IAMA 2021-2022 Season 

Theater-makers, storytellers, arts leaders, activists.
We are dedicating our 14th season to exploring what it means to “make theater,” now and in the future.

Dedicated to pushing boundaries, we are continuing to explore the new digital medium even as we return to the physical theater. The season kicks off with a virtual event before moving back to the boards with three in-person events (venues to be announced at a later date). Three special collaborations round out the season.

2nd Annual PASS THE MIC festival  
Livestream: Oct. 9 at 6 p.m. PDT / 9 p.m. EDT. 

An evening intended to “Pass the Mic” and amplify voices within the Asian American and Pacific Islander community with five 10-minute pieces initially inspired by #StopAsianHate but expanding to any topic the playwrights choose, all written and directed by AAPI artists. 

IAMA Company member Parvesh Cheena and D’Lo host a hybrid live/pre-recorded event that also includes live monologues, musical guests and video montages. 

Confirmed Playwrights/Artists: Adam Gwon, Kit Yan, Alaudin Ullah, Charlie Oh, Nina Ki, Nicholas Pilapil, Jeanne Sakata, Nandita Shenoy, and more.

IAMA New Works Festival  
Nov. 11 - 14, 2021 

Six new plays will be presented over the course of one weekend in this annual series. All readings will be free and open to the public. Venue TBA.

IAMA Celestial Events  
Feb. 24 - March 13, 2022 

IAMA will present an ensemble-devised work-in-progress, an exciting new play written, performed and directed entirely by members of the IAMA ensemble. 

World Premiere of UNTITLED BABY PLAY by Nina Braddock, Directed by Katie Lindsay
May 26 - June 27, 2022 

In this new, IAMA-developed comedy, six women find themselves trapped on an email chain as they plan their best friend's baby shower and simultaneously confront the existential questions that arise when contemplating whether they want to become mothers themselves.

Starring Laila Ayad*, Anna Rose Hopkins*, Courtney Sauls*, Sonal Shah*, Jenny Soo, and Sarah Utterback*

*IAMA Ensemble Member

Special Engagements: 

CTG presents the IAMA production of CANYON for the KDT Digital Stage 
Sept 24 - Oct 22, 2021

Center Theatre Group will stream a remount of IAMA’s 2019 world premiere of Canyon by Jonathan Caren*, originally produced by IAMA in association with Latino Theater Company at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. Selected by CTG for its 2020 Block Party at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, the play was instead filmed on the KDT stage for online streaming due to the pandemic. 

Exploring gender, citizenship and the cost of the American Dream, Canyon is the story of a seemingly progressive 30-something married couple and the Mexican father and son they’ve hired to renovate a deck. When an unpredictable accident occurs, the lives of both families are changed forever. The original production was directed by Whitney White; Colleen Labella directs for CTG's digital stage.

Starring Adam Shapiro*, Luca Oriel, Geoffrey Rivas*, Alexandra Wright, Stefanie Black* and Brandon Scott*.

*IAMA Ensemble Member

Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company presents in association with IAMA Theatre Company, Ryan J. Haddad’s HI, ARE YOU SINGLE, Directed by Laura Savia
March 2022

The world premiere of Haddad’s autobiographical tale will be presented to a live, in person audience at Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington, DC. 

Ryan has a higher sex drive than you. He also has cerebral palsy. You can often find him on Grindr or at your local inaccessible gay bar. Join writer/performer Ryan J. Haddad on his search to find love. Or a date. Or at least a hookup. From encounters with drag queens to platonic lap dances, Ryan will guide you through the gay dating scene with his provocative take on intimacy, rejection, and judgment. His one request? Please bring an attractive male friend with you.

Pre-Edinburgh Fringe Festival engagement of I HATE NEW YORK and HOT DOGS & TEARS
May 5-8, 2022

IAMA will present a special pre-festival engagement of two solo plays, both written and performed by IAMA ensemble members, before they head out to the 2022 Edinburgh Theatre Festival. 

Drew Droege directs I Hate New York, a “gaytastic” comic solo play written and performed by quick-witted and self-confessed rage-aholic Tom DeTrinis*; Hot dogs & Tears is a dark, Southern comedy written and performed by Melissa Stephens* and directed by Deanna Cheng. “Home is where the hurt is.”

*IAMA Ensemble Member

“Our work has just begun,” states artistic director Stefanie Black. “We believe it’s our responsibility, as theater-makers, to find a balance between storytelling that honors the moment and ensuring space for an equitable future. IAMA continues to focus on developing new voices, as well as on a new educational platform to help train future theater-makers and leaders. We hope to match our external output of content with our internal input of education, training and a firm dedication to the dismantling of White supremacy and oppressive barriers that have long been a part of the American theater.”