The National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO) and the Public Theater join forces in presenting Out of Time, a collection of brand-new monologues by five award-winning Asian American playwrights, performed by an ensemble of actors all over the age of 60.
The new piece was conceived after Director Les Waters attended a dance performance of Mitten wir im Leben sind/Bach6Cellosuiten, choreographed by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker and featuring an ensemble of aging dancers. Moved by the piece, Waters shared his experience with Actor-Manager and Co-Founder of NAATCO Mia Katigbak, and from this conversation, the idea for Out of Time was born.
In speaking with Katigbak, Waters said, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to make a piece for older actors saying wonderful words and one wonderful actor following one wonderful actor saying more wonderful things? Actors have all this experience and are up against the limitations of memory. How cruel it is. And how magnificent it is. And how underused older actors are.”
NAATCO set to work commissioning five playwrights, each tasked to write a monologue during the pandemic. Writers Jaclyn Backhaus, Sam Chanse, Mia Chung, Naomi Iizuka, and Anna Ouyang Moench came together to create a theatrical tapestry exploring age, memory, parenthood, and identity. The result is a piece that amplifies Asian American voices — particularly those over the age of 60 — which was pertinent for the artists in light of the pandemic’s impact on this community.
The seasoned cast of Asian American actors includes Actor-Manager and Co-Founder of NAATCO Mia Katigbak as Ena, Glenn Kubota as Taki, Page Leong as Woman, Natsuko Ohama as Leonie, and Rita Wolf as Carla.
Learn more, look at cast portraits, and access tickets at publictheater.org.
