What do AATP interns do? Joining the AATP board is one of the best crash courses in the Stanford theater scene you could experience. It is a program targeted toward freshmen, but any undergrad can apply. As an intern, you will be immersed in the process of making theater: you could act in our shows and take on leadership or assistant roles in directing, producing, and stage managing. You will take part in leading a vibrant and supportive cultural and artistic community dedicated to representational activism in the theatrical arts. Our interns have starred in, directed, written, and produced their own shows with AATP's support during their first year.
What kinds of shows/events is AATP producing this year? This year, AATP is celebrating the little-known canon of Asian American playwrights, new and old. We're kicking off the season with Julia Cho's Durango (auditioning and hiring staff now!), an Asian American family drama that explores the intersectionality of masculinity, sexuality, and race. Our Winter project is an immersive, multimedia performance of Christopher Chen's Caught--a deeply complex narrative that navigates truth, art, social justice, and cultural appropriation. This fully-staged production will celebrate a local Bay Area playwright as well as the beautiful work of local artists. We will finish our season in the Spring with Purple Cloud, a play addressing the mixed-race experience through magical realism. We're excited to be able to work closely with playwright Jessica Huang to workshop the play and capture her vision. We also have lined up an exciting series of trips to see shows such as The Shipment by Crowded Fire Theatre, Vietgone at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and more!
What has AATP done in the past? Last year, we started off with a staged reading of I Dream of Chang and Eng by seminal Asian American playwright Philip Kan Gotanda, followed by a visit from and discussion with the author himself. Our Winter production was a full-scale performance of Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, incorporating Asian-inspired design elements. It was followed by our annual cabaret, entitled Ching Chong Sing Song, a showcase of the limited (and often stereotyped) roles available to Asian American musical theatre artists. Finally, we ended the year with Yellow Face by AATP's founder and Tony-Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang, using its biting wit to comment on the recent influx of appropriation of Asian roles in Hollywood and on the stage. In past years, AATP has put on fully staged productions of Asian American plays, the first student musical in Bing Concert Hall, staged readings, and workshops. AATP is also passionate about activism, focusing on issues of representation in the media. We have approached these issues by holding both high school and on-campus workshops, performing activist pieces, and bringing guest speakers to campus.
What's the difference between being in an AATP show vs. joining the board? Joining the board is a year-long commitment, while working on one show requires a commitment for just the duration of that show (typically about 6 weeks). The board makes our shows happen by meeting every Sunday evening to check in about all the moving parts of our various productions. Our board members constitute the majority of our shows' creative teams and production staff (i.e. producers, directors, stage managers, designers, publicity, etc.) and perform in many of our productions. Board members are expected to actively participate in at least two of our three productions and attend ridiculously fun retreats once per quarter. Our auditions for individual productions are open to the entire Stanford community, and non-board members are also welcome to join the production staff of any of our shows.
Ooh, tell me more about these retreats! We eat a lot of delicious Asian food. A LOT. Our fall retreat is focused on welcoming our new interns to the board and preparing for the year's productions. The purpose of our spring retreat is to select the plays that will constitute the next year's season. Each board member proposes a play for the upcoming season, and we read through the proposals as a board. But mostly we eat and swagger about in our matching AATP trucker hats.
But I'm not Asian... Awesome. We welcome all artists regardless of race, culture, skill-level, and previous theatrical experience to join us in our artistic explorations of identity.