Theatre Diaspora to Present a Staged Reading of Min Kahng's INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN

Theatre Diaspora, Oregon's only professional Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) theatre company, will present a free staged reading of Inside Out and Back Again by Min Kahng at Portland Center Stage, May 15 at 6:30 p.m., followed by a panel discussion produced by MediaRites. Based on an award-winning book of poetry by Thanhha Lai, playwright Min Kahng interprets the touching story of ten-year-old Hà and her family fleeing from Vietnam to create a new life in Alabama. The staged reading features prominent local actors including Kaitlyn O'Neill, Hao Nguyen, Jenny Tien, Tyharra Cozier, and Orion Bradshaw, directed by Samson Syharath and Thien-Kim Bui. To reserve tickets for this free event at the Ellen Bye Theatre, Portland Center Stage (128 N.W. 11th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209), go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/inside-out-and-back-again-staged-reading-and-panel-discussion-tickets-617915119757

Immediately following the staged reading, Dmae Lo Roberts, Executive Producer of MediaRites and co-founder of Theatre Diaspora, will lead a panel discussion with the following guests of Vietnamese descent, to share their insights of the performance and their personal reflections.

Minh Tran is the founding artistic director of Mihn Tran & Company, a contemporary dance company based in Portland, Oregon. He is Vietnamese-American, a former refugee who created a distinguished career as a choreographer and dance educator known for the synthesis of both Eastern and Western aesthetics. He received his BA Degree from Portland State University and Master's in Fine Arts at the University of Washington. He is a retired Associate Professor in Dance at Reed College and is the choreographer for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.

Côi Vu, Executive Director of the Coalition of Community Health Clinics, is a first-generation refugee from Vietnam, born in a refugee camp in Malaysia, and has called Oregon home for over four decades. She has dedicated over twenty years in social services and advocacy for underrepresented communities. Côi came to CCHC from the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) as their Director of the Pacific Islander and Asian Family Center. She is the Governor appointed State of Oregon Youth Development Council person, Attorney General appointed Biased and Hate Crime Steering Committee member, Mayor appointed City of Portland Human Rights Commissioner, State of Oregon Racial Justice Health Equity advisor and Board Member and Treasurer for the Coalition of Communities of Color C4 Building Power for Communities of Color. Her identity and background continue to be the catalyst for her passionate work with communities of color, the immigrant and refugee communities, and underrepresented and low-income communities.

Thien-Kim Bui is a Vietnamese-American performer and geographer. Born in Los Angeles, CA and raised in San Antonio, TX, their work investigates the entanglements of legitimacy, and the deep, emotional attachments people form with their homes, their homelands, and each other. As a performance artist, they've had the great privilege and joy of working with Imago Theater, Chisao Hata, Salt and Sage Productions, and Theatre Vertigo. Away from the stage, they use collaborative and experimental mapping methods in their PhD research on water governance at Portland State University.

Dmae Lo Roberts (panel moderator) is a two-time Peabody award-winning writer and independent media and theatre artist who has written and produced numerous documentaries for NPR and PRl, including Crossing East, the first AAPI history series on public radio. As Executive Producer of MediaRites, she managed Theatre Diaspora as a project for five years and created a two-year book project focusing on writings of youth about mental health during the pandemic called Speaking Our Truths: The -Ism Youth Files. She has returned to Oregon Children's Theatre (OCT) as a director for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Min Kahng, an all-AAPI local cast of a musical, the first in Portland. She previously directed The Journal of Ben Uchida in March 2020 at OCT.

"In collaboration with MediaRites, producer of this panel discussion, Theatre Diaspora continues its mission of bridging communities on AAPI narratives through our staged reading series," stated Samson Syharath, Theatre Diaspora Managing Artistic Director. "Our partnership with Dmae's organization allows us to share Lai's own personal experiences as a Vietnamese refugee with the audience, along with our guest panelists who had to endure similar challenges. We encourage families to attend this important event to experience the Fall of Saigon through the eyes of a ten-year old refugee."

About Theatre Diaspora

Theatre Diaspora is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and Oregon's only professional Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) theatre company, committed to portraying authentic AAPI cultural, historical, and social perspectives to reach broad audiences. By strongly advocating through compelling performances and post-show discussions, Theatre Diaspora bridges communities to foster inclusion, social-awareness, and open conversations on race and cultural diversity - celebrating the AAPI experience. To learn more, visit the website: www.theatrediaspora.org.

About MediaRites

MediaRites provides innovative, award-winning documentary, theatre, and outreach programs. Previous projects include the Peabody-winning Crossing East, the eight hour-documentary radio series; Mei Mei, the film version of the Peabody-winning radio documentary, The Breast Cancer Monologues, a radio and theater outreach project, Ellen McLaughlin's Tongue of a Bird and the original stage play, The Time Between (part of The Grief Project); Coming Home: The Return of the Alutiiq Masks and In The Mix: Conversations with Artists Between Races. Our artistic documentaries have garnered two Peabody awards, several Asian American Journalists Awards, the Clarion, the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism award, and the Casey Medal. For more information, visit the MediaRites website: www.mediarites.org.

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