The NAATCO National Partnership Project (NNPP) is an initiative that will ingrain the inclusion of Asian American theatre artists, technicians, administrators, and community members in American theatres around the country. NAATCO’s current partners are:

Long Wharf Theatre (CT)
Soho Rep (NY)
TheatreSquared (AR)
People’s Light (PA)

A spotlight shines on “inclusion and belonging” in American culture today. Yet despite an ever-growing national movement among Asian American theatre artists and companies to establish strong sustainable communities, Asian Americans remain on the margins of this light, continuing to be represented in stereotypic and formulaic ways, when represented at all.

Our partners will join our efforts to foster and create more expansive representations of Asian Americans, on stage as well as behind the scenes. Together we will augment and fortify these efforts to reflect the multiplicity of cultures, races, and ethnicities that defines this country and keeps our theatre vital.

The NNPP’s partners have committed to four actions:

1. Collaboratively select a production guided by the parameters of NAATCO’s programming: European and American classics with all-Asian American casts; the adaptation of such classics by Asian American playwrights; new plays by non-Asian Americans with non-Asian or Asian American subject matters or characters realized by all-Asian American casts; the development and production of new plays by Asian American playwrights that incorporate other performative arts and media.

2. Plan a series of pre- or post-performance events supplementing the productions and highlighting Asian or Asian American panelists and speakers.

3. Institute a plan for outreach to Asian Americans in the community to encourage their participation in all aspects of the partners’ operations.

4. Take the next step towards sustaining Asian American presence in the partners’ programming by announcing one or more productions for the upcoming seasons that conforms to one of NAATCO’s four programs.

Partnership projects to date:

LONG WHARF THEATRE

Queen by Madhuri Shekar, May 17 – June 5, 2022
Transferred directly to New York, June 10 – July 1, 2022

Co-commission of reid tang’s Isabel, produced and presented by
NAATCO, June 14 – July 6, 2024

SOHO REP

Co-commission of Shayok Misha Chowdhury’s Public Obscenities
Produced and presented by Soho Rep, February 15 – April 16, 2023
Transferred to Woolly Mammoth, November 14 – December 23, 2023
Transferred to Theater for a New Audience, January 17 – February 25, 2024
Awards: Drama Desk Ensemble Award; Obie Award for direction
Pulitzer Prize finalist

TheatreSquared

Twelfth Night, a modern verse translation by Alison Carey, March 5 – 30, 2025