Asian American Theater Company

The Asian American Theater Company (AATC) is one of only three Asian American theaters in the United States. Founded in 1973 by the Chinese American writer and playwright, Frank Chin and others, it is a professionally oriented theater dedicated to producing plays that are by and about Asian Americans. It is the oldest, full-season production, ethnic theater in northern California.

Over the years, the AATC has served as a home for numerous playwrights, directors, actors and designers who went on to careers of national prominence. They include playwrights Frank Chin, Philip Kan Gotanda, David Henry Hwant, Momoko Iko, R.A. Shiomi and Wakako Yamauchi; actors Margaret Cho, Dennis Dun and Amy Hill; designer Lydia Tanji; and dramaturg and director Judi Nihei.

Today the AATC has offices in the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California in San Francisco's Japantown. The goal of the AATC continues to be to "develop theater which nourishes the community, encourages dialogue and understanding, and inspires new generations of Asian Pacific Islander Americans to tell their stories.

Organizational history

The Asian American Theater Company (AATC) is one of the only three Asian American theaters in the United States. Founded in 1973 by the Chinese American writer and playwright Frank Chin and others, it is a professionally-oriented theater dedicated to producing plays that are by and about Asian Americans, and is the oldest, full-season production, ethnic theater in northern California. Its high-quality productions promote inter-ethnic understanding and provide positive role models for the Asian American community as well as the community-at- large.

The AATC began life as a playwright workshop initiated by Frank Chin and sponsored by the American Conservatory Theatre. In 1975, the workshop became a professional theater company dedicated to the production of plays by Asian Pacific Islander American dramatists and the development and support of Asian Pacific Islander American actors, designers and technicians. During the late seventies and early eighties, AATC was the focal point of an explosion of Asian Pacific Islander American talent in the San Francisco Bay Area. Over the years, the AATC has served as a home for numerous playwrights, directors, actors and designers who went on to careers of national prominence, including: playwrights Frank Chin, Philip Kan Gotanda, David Henry Hwang, Momoko Iko, R.A. Shiomi and Wakako Yamauchi; actors Margaret Cho, Dennis Dun and Amy Hill; designer Lydia Tanji; and dramaturg and director Judi Nihei.

The AATC seeks to challenge its audiences artistically and politically, producing work that is visionary, breaks traditions, crosses boundaries, and leads the audience to question their aesthetic as well as their cultural assumptions. Through its productions, a training program and young artists' workshops, the AATC continues to serve as a focal point for the talents of established and emerging Asian Pacific Islander American playwrights, actors, directors, designers and technicians.

Today the AATC has offices in the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California in San Francisco's Japantown. The goal of the AATC continues to be "to develop theater which nourishes the community, encourages dialogue and understanding, and inspires new generations of Asian Pacific Islander Americans to tell their stories." (Adapted from the AATC website at: http://www.wenet.net/~aatc/)