DIRECTOR NOTES:
Census and Censibility is really a community project in every sense. The idea of doing stories around the Census sprang from KL (Kent) Brisby who during the COVID lockdown joined the many enumerators enlisted to help count the people in our country, a noble and patriotic undertaking. As this count informs our communities of how we are growing, what our needs are, it also determines how we are represented and how funds for schools and services will be distributed.
This is also the time when the United AAPI Artists, a group of locally based Asian creatives first met each other online on Zoom! Some will remember the horror and shock as Asian Americans were being targeted for hate crimes around the nation, spurred on by a politically motivated agenda to scapegoat a group of people for the virus, which had shut the nation down. The Old Globe Theatre following their Social Justice Roadmap decided they might help initiate some action by funding two local artists, Thelma Virata de Castro and Tara Ricasa to round up other AAPI artists and start a coalition. So that’s how many of us working on this project first met each other–online on Zoom.
Since then, we’ve been looking for a project that might bring the United AAPI Artists together to collaborate on a project. We were so happy when the Conrad Prebys Foundation called Kent to let us know that they would fund an Asian Story Theater initiative to collaborate with Teatro Máscara Mágica and San Diego Black Ensemble on bringing stories about the census and our communities to the stage.
Census and Censibility is the first part of the project underway, a showcase of the AAPI talent we have in this community. It has been wonderful getting to know these writers and artists who have been meeting weekly to share ideas and stories. We’ve all learned more about the importance of the census, how it affects our communities, and more importantly how much we need each other.
We also are so grateful to the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture’s IMPACT, our Library system –the Malcolm X Library, the Southeastern Live Well Center (both built through census information), and Diversionary Theater who after the pandemic opened their stage offering United AAPI Artists and the FilAm Film Collective a regular “Playspace” in their theater to promote community collaboration and creativity.
It’s a beautiful thing to be supported. -Gingerlily Lowe, Project Director
Asian Story Theater
Presents
Census and Censibility
A Showcase of New Plays
Written by
Alicia DeLeon-Torres, Sasha Foo, Hortense Gerardo, Lillian Lin, Gingerlily Lowe, Roy Sekigahama, Michaela Subido Ceja, Melanie Taing
Directed by: Gingerlily Lowe
Stage Manager: Suanne Pauley
Choreographer for Census Softshoe: Teresa Adams
Project Assistant: Kalí Kamaria
Promotion: Dennis-Michael Broussard
US Census Consultant: JoAnn Fields
For Asian Story Theater:
Artistic Director and Project Coordinator: KL Brisby
Census and Censibility Project Director: Gingerlily Lowe
Featuring Actors:
Kayli DelaVega, Dey Fernandez, Sasha Foo, Ayana Galace, Kenny Ha, Gingerlily Lowe, James Shelledy,
Kyros Shen, William Henry Schneider
This ASIAN STORY THEATER project is the first of a larger project working in collaboration with Teatro Máscara Mágica, and Umoja Theater. This is made possible through a generous grant from the Conrad Prebys Foundation and an IMPACT grant from San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, and with the support and collaboration from United AAPI Artists.
The Plays:
Buddy and Beau Check the Boxes
Written and Co-Directed by Sasha Foo
While the question “What are you?” is often lobbed at people of color, Buddy and Beauregard explore their origins through a very different lens.
Cast:
Beauregard - William Henry Schneider
Buddy - Kenny Ha
When It Counts
Written By Michaela Ceja
Gabs is on a mission to let her community know that the census is coming - but finds herself in competition with other vendors for the attention of folks passing by.
Cast:
Jordan - Gingerlily Lowe
Mike - Kyros Shen
Gabs - Dey Fernandez
Filipino Man - James Shelledy
Daughter - Kayli Dela Vega
Filipina Mom - Ayana Galace
The Candidate and the Census
Written By Roy Sekigahama
A presidential candidate is ramping up his anti-immigrant rhetoric when he is challenged by a Chinese-American student.
Cast:
Roger Simon - James Shelledy
Leslie Holden - Gingerlily Lowe
Thomas Chang - Kenny Ha
Glazed, But Make it Asian
Written by Melanie Taing & Lillian Lin
A donut kid and her best friend clash with their survivalist mother.
Cast:
Jennifer - Dey Fernandez
Kimmy - Kayli Dela Vega
Mom - Gingerlily Lowe
A Piece of the Pie
Written By Hortense Gerardo
A Filipino World War II veteran talks with his granddaughter about his ambivalence over collecting benefits from the Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Cast:
Pacifica - Ayana Galace
Lolo - James Shelledy
The Last Day of School
Written by Sasha Foo
Amid some uncomfortable truths about the future of America, a second grade teacher readies her students for the adventure of a lifetime.
Cast:
Mrs. Chan - Sasha Foo
The Interpreter
Written by Gingerlily Lowe
Betty in her 60s, looks back at her first census experience, and reflects on the significance of being counted now.
Cast:
Betty the Kid - Kayli Dela Vega
Adult Betty - Dey Fernandez
Mom - Gingerlily Lowe
Hoover Man - James Shelledy
Encyclopedia Man - William Henry Schneider
Mr. White - Kyros Shen
Blended
Written By Alicia DeLeon-Torres
A remarried couple with 11 children faces challenges when the deceased grandmother insists on providing input on their census count.
Cast:
Rosalie - Dey Fernandez
Karlo - William Henry Schneider
Lola Ligaya - Kayli Dela Vega
Haunani - Gingerlily Lowe
K - Kyros Shen
Hideo- Kenny
Noelani, Maria Rosaria, Mina, Melisenda - Ayana Galace
Noeli, Bob, Milagro, Michael, Matthew- James Shelledy
The Census Softshoe
Written by Gingerlily Lowe, Choreography by Teresa Adams
Counters and the counted sing and softshoe over time.
Cast:
Narrator: Sasha Foo
Enumerator 1910 - Kyros Shen
The Chinese Bachelors - Kenny Ha, James Shelledy
Enumerator 1970 - Kayli Dela Vega
The New Feminists - Dey Fernandez
Enumerator 2020 - William Henry Schneider
COVID Survivor - Ayana Galace
Musician: Kent Brisby, Gingerlily Lowe
The Writers
Alicia DeLeon-Torres
Alicia DeLeon-Torreshas spent her career working with Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities on social justice issues. She serves on the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Community Advisory Board, and San Diego Filipino Cinema Board of Directors. She is the Deputy Director of the Alexander and Eva Nemeth Foundation.
Sasha Foo
Sasha Foo is an actor, playwright, voice actor, podcast host and veteran broadcast journalist. In writing for the theater, Sasha created "Choice Words," a collection of original monologues about reproductive rights that was performed at the 2023 San Diego International Fringe Festival. As a journalist, Sasha has won numerous Emmys for her television news reporting and writing.
Hortense Gerardo
Hortense Gerardo is a playwright and Director of the Anthropology, Performance, and Technology (APT) Program at the University of California, San Diego. Her works have been performed at the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, Nuit Blanche Toronto, New Americans Museum, Umbrella Stage, Without Walls Festival by La Jolla Playhouse.
Lillian Lin
Lillian Lin (she/they) is a Taiwanese-American creator now living in San Diego. They are an experience designer and artist in movement and multi-sensory media. She also leads AAPI community affinity spaces through United AAPI Artists’ Playspace and is an advocate for Asian American mental health.
Gingerlily Lowe
Gingerlily Lowe– (Actor, Director, Writer, Songwriter, Teaching Artist) Founding member: Asian Story Theater; San Diego’s first Asian American Theater -Pacific Asian Actors’ Ensemble at Marquis Theater, the Magic Machine at Theater in Old Town. Her short plays and songs have been featured in AST shows. Gingerlily’s play, “BOUND” was featured in the Old Globe’s Powers New Voices Festival 2023.
Roy Sekigahama
Roy Sekigahama is the author of Desert Rock Garden and The Ghosts from the Pali and various short plays. Roy was a 2024 Dramatists Guild Foundation National Fellowship Finalist. He is a member of the Dramatist Guild and sits on the Board of Directors of Playwrights Project and Roustabouts Theatre.
Michaela Subido Ceja
Ceja wrote Recipe for Revolution, Hyphenated, and Almost Home (UC Santa Barbara). Her play Mind the Generation Gap was produced in MaArte Theatre Collective’s Myths Unspoken: Summer Annual New Play Festival 2019. Recently, To Tessa, From Dad was featured in the Old Globe’s Powers New Voices Festival 2023.
Melanie Taing
Melanie Taing (she/her) is the daughter of Cambodian genocide survivors, the event from which most of her stories are inspired. She is a writer, singer, and craft business owner. Her dream is to open a cafe/community center in City Heights that would combine her passion for wellness, plants, art, and tea!
The Actors
KAYLI DELA VEGA
is a Filipina American actor from San Diego and a recent graduate from UC Irvine with a degree in Theatre. Whether on film or on stage, she loves telling stories. Her recent credits include Motions & Emotions: Asian Women Speak Out, Unauthorized Aid (Playwrights Project), & Much Ado (UCI).
DEY FERNANDEZ
is a Filipino artist with an MA in Theatre Arts from SDSU. She has several theatre, television, and film credits in the Philippines (2003-2022). Dey has performed in SDSU’s Bloodletting, Blindspot Collective’s Kagitingan and iykyk, Bocón Art’s Hip Hop It Don’t Stop, and Maraya Performing Arts’ Bayanihan 4.0
SASHA FOO
is an actor, playwright, voice actor, podcast host and veteran broadcast journalist. She was most recently seen in “The Odd Couple” at Lamplighters, “The Stark Truth of Humanity” at Trinity Theater and “Everyday Vanilla” at Moxie. When few Asians were visible in news media, Sasha was the first Asian American anchor at CNN. Website: sashafoo.com
AYANA GALACE
is a Filipina American writer and performer whose work centers on advancing diverse, accurate, and equitable representation for BIPOC and historically underserved communities. She’s completed creative fellowships with The National Women’s Theatre Festival and The Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing. She looks forward to being counted in 2030!
KENNY HA
is a Vietnamese-Chinese actor from San Diego. He’s been out of the acting game since COVID happened and this is his first gig coming back after a long break.
GINGERLILY LOWE
is an actor-writer-director. Most recently seen as the Green Snake at local Lunar New Year Faires, “Asian Scary Theater”, “Playwrights Project Festival" , “The Coffee Plays”, “Not Working”, “The Golden Rule”. She has devoted decades to bringing multi-ethnic theater celebrating Asian American art and culture, new faces, voices and stories to our communities.
JAMES SHELLEDY
is excited to work again with Asian Story Theater. He had worked with them on Halo Halo and Foo Dog Fu. James has studied the Meisner, Chekhov and Adler techniques and has several credits in theater and film. He is also a playwright and screenwriter.
KYROS SHEN
is a trilingual actor/singer classically trained at UCSD. His notable credits include Matteo Arisu in Private Detective Arisu, the Lover in 8-TRACK: The Sounds of the '70s, Ram Sweeney in Heathers: The Musical and Doug in Gruesome Playground Injuries.Kyros has lent his voice to various video games and commercials including Japan.
WILLIAM HENRY SCHNEIDER
played Guido Contini in Coronado Playhouse’s Nine, Robert Martin-The Drowsy Chaperone, Danny Zuko-Grease, Antonio-The Gondoliers, Dick-Dames At Sea, Constantine- A Day in Hollywood…A Night in the Ukraine, and Anselmo-Man of La Mancha, with performances at Lyric Opera San Diego, San Diego Opera, Starlight Musical Theatre, and OnStage Playhouse.
ASIAN STORY THEATER began in 1989, dramatizing Chinese folk tales as a project sponsored by the San Diego Chinese Center. The first production was THE WHITE SNAKE (1989-90), presented at the Lyceum Space Theatre and subsequently toured to county schools, libraries, and recreation centers. In 1991 the company staged its first adaptation based on the 16th century fantasy novel in JOURNEY TO THE WEST–featuring the Monkey King, with multiple sequels and other favorite tales such as MU LAN (before Disney). In 1995 the company incorporated as the ASIAN STORY THEATER, independent of the San Diego Chinese Center, to diversify programming and expand touring operations to San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Each year since, we have produced at least one production in pursuit of our mission to celebrate our Asian heritage, and promote multicultural awareness and understanding by dramatizing Asian and Pacific Island (API) stories, arts and themes for family audiences. Recent years have led to increasingly diverse programs, including a full-length musical about the artist Paul Gauguin (PRICK: The Musical Paul Gauguin), as well as partnering to produce a pilot television episode, based on our 2006 project SHAVE ICE (December 2013). We are also committed to continuing a series of annual touring productions related to the Lunar New Year Celebrations, this year presenting THE GREAT GREEN SNAKE based on Chinese folklore and a little bit of Wizard of Oz.
We continue to explore new production partners and collaborators, such as for STORIES OF THE SUN CAFE (2015), HALO-HALO (2017), and WHAT ARE YOU? (2019). In 2021-22 we presented NOT WORKING, an original musical featuring songs from our BIPOC creative community about our shared experiences during COVID. THE COFFEE PLAYS (2023) celebrated coffee culture around the world, followed by ASIAN SCARY THEATER (2023/2024) an interactive radio theater project with “chicken-skin” storytelling featuring tales from China, Japan, Hawaii, and the Philippines, and WHERE WE LAY OUR SORROWS DOWN (2024) a Cultivating Joy project.
We hope you will go online to AsianStoryTheater.org to join our mailing list and follow #AsianStoryTheater on Facebook. Come see THE LAST CENSUS, the culmination of our project collaboration with TEATRO MÁSCARA MAGICA and UMOJA THEATER in June 2025.
Asian Story Theater Board of Directors
Edward You, Connie Viado, Suanne Pauley, Gil Ontai, Dwight Love, Alexander Khalil, Andy Lowe, Gingerlily Lowe, KL Brisby
