East West Players

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East West Players

The Nation's Premier Asian American Theater.
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Established in 1965, East West Players has been called “the nation’s pre-eminent Asian American theater troupe” (New York Times 12/16/01) for our award-winning productions blending Eastern and Western movement, costumes, language, and music. EWP has premiered over 100 plays and musicals about the Asian Pacific American experience and has held over 1,000 readings and workshops. Our emphasis is on b

uilding bridges between East and West, and one measure of our success is an audience of 56% Asians and a remarkable 44% non-Asian attendance.

08/20/2026

Introducing our WHEN YURI MET MALCOLM Benefit Premiere Host & Moderator! Swipe to learn more about Jeanne Sakata & The May Lee Show

JEANNE SAKATA (Host)

Jeanne Sakata is honored to host the benefit premiere performance of WHEN YURI MET MALCOLM, having begun her career both as an actor and playwright with East West Players. Jeanne has enjoyed guest star/recurring roles on ABC-Shondaland’s Station 19, Magnum P.I., NCIS Hawai’i, NCIS Los Angeles, Marvel/Hulu’s Hit Monkey, Disney Plus’ High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and Disney’s Big Hero 6. Onstage, she most recently performed with the 2025-26 national tour and world premiere of Moisés Kaufman & Amanda Gronich’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES at McCarter Theatre, Wallis Annenberg Center, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, and La Jolla Playhouse, as well as the 2023 revival of Anna Deavere Smith’s TWILIGHT: LOS ANGELES, 1992 at Center Theatre Group’s Mark Taper Forum. Jeanne’s acclaimed solo play, HOLD THESE TRUTHS (Drama Desk Nomination, Outstanding Solo Performance; Theatre Bay Area Awards, Outstanding Production, Direction, and Lead Performance; San Diego Critics’ Circle Award), has been performed across the country in over two dozen productions after originally premiering at East West Players. She has been commissioned by LA TheatreWorks for her audio plays FOR US ALL and THE SECRET GARDEN, and recently workshopped her new play, SPRINGS, for Ford’s Theatre Legacy Commissions program. Her special honors include: Theatre LA Ovation Award for Outstanding Lead Actress, Chay Yew’s RED, East West Players; Trailblazer Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement, East West Players; Lee Melville Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Los Angeles Theatre Community, Playwrights’ Arena.

JeanneSakata.com / HoldTheseTruths.info

MAY LEE (Moderator)

The May Lee Show is an award-winning, broadcast journalist/host who has been both a US-based and international anchor, host, correspondent, and producer and a former member of EWP’s Board of Directors. She currently co-hosts the vodcast “Shoes Off Inside with MKT” with iconic API actresses Kelly Hu and Tamlyn Tomita.

May is a promine

08/18/2026

The road to WHEN YURI MET MALCOLM on tour starts today as we welcome this wonderful company of artists to their first day of rehearsal! See their first performance at the Benefit Premiere Fundraiser happening September 13 at the David Henry Hwang Theater, hosted by Jeanne Sakata with a post show conversation moderated by The May Lee Show. Purchase tickets now at our link.

WHEN YURI MET MALCOLM explores the legacy of Yuri Kochiyama through her friendship with Malcolm X, tracing her journey from WW2 incarceration camps to a lifetime of activism. What does it mean to be a citizen of a flawed country, and how much can one person do to change it?

08/12/2026

⭐ WYMM ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Meet Rosie Narasaki Rosie Narasaki

Rosie Narasaki is a second-generation actor and playwright. Her play UNRIVALED had its world premiere co-produced by Playwright’s Arena and the Boston Court in Los Angeles, and was also co-produced by the Seattle Public Theater and SIS Productions in Seattle. It won the 2022 LA New Play Project Award and the 2023 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Original Writing. Her play WHEN YURI MET MALCOLM had its world premiere with East West Players in 2022, and she is delighted that they are reviving it again now! She also wrote for a Netflix show once.

⭐ WYMM ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Meet Khalif J. Gillett Khalíf J. Gillett

Khalif J. Gillett is a Los Angeles-based writer, director, and actor. His work seeks to expand the narratives of Blackness, queerness, and Latinidad through poetry, surrealism, and satirically anachronistic period pieces. Khalif is an alumnus of the Labyrinth Theatre Company’s Intensive Ensemble, a Candela Playwriting Fellow, and a finalist in the Nuyorican Poet Café’s Theatre Festival. His past directing credits include In the Heights, [Title of Show], Grease, Pipeline, and Beetlejuice. Khalif seeks to educate those without resources to study the arts and believes knowledge to be a form of reparations. He wants to empower the marginalized and underprivileged to tell their own stories to create healthy ways of processing their realities. Finally, he feels that marginalized joy is a radical act of resistance and that a story doesn’t have to be painful for it to be impactful.

ℹ️ SHOW DESCRIPTION

WHEN YURI MET MALCOLM explores the legacy of Yuri Kochiyama through her friendship with Malcolm X, tracing her journey from Japanese American incarceration camps to a lifetime of activism. What does it mean to be a citizen of a flawed country, and how much can one person do to change it?

Tickets for this fundraiser benefitting EWP Arts Education programs for youth are $100 each and available online through September 10th.

🎟️ GET TICKETS NOW! Link in bio
eastwestplayers.org/wymm-premiere

08/10/2026

Only one week left (and just 2 spots remain) to join Nicholas Pilapil’s Writing Workshop starting August 18th! We’re thrilled to welcome Nicholas to our instructor lineup as he launches his very first course with us this fall.

About the Course: Ready to take your play from idea to first draft? In this eight-week workshop, you’ll write and develop an entirely new play in a supportive, creative environment. This class is designed for playwrights who already have an idea brewing. You’ll stay accountable, generate new pages each week, and sharpen your work through thoughtful discussion and feedback.

Spots are limited, so don’t miss your chance. Scholarships and payment plans available. We’ll see you in class!

Link in bio | https://eastwestplayers.coursestorm.com/course/writing-workshop5

08/08/2026

Who remembers us in 2014?

08/06/2026

Join us Sunday, September 13, 2026, 4pm, at the David Henry Hwang Theater in Little Tokyo, for the premiere performance of our 2026-2027 Theatre For Youth touring production WHEN YURI MET MALCOLM. Hosted by Jeanne Sakata Jeanne Sakata, our program will feature the performance, a post-show conversation about the struggle for civil rights then and now moderated by May Lee The May Lee Show, a special insight into EWPlay!, and a dessert reception in the courtyard.

Tickets for this fundraiser benefitting EWP Arts Education programs for youth are $100 each and available online through September 10th.

🎟️ LINK IN BIO
www.eastwestplayers.org/wymm-premiere

SHOW DESCRIPTION

WHEN YURI MET MALCOLM explores the legacy of Yuri Kochiyama through her friendship with Malcolm X, tracing her journey from Japanese American incarceration camps to a lifetime of activism. What does it mean to be a citizen of a flawed country, and how much can one person do to change it?

07/28/2026

We’re excited to welcome Armando Huipe as East West Players’ new interim managing director!

Before joining EWP, Armando served as the Interim Managing Director of the Latino Theater Company and Executive Director of Skylight Theatre Company, where he supported operational continuity during periods of transition. He has also served as a producer for the national Latinx Theatre Commons, where he organized advocacy efforts on behalf of Latinx theaters across the country. He has worked with other companies, such as REDCAT, Center Theatre Group, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the LA Phil, Yale Cabaret, and United States Artists. He currently serves as a board member of Play On Shakespeare and The Local Collective. He earned an MFA in Theater Management from the Yale School of Drama and a BA in English Literature from UCLA.

Armando will co-lead with Artistic Director Lily Tung Crystal and report to the EWP Board.

Please join us in welcoming Armando to the EWP family, it’s a pleasure to have you with us! Armando Huipe ⭐️

07/24/2026

U odyssey more theatre 🎭

07/23/2026

We’re thrilled to announce that our 61st season memberships are NOW ON SALE! We are introducing 3 new membership tiers to supplement this season’s Pay-What-You-Will model, offering even more flexibility and perks to your EWP experience. ‼️AND DON’T FORGET‼️ members get exclusive early access to Crazy Talented Asians tickets! Swipe for more details, and visit our website to sign up for your season 61 membership TODAY!

💠: www.eastwestplayers.org/membership
(Link also in bio)

07/22/2026

Join us for the annual ACTING III COMMAND SHOWCASE, presented by the East West Players Arts Education department! Come celebrate our Acting III students as they take the stage for a free, culminating performance.

Directed by EWP legend Dom Magwili , this showcase features scenes from classical works and contemporary Asian American plays. It’s a night honoring the dedication of our acting students, with the final (and most important) ingredient: a live audience.

Don’t miss it! RSVP now at tinyurl.com/EWPShowcase (or in our bio).

Address

120 Judge John Aiso Street
Los Angeles, CA
90012

Telephone

+12136257000

Website

http://www.eastwestplayers.org/, https://linktr.ee/eastwestplayers

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