{"id":134,"date":"2016-04-03T11:06:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-03T11:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/9\/?p=134"},"modified":"2023-03-01T17:09:59","modified_gmt":"2023-03-01T17:09:59","slug":"the-hub-for-the-next-generation-of-morbidly-gifted-asian-american-talent-interview-with-victor-maog-u-s-director","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.critical-stages.org\/9\/the-hub-for-the-next-generation-of-morbidly-gifted-asian-american-talent-interview-with-victor-maog-u-s-director\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Hub for the Next Generation of Morbidly-Gifted Asian American Talent\u201d \u2014 Interview with Victor Maog, U.S. Director"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Randy Gener<\/strong>[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Victor
Victor Maog, Director \u00a9 Courtesy of Victor Maog<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New York director Victor Maog recently took over as Artistic Director of Second Generation (2g), the 17-year-old company that supports emerging Asian-American voices. In addition to freelancing on plays and musicals, Maog founded a seasonal outfit called Waterwell Summer Theater Lab and has been the Director of Perry- Mansfield\u2019s Theatre Department since 2008.<\/p>\n

During his first season at 2g\u2019s helm, Maog produced three showcase projects: \u201cInstant Vaudeville: Breaking Bamboo,\u201d a short-play festival at HERE Arts Center in New York City; \u201cCommunity Voices: The Next GenderAsian,\u201d a concert-style reading of six 10-minute plays about what it\u2019s like to be queer and Asian-American today; and \u201c2G: Sixteen Going on Seventeen,\u201d an anniversary showcase at Joe\u2019s Pub inside the Joseph Papp Public Theater building.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstant Vaudeville: Breaking Bamboo\u201d was a series of eight original works by new and emerging Asian-American artists. A staple of 2g\u2019s annual programming, it challenges teams to create live theatre in a fast, furious and collaborative manner over the course of one week. Each team creates six- to eight- minute pieces of theatre. Playwrights were asked to create around the idea of the bamboo ceiling: the processes and systems that prevent Asian-Americans from rising in the corporate world.<\/p>\n

\"Pun
Pun Bandhu, Kk Moggie, Yee Kev and Matthew G. Park in “Honey Baby Bamboo Child,” written by Kristine Haruna Lee, directed by Victor Maog, part of Second Generation Productions’ “Instant Vaudeville: Breaking Bamboo,” 2012. \u00a9 Lia Chang<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cCommunity Voices\u201d brought together new and unheard writers from the Asian-American community who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, two spirit, queer, trans and gender non-conforming. Led by Deen, a first-generation South Asian- American playwright and performer, this writing workshop supported queer, Asian writers interested in exploring their relationship to \u201cgender.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hosted by the ukulele-wielding Jen Kwok, \u201c2G: Sixteen Going on Seventeen\u201d brought together a number of commissioned works. Maog wrote in the evening\u2019s program that he has asked 2g\u2019s artists to begin to question their place in society and the very definition of being an Asian in America. \u201cThis night is about Asian representation,\u201d Maog wrote. \u201cMore, it\u2019s about how we can be leaders in artistic innovation and diversity and inclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJust fair warning everybody,\u201d Maog told the audience at Joe\u2018s Pub. \u201cThere\u2019s going to be a lot of Asians on the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jen
Jen Kwok at “2G: Sixteen Going on Seventeen” at Joe’s Pub \u00a9 Courtesy of 2g<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The evening showcased sneak peeks of five of the company\u2019s upcoming plays and musicals-in-progress, including A Smooth Transition<\/i>, by Mrinalini Kamath; Not Far From China<\/i>, by Anna Moench; Galois the Musical<\/i>, by Sung Rno and Aaron Jones; Daddy Taught Me How to Woo<\/i>, by Lolan Buhain Sevilla; and songs by Adam Gwon, who is working on his first Asian-American musical.<\/p>\n

Maog continued: \u201cEach of these writers tonight is answering a personal dare. Each of them said, \u2018Yes,\u2019 to their commission on the spot, and then they ran out and bought a very small yacht with their money.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Emmy
Emmy Award-winning journalist Cindy Hsu, 2013 Wai Look Awardee Gladys Chen and Victor Maog at the Asian American Arts Alliance fundraiser<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A member of the Lincoln Center Director\u2019s Lab, Partial Comfort Productions, Gotham Stage Company, and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Maog has been a mentor director for the Kennedy Center\u2019s American College Theatre Festival and served as a U.S. Delegate to the 31st International Theatre Institute\/UNESCO World Congress in Manila.<\/p>\n

RANDY GENER: What productions have you definitely scheduled for the 2013-2014 season?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

VICTOR MAOG: <\/b>A lot of it depends on funding. We\u2019ve given away our programs for the last five years. It\u2019s been a radical access to the Asian-American story, but we\u2019re determined to take our commissioned pieces to the next level of workshop and production. The public can look forward to tracking these pieces and artists throughout the 2013-2014 season. This will come in the form of evolving public iterations of the work and insight about the creative process and the artist\u2019s back story. Our supporters are asking us to go big or go home. Therefore, our audiences and artists are part of this creative evolution from 2g\u2019s beloved short plays that build community to full-lengths that require the time, space and resources to be part of the national conversation about art, inclusion, and Asian-American-ness. We accept that challenge.<\/p>\n

\"Victor
Victor Maog with Broadway Barkada at “2G: Sixteen Going on Seventeen” at Joe’s Pub \u00a9 Courtesy of 2g<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2g is the hub for the next generation of form-bending, ceiling-breaking, morbidly-gifted Asian-American talent. I\u2019m honored to be asked to take on leadership at a time when there is a national dialogue about Asian representation. There is no reason Asian artists should account for only 2 percent of roles on major New York stages. Simply put, 2g\u2019s family of actors, writers, directors, and designers are \u2013 bar none \u2013 some of the best creators, thinkers, and rule-breakers I know.<\/p>\n

Two of the main thrusts you focused on were \u201cInstant Vaudeville\u201d and \u201cCommunity Voices.\u201d What were the other main thrusts you focused on for your first season as A.D.?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Embedded in those two programs are some of our philosophical underpinnings. With \u201cInstant Vaudeville,\u201d we asked our artists to work on the theme of \u201cbamboo ceilings.\u201d Through the short play form, and in front of a diverse 18- to 35- year-old, hot-to-trot crowd, we were able to spark a conversation \u2013 with pandas, musicals, dance theatre \u2014 about struggles for Asian Americans in the corporate workplace. Many met our artistic community, but also some of our struggles. Seeing a bunch of Asians and their diverse friends invading the Irish Pub down the street after the show alone is grant-worthy. I live for those intersections.<\/p>\n

\"Bobby
Bobby Foley, Allison Buck, Jed Orlemann, Elena Chang and James Saito in “Not Far From China,” written by Anna Moench, part of “2G: Sixteen Going on Seventeen” at Joe’s Pub \u00a9 Courtesy of 2g<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We want to be accepted by mainstream theatres. In fact, we partnered with McCarter Theatre of New Jersey\u2019s literary department to dramaturg all our plays in \u201cInstant Vaudeville.\u201d We began to ask ourselves who in our own community were we marginalizing. 2g created \u201cCommunity Voices\u201d to create a groundbreaking space for unheard voices. With three local grass-roots organizations \u2014 GAPIMNY (Gay Asian Pacific Islander Men of New York), Q-Wave (organization for people of Asian Pacific-Islander descent), and SALGA (South Asian Lesbian and Gay Association of New York City), we invited six first-time playwrights of the Queer API community to write 10-minute plays based on their relationship to gender. These pieces were presented at La MaMa E.T.C., shepherded by a professional cast. They self-published, and you saw one of Lolan Buhain Sevilla\u2019s plays [entitled \u201cDaddy Taught Me How to Woo\u201d] at Joe\u2019s Pub. It\u2019s quite a trajectory for a new playwright. And extraordinarily validating in this moment in American history.<\/p>\n

\"Angel
Angel Desai, Eileen Rivera, Lolan BuSe, Jojo Gonzalez and Ching Valdes-Aran in “Daddy Taught Me How to Woo” written by Lolan Buhain Sevilla at Joe’s Pub, part of “2G: Sixteen Going on Seventeen” at Joe’s Pub \u00a9 Courtesy of 2g<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The biggest shift we have been making at 2g is to recognize the fact that we have a responsibility to our artists, audiences, and the public to capitalize on our talent, intellect, artistry, and being a social hub and to allow ourselves to model the sort of changes we want to see in the world: ones of artistic innovation, diversity and inclusion, personal risk, and radical access.<\/p>\n

What are the three main thrusts you seek to improve upon for your upcoming 2g season?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

PARTNERSHIPS. We are looking for individuals, foundations, and institutions who want to invest in our next big step. That means moving to full productions, steps to a fair pay-scale, and shedding greater light on our mission, our work, and revising lopsided systems. Some large and rather unlikely partners have already stepped forward to promulgate our mission of putting Asian-American stories on the world stage.<\/p>\n

\"Victor
Victor Maog with Broadway Barkada at “2G: Sixteen Going on Seventeen” at Joe’s Pub \u00a9 Courtesy of 2g<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

FRIENDSHIPS. We want to create more points of live, real-time experience for people. We had a cool, diverse, money-spending crowd invade The Library at the Joseph Papp Public Theater. It was packed that night. And I want more opportunities to make a 2g community that comes for the art but also the hang. Over the last few years, the public has had very few contact points with our organization. I\u2019m now devising a new program that aims to avoid simply commodifying plays and musicals. This initiative, when launched, treats our creators and audiences as citizens, a community brought together \u2014 through a series of events \u2014 by the mission of 2g.<\/p>\n

\"Second
Second Generation Productions \u00a9 Courtesy of 2g<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PRODUCTION. We want to do major productions of works we commission. We haven\u2019t done that in too long a time. We don\u2019t want to be known as a development center, the middle man. I believe we have the skill, talent, and responsibility to produce and premiere the work in New York City.<\/p>\n

\n

\"Gener\"
\n<\/a>[1] Randy Gener<\/b> is a founding editor of Critical Stages\/Sc\u00e8nes critiques<\/i>, an award-winning writer, a freelance dramaturge, and an artist in New York City. He is World News Editor of The Journalist.ie<\/i>, Series Editor of NoPassport Press, and Founder of In the Culture of One World (CultureofOneWorld.org), a cross-media project devoted to cultural diplomacy and international exchange. A former Village Voice<\/i>contributor and cultural critic, Gener received the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism, among other prestigious awards, for his essays and editorial work in American Theatre<\/i> magazine. Author of the plays \u201cLove Seats for Virginia Woolf\u201d and \u201cWait for Me at the Bottom of the Pool,\u201d Gener served from 2007 to 2012 as the curatorial producer\/adviser of \u201cFrom the Edge: Performance Design in the Divided States of America,\u201d the USA National Exposition in the 2011 Prague Quadrennial of Performance Space and Design in the Czech Republic. www.randygener.org<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9<\/strong> 2014 Randy Gener
\nCritical Stages\/Sc\u00e8nes critiques<\/em> e-ISSN: 2409-7411<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This work is licensed under the
\nCreative Commons Attribution International License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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