Amphibian Stage Announces Playwrights & Actors For SPARKFEST '24

After a nationwide search, Amphibian Stage has announced the artists selected to share their talents at SparkFest 2024. In 2024, SparkFest, the annual performing arts festival, will celebrate the AAPI (Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders) community. For this year's festival, three playwrights and 10 actors were selected among a high volume of applicants, both locally and nationwide. 

Playwrights whose submissions were selected will receive time with actors and directors to fine-tune their plays. After the rehearsal process, their work is presented to the public at two performances (including invited theatre leaders from across the country). 

Building on the immense success of the first annual SparkFest Acting Competition in 2023, the acting competition has returned in 2024, with a focus on AAPI actors. Finalists invited to compete

in person will perform monologues, scenes, and “cold readings” for the public. The 1st Place winner will receive $5000; the 2nd place finalist will receive $4000; the 3rd place finalist will receive $3000; and the audience favorite will receive $1000. Finalists will be judged by notable figures in the performing arts industry from outside of Texas. The judging panel is made up of Ralph B. Peña (Ma-Yi Theatre in NYC), Lily Tung Crystal (Theater Mu in The Twin Cities, MN), and Spencer Gualdoni (Tara Rubin Casting), who is returning from last year's competition. The SparkFest'24 Acting Competition dates are June 13 through 15. 

SPARKFEST‘24 PLAYWRIGHTS 

Zoë Kim 

Play in Development: Did You Eat? 

Performs June 12 & June 15 

Zoë Kim is a storyteller who is passionate about creating art that  encourages humanity, compassion, and kindness. She is the New Work  Development Manager at The Public Theater and the Founder of Seoulful  Productions, a Korean-American women-led 501(c)(3) non-profit organization  whose primary mission is to create artistic experiences that celebrate the culture, artistry, and voices of the Korean Diaspora. Did You Eat? (밥 먹었니?) is Seoulful Productions' first theatrical project. She was a Festival Consultant for the 2023 National Alliance for Musical Theatre (NAMT), and is a member of the 2023 Theatre Producers of Color Cohort (TPOC), the 2023-2024 BIPOC Critics Lab Cohort, and the 2024 Theater of Change Cohort. She holds an MFA in Acting from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. 

Keiko Green 

Play in Development: You are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! 

Performs June 14 & June 16 

Keiko Green is a playwright, screenwriter, and performer with artistic homes along the West Coast. Productions include: Exotic Deadly: Or the MSG Play (Old Globe), Hells Canyon (Theater Mu), Sharon (Cygnet Theatre), Hometown Boy (Actor's Express, Seattle Public Theater), and Nadeshiko (Sound Theatre Company). Her plays have been developed by the O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, Kennedy Center, National New Play Network, Playwrights Realm, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and Atlantic Theatre Company. Awards/Honors: Kilroys List, as well as a Gregory Award and San Diego Critics Circle Award for Outstanding New Play. BFA: NYU Drama - Experimental Theatre Wing, MFA: UCSD Playwriting.

Alex Lin

Play in Development: barren 

Performs June 13 & June 15 

Alex Lin is just a girl from Jersey. Plays developed at Second Stage, Roundabout, NYTW, MTC, the O'Neill, South Coast Rep, Playwrights Realm, Central Square Theatre, and Theater Mu. Guest lectures at CMU, Rutgers, and Union College. As an actor: Actors Theatre of Louisville (The Wolves), New Victory (In the Land of Mauve & Gold), HVSF (Julius Caesar), Ma-Yi (The House of Billy Paul), Jewish Plays Project (Zionista Rising), and Commonwealth Shakespeare (Henry VI Part III, Richard III). Juilliard. 

SPARKFEST ‘24 ACTING COMPETITION FINALISTS 

Janessa Floyd | Los Angeles, California 

Tani Hala | Los Angeles, California 

Brooke Ishibashi | New York/Los Angeles 

Lydia Jialu Li | Los Angeles/New York/Austin 

Ishika Muchhal | Monrovia, California 

James Aaron Oh | Concord, California 

Napoleon Tavale | Los Angeles, California 

Deychen Volino-Gyetsa | New York City, New York 

Jordan Chantha Weir | Denton, Texas 

Marielle Young | Queens, New York 

Other SparkFest Events Include 

Thi Nguyen: Mural Kickoff: June 6 

Light Up the Runway: June 6 

Philippa Hughes Lecture: June 7 

Arkai Music: June 7

This Is My Story: June 8 

Stand-Up Comedy Shafi Hossain: June 8 

Beginner's Dance Workshop: June 17 

Umami Playground: June 18 

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