Asian Story Theater
COFFEENEWS
COFFEENEWS is a new series of once-a-month programs. Presented at 7pm on the first Monday of every month at the Golden Corpse Theater, at 49th and Logan streets in San Diego. All seats are $10. This program will premiere on October 5. 2026. Beginning in January 2027, a $100 subscription will provide admission to all 2027 performances.
Every performance of COFFEENEWS will include 3 parts.
1. Part 1 will be a "Coffee Play", a short play featuring a story about history, legends, origin, or something more abstractly connected to a particular coffee. Every audience member will receive a small coffee cup of that particular coffee to savor during the show.
2. Part 2 is a 10-20 minute reading of a NEW PLAY. This may be a complete play, or an excerpt of a longer work. Playwright in attendance. Audience feedback is encouraged through an online/written interface.
3. The finale is another 10-20 minute reading, this time of a NEW MUSICAL. Writers and composers in attendance. Again, may be a complete work, though more likely an excerpt. This reading will feature live music from the show.
NEXT SHOW DETAILS
OCTOBER 5
COFFEE PLAY: JAMOKE, featuring Woody Guthrie
PLAYREADING: HOLY LAMB OF TORRIJOS by Herbert Siguenza
MUSICAL: SONG OF THE FAR-BEYOND by Agustin Castañeda
Woody Guthrie (with Byron LaDue and Super Barista TBA)
Herbert Sigüenza
Agustin Castaneda
JAMOKE features Byron LaDue as Woody Guthrie. Byron is an award winning actor and playwright, as well as a singer, musician. and songwriter. He has written corporate murder mysterys, singing telegrams, daytime soap operas, and many satirical songs for The Piparoos, a comedy group specializing in tasteless humor.
Herbert Siguenza is an American actor, writer, visual artist, and performer based in California. He is best known for co-founding the theater performance group Culture Clash, which was founded in 1984 and is still active. He is currently developing a new play about Diego Rivera, as well as various solo and group projects.
Agustín Castaneda, a graduate of Universidad Iberoamericana del Noroeste, studied acting and theatre arts at ANDA Tiiuana, the University of Baja California, and Southwestern College in San Diego. Active in the entertainment industry since 1991, he has worked as a director, composer, actor, and producer across film, television, theatre, and music in both the U.S. and Mexico. As a director, Castaneda has helmed numerous stage productions, commercial campaigns, and films. A PSA he directed for the Council of Community Clinics in San Diego earned an EMMY Award, while his feature film The Little Matchmakers won Best Feature Film at the 2011 San Diego Independent Film Festival. Ruta Madre received multiple honors including Best Feature at the New York International Film Festival (2016), People's Choice Award at the Borrego Springs Film Festival (2017),and the Corazon Award and Best Narrative Feature Audience Award at the San Diego Latino Festival.
NEXT SHOW
LIBRARY HIGHLIGHTS IN NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER ~23
Video: BIG MONEY - Part 1
Music: Sweet Pikake
OCTOBER ~15
Video: COUNTED.
Music: La Yurei Yokai
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
Program
Readers
Patricia Elmore Costa?
Rhys Green?
Gingerlily Lowe
Kent Brisby?
Directors
Rhys Green
Gingerlily Lowe
Bill Virchis
Kent Brisby
Rio Dael
Angellyne DePerio is an improv comedienne, sketch writer, and filmmaker. She originates from the Philippines but have called San Diego home for most of her life. She performs on stage regularly and teaches at Finest City Improv.
Kalí Kamaria is a visual artist with a broad background in theater and dance. Stage performances began with Teatro Máscara Mágica, and favorite roles include FA MU LAN and KAHUA with Asian Story Theater, performing in San Diego and San Francisco. She has trained 6 years in Balinese dance and 12 years with Heali’i’s Polynesian Revue.
Amy Pfleeger is a Filipina-American actor, singer, and dancer. She has been acting since the age of 17, and has been in numerous theatre productions.
Frankie Taitingfong is a mystery, a cipher, and a chameleon. Whether standing in as The Wolverine at Comic-Con or a Sinatra-obsessed karaoke star in the Covid-ravaged VOICE LESSON, details of this man's personal life and backstory are generally a mystery.
Gingerlily Lowe is an actor, director, writer, songwriter, teaching artist, and founding member of Asian Story Theater. She previously founded San Diego’s first Asian American Theater company, Pacific Asian Actors’ Ensemble, as well as the Magic Machine Children’s Theater. She is proud of the decades of multi-ethnic theater she has been a part of, celebrating Asian American art and culture, and bringing new faces, voices, and stories to the community. The Education Director for Asian Story Theater, she has also been a teaching artist with Young Audiences/Arts for Learning, and Institute for Arts Education, and is currently a teaching artist for Guitars in the Classroom.
KL (Kent) BRISBY, Byers/O'Keefe; Co-Writer, Co-Director
Kent has a broad background with diverse narrative and performing arts traditions from around the world, often featuring music. He recently directed and produced THE LAST CENSUS for Asian Story Theater, and upcoming projects include REVOLUCIÓN and BECOMING AMERICAN. Past projects include RED, WHITE & BLACKLISTED and THE MUSICAL PAUL GAUGUIN, as well as leading development on STORIES OF THE SUN CAFE, HALO HALO, and the anthology series THE COFFEE PLAYS. Originally from Nebraska, Kent grew up on various Micronesian Islands, with some time in Hawaii, before returning to the states, settling in San Diego first as a performer and director with the San Diego Street Theater.
Lynnzey T. Pedro lives and works on Yap, a small island in Micronesia sometimes called the Island of Stone Money, with her husband and two young daughters. Her passion for writing led to inclusion in the “Indigenous Literatures from Micronesia” anthology from University of Hawai’i Press, and fuels her career as a teacher of elementary and high school students as a way to give back to her community. Ms. Pedro has her BA from College of Micronesia and plans to pursue her Masters degree from the University of Hawaii.
Rhys Green is co-founder and Artistic Director of the San Diego Black Ensemble Theatre. He has been a teaching artist with the La Jolla Playhouse, and toured for Disney, National Theatre for Children, Traveling Lantern, and more. Local appearances include BALLAD OF EMMETT TILL at Ion Theatre and FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WAR with Intrepid. Mr. Greene is an Associate Artist with the Asian Story Theater and is on the board of Chronos Theatre and Teatro Máscara Mágica. He is the proud owner of Mr. Green’s Coffee Beans, a small coffee roasting business bringing custom roasted coffee beans from around the world (mrgreenscoffeebeans.com).
