2g's COMMUNITY VOICES: THE NEXT GENDERASIAN Set for La MaMa, 5/14

Victor Maog, newly appointed Artistic Director of Second Generation (2g), announces the first public performance of 2g's new initiative: Community Voices, a ground-breaking vehicle for unheard new writers, supporting vital perspectives and urgent stories about the Asian-American experience. It is presented in association with La MaMa.

Community Voices: The Next GenderAsian are readings of six ten-minute plays written by Second Generation's Queer Asian/Pacific-Islander (API) community. This evening of free, public readings are at The Club La MaMa, 74A East 4th Street, Tuesday, May 14, at 7:30PM.

Based on gender-bending, coming-out stories and queer Asian myths, Community Voices: The Next GenderAsian offers both moving and outrageous perspectives on what it's like to be queer and Asian-American today.

The plays were written as part of Second Generations Community Voices writing workshop led by South Asian playwright and performer Deen. Community Voices was announced last fall during Second Generations' Queer Voices Speak Out panel and ignited a yearlong outreach effort to New York's queer API community in partnership with GAPIMNY, Q-Wave, and SALGA, three local, grass-roots organizations.

Community Voices: The Next GenderAsian features new plays written by Alain Chan, Joseph F. Lin, Avinash Rajagopal, Lolan Buhain Sevilla, Ryan Shen, and Jason Tseng. Community Voices: The Next GenderAsian is directed by Kyoung H. Park and features an ensemble cast of Asian-American performers, including Lost's Ken Leung, and Obie Award-winners Ching Valdes-Aran and Jojo Gonzalez.

"There's a series of firsts happening at 2g. Sometimes its someone's first professional production. Sometimes it's an artist's investigation with their Asian-ness. Sometimes it's the Asian-American story often not depicted in mass media," states 2g Artistic Director Victor Maog. "In Community Voices, we've never been more democratic nor daring about whose stories should share the world stage. I couldn't be happier to have the gifted Deen and Kyoung shepherd this journey about our community's own margins. The inaugural participants, in wrestling with form and personal stake have probably changed 2g more than I can articulate."

Box Office: La MaMa­The Club is located on 74A East 4th Street. Reservations are available online at www.2g.org or by calling 212-334-4777 or e-mailing lisac@2g.org.

Second Generation, under the artistic direction of Victor Maog, is a sixteen-year old, NYC-based non-profit that has produced at Carnegie Hall, The New York State Theatre, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and The Public Theater. 2g is one of the country's most important incubators of Asian-American theatrical talent, developing new plays from a new generation of Asian-American dramatists, providing early-career opportunities for young actors, and reaching out to newer and more diverse audiences.

Second Generation's mission is to support the Asian American theater community by bringing this population's stories to the world's stage. 2g provides an artistic home for emerging talent by cultivating a hive of creative activity, both on stage­through developmental programs and performances­and off­through the support and cultivation of a thriving artist community. Over the last 16 years, we have developed over 400 Asian American artists and brought their original work to nearly 200,00 theatergoers from across New York City.