Race/Solidarity: Transpacific Conversations: The Asian and Black Questions Up Close in Drama

Introduction and Q&A Panel Discussion

The Asian and Black Question Up Close in Drama: Plays that Organically Reckon Across the Divide - Velina Hasu Houston, Rena Heinrich and Professional Ensemble*

The Race/Solidarity: Transpacific Conversations series invites faculty and guest speakers to discuss the current racial reckoning at USC and beyond and start this conversation within a global context. This series will provide a platform for faculty and students to engage with a host of social and cultural issues related to race and racism on both sides of the Pacific. Our aim is to help broaden and deepen the current discussion on race with global and historical perspectives, drawing in particular on the expertise and connections of our affiliated faculty and graduate students who have worked on these topics within diverse East Asian contexts and among Asian diasporic communities.

The East Asian Studies Center presented a reading of excerpts from the work of Velina Hasu Houston whose globally produced plays have been exploring racial perspectives of Asian identity and Blackness for decades. Directed by actress, director, and scholar Rena Heinrich, the event featured excerpts from Houston's new play Setting the Table, performed by professional actors.

We wish to express our gratitude to the Performers’ Unions:

ACTORS’ EQUITY ASSOCIATION
AMERICAN GUILD OF MUSICAL ARTISTS
AMERICAN GUILD OF VARIETY ARTISTS
SAG-AFTRA

through Theatre Authority, Inc. for their cooperation in permitting the Artists to appear on this program.

*Professional Ensemble:
Alison De La Cruz - Production Manager/Stage Directions
Natsuko Ohama - Actor (Misao)
Zine Tseng - Actor (Yoshimi)
Chevaughan St. Clare - Actor (Billy)
Nona Johnson - Actor (Willa Jean)
AK Murtadha - Actor (Nathaniel)
Geoff Rivas - Actor (Diego)

The video only presents the panel discussion moderated by Heinrich that engages themes of multiculturalism, race and racism, and sociocultural illumination and distortion that followed the readings.