://carnegie.org/sub/news/anon2005.html
Awards:
1997 Obie Award, Performance, Ching Valdes Aran for Ralph Peña's FLIPZOIDS
2002 Obie Grant Award
2003 Obie Awards for Loy Arcenas, Arthur Acuña, Lonnie Carter, Ron Domingo, Jojo Gonzales, Ramon Ocampo, Orlando Pabotoy, and Ralph Peña, for their work on Lonnie Carter's THE ROMANCE OF MAGNO RUBIO.
2006 Drama Desk Nomination, Best Play for Warren Leight's NO FOREIGNERS BEYOND THIS POINT
2006 Henry Hewes Design Nominations for Loy Arcenas (Scenic Design), and Fabian Obispo (Sound Design and Original Music) for their work on Warren Leight's NO FOREIGNERS BEYOND THIS POINT
2010 Drama Desk Award for Theater Excellence
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
and Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
winning theater company based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
that was founded in 1989. Ma-Yi Theater is headed by Executive Director Jorge Ortoll and Artistic Director Ralph Peña
Ralph Peña
Ralph Peña is a founding member and the current artistic director of Ma-Yi Theater Company, an Obie Award and Drama Desk winning Asian American theatre group based in New York City...
. Some of its more notable productions include:
- Alice TuanAlice TuanAlice Tuan is a U.S. playwright, teacher and performer. Her first works were of an Asian American nature, attempting to make sense of being raised with eastern values while schooled in U.S. thought...
's Last of the Suns - Ralph Peña's Flipzoids
- Sung Rno's wAveWaveIn physics, a wave is a disturbance that travels through space and time, accompanied by the transfer of energy.Waves travel and the wave motion transfers energy from one point to another, often with no permanent displacement of the particles of the medium—that is, with little or no associated mass...
- Lonnie Carter's The Romance of Magno RubioThe Romance of Magno RubioThe Romance of Magno Rubio is a play by Lonnie Carter based on a short story by Carlos Bulosan. Developed by the Ma-Yi Theater Company, it had its premiere in October, 2002 in New York City. The production and cast members were the recipient of a special 2003 Obie Award...
. - Lloyd Suh's "The Children of Vonderly" and "American Hwangap"
- Qui NguyenQui NguyenQui Nguyen is a Vietnamese American playwright and fight director. He is an artistic director of the Obie Award and Caffe Cino Award winning Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company, whose productions, penned and choreographed by Nguyen, have performed to sold-out audiences at the New York International...
's "Soul Samurai" - Michi Barall's "Rescue Me: A postmodern classic with snacks"
- Michael Lew's "Microcrisis"
In 2006, Ma-Yi Theater Company's production of Warren Leight's No Foreigners Beyond This Point received a Drama Desk nomination for Best Play. In 2010, Ma-Yi Theater received a Special Drama Desk Award for Excellence.
Savage Stage: Plays by Ma-Yi Theater Company is an anthology of selected new works developed and produced by the company since its founding. Edited by Ma-Yi's Literary Manager, Joi Barrios, "Savage Stage" was published in 2007.
Ma-Yi Theater Company is a participant in "Artography: Arts in a Changing America", a pilot program launched by LINC (Leveraging Investments In Creativity) that seeks to map new arts practices in the United States resulting from demographic shifts.
History
Ma-Yi did not start out to be an Asian American theatreAsian American theatre
Asian American theater is theater written, directed or acted by Asian Americans.- Background :Asian American theater emerged in the 1960s and the 1970s with the foundation of four theatre companies: East West Players in Los Angeles, Asian American Theatre Workshop in San Francisco, Theatrical...
company. Founded in 1989 by Chito Jao Garces (artistic director), Ralph Pena
Ralph Peña
Ralph Peña is a founding member and the current artistic director of Ma-Yi Theater Company, an Obie Award and Drama Desk winning Asian American theatre group based in New York City...
, Margot Lloren, Ankie Frilles, Luz de Leon, Isolda Oca, Arianne Recto, Cristina Sison, and Bernie Villanueva, its first productions were Filipino, Filipino-American plays, or adaptations. Also instrumental in the founding of Ma-Yi was Chris Millado, who served as advisor to their first performance and returned to write and direct for the group. Jorge Ortoll joined the company a year later in 1990, and became its executive director in 1991, the same year that Ma-Yi became a non-profit company and established a Board of Directors. Ralph Peña and Betty Mae Piccio became co-artistic directors in 1995, and when Piccio moved to Philadelphia in 1996, Peña became its sole artistic director. Ortoll and Peña have, since then, organized a support staff that has included Lourdes Obillo as accountant, Vince Hokia as technical director, Daniel Rech as marketing manager, and Andrew Eisenmann and Suzette Porte as associate artistic directors.
For the past fifteen years since its inception, Ma-Yi has also benefited from the involvement of Filipino theatre artists based in New York – production designer and director Loy Arcenas, composer Fabian Obispo, veteran actors Ching Valdez-Aran and Mia Katigbak, and novelist and playwright Jessica Hagedorn
Jessica Hagedorn
Jessica Tarahata Hagedorn is a Filipino-American playwright, writer, poet, storyteller, musician, and multimedia performance artist.-Biography:...
. Other Filipino artists and writers have also been involved with Ma-Yi: director Behn Cervantes, playwright and actor Rody Vera, and playwright Marina Feleo-Gonzalez; National Artist of the Philippines
National Artist of the Philippines
A National Artist of the Philippines is a title given to a Filipino who has been given the highest recognition for having made significant contributions to the development of Philippine arts...
for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera
Bienvenido Lumbera
Bienvenido Lumbera is a prizewinning poet, critic and dramatist from the Philippines.He is a National Artist of the Philippines and a recipient of the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communications...
and Virgilio Almario, scholars Preachy Legasto, Nicanor Tiongson
Nicanor Tiongson
Nicanor Tiongson is a leading critic, creative writer and academic from the Philippines. He holds a Bachelor of Humanities degree from the Ateneo de Manila University, and M.A. and Ph. D in Philippine Studies from the University of the Philippines...
, and Roland Tolentino, and choreographer-dancer Potri Rangkamanis. In 2003, while in the United States as a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of California Irvine, Joi Barrios joined the group as its Literary Manager.
In 1998, Ma-Yi Theater expanded its mission to include works by other, non-Filipino, Asian American writers. This move was largely prodded by the company's recognition of the need for more developmental venues for new Asian American plays.
Some of Ma-Yi Theater's recent productions include: Sides: The Fear is Real, The Romance of Magno Rubio (Obie Award), No Foreigners Beyond This Point (Drama Desk Nomination), and Trial By Water.
The Ma-Yi Writers Lab was founded in 2004 by Sung Rno in connection with the TCG/NEA Playwright's Residence Program, and is currently led by Co-Directors Qui Nguyen
Qui Nguyen
Qui Nguyen is a Vietnamese American playwright and fight director. He is an artistic director of the Obie Award and Caffe Cino Award winning Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company, whose productions, penned and choreographed by Nguyen, have performed to sold-out audiences at the New York International...
and Lloyd Suh. The Lab is Ma-Yi's resident company of emerging professional writers, and represents the largest group of professional Asian American playwrights ever assembled.
In 2005, the Ma-Yi Theater was among 406 New York City arts and social service institutions to receive part of a $20 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation, which was made possible through a donation by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/06/nyregion/06donate.html?ex=1278302400&en=93a1beabd4ede5b8&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss http://carnegie.org/sub/news/anon2005.html
Awards:
1997 Obie Award, Performance, Ching Valdes Aran for Ralph Peña's FLIPZOIDS
2002 Obie Grant Award
2003 Obie Awards for Loy Arcenas, Arthur Acuña, Lonnie Carter, Ron Domingo, Jojo Gonzales, Ramon Ocampo, Orlando Pabotoy, and Ralph Peña, for their work on Lonnie Carter's THE ROMANCE OF MAGNO RUBIO.
2006 Drama Desk Nomination, Best Play for Warren Leight's NO FOREIGNERS BEYOND THIS POINT
2006 Henry Hewes Design Nominations for Loy Arcenas (Scenic Design), and Fabian Obispo (Sound Design and Original Music) for their work on Warren Leight's NO FOREIGNERS BEYOND THIS POINT
2010 Drama Desk Award for Theater Excellence