From 2014-2022, MediaRites’ Theatre Diaspora Project, led by Dmae Lo Roberts, produced 13 enhanced staged readings with community panels and two full productions including “The -Ism Project: Here On This Bridge” (2018) and “The Brothers Paranormal” (2019) as well as five BIPOC workshops, BIPOC affinity nights in area theaters with discounts and offered mainstream theaters consultations for AAPI work. MediaRites lent considerable resources to grow the Theatre Diaspora project, which included funds for readings and two full productions, professional development for Theatre Diaspora company members and specifically for Samson Syharath who became the managing artistic director of the new nonprofit entity Theatre Diaspora which received its own 501 (c) 3 status in 2023.
Full Timeline:
November 2013– In November 2013, Dmae Lo Roberts consulted as an independent artist with Portland Center Stage to help with outreach and promotion to AAPI communities for their production of “Chinglish” by David Henry Hwang. She advised Kelsey Tyler of PCS there has never been a theater production of an AAPI play with a mostly AAPI audience. She suggested Asian Night and it was scheduled for the performance on Jan. 25, 2014. She provided contacts from NW China Council and IRCO and it was widely attended with majority AAPI audience
Roberts asked Kelsey if it would be possible to produce a staged reading of “Dance and the Railroad” by Hwang. She asked Heath Hyun Houghton to be in it and we contacted Samson Syharath to also act in the reading directed by Roberts. That drew a good percentage of AAPI artists and leaders. Roberts led a discussion on the lack of representation of AAPI artists in Portland theater. Afterwards, Tyler offered PCS as a home for more readings.
September 2014 – Roberts, directed two more readings that year and one was directed by Emily Gregory. In Fall of 2014, we produced “Breaking The Silence” with Chisao Hata, Houghton, Syharath, Roberts, Wynee Hu and Larry Toda. It was at a rehearsal that Roberts asked what everyone thought about the name Theatre Diaspora and the idea of launching it as project of MediaRites so we could secure funding to pay artists. They agreed. In essence everyone in that meeting were co-founders of the Theatre Diaspora Project and should have that acknowledgement.
2014-2019 – MediaRites bought the theatrediaspora.org domain name and hired a designer to create its logo. She led the company members and raised funding for 9 more enhanced staged readings, one excerpted reading, community panel discussions, and two full productions (The -Ism Monologues project in 2018 and The Brothers Paranormal in 2019). Roberts raised funds to bring playwrights Philip Kan Gotanda and Prince Gomovilas to Portland to attend two of the staged readings of their plays. During this time the company membership comprised of Larry Toda, Samson Syharath, Alex Haslett, Lila Yang, Jen Hancock, and Dmae Lo Roberts. This artistic team was the most productive in TD history.
2018-2021– For the first time in its history, MediaRites received a five-year commitment of $15,000 in operating support and $10,000 in professional development opportunities. Roberts hired Syharath as a parttime associate producer which comprised a large portion of the operating support funds for five years. MediaRites invested a large portion of our professional development funds for four years in Syharath’s professional training, conferences and travel opportunities to TCG and NYC.
MediaRites also invested professional development funding from RACC for the artistic team for conference and travel opportunities that included OSF, CAATA and TCG for Theatre Diaspora project members as well as trip to NYC for director Kate Duffly to see “Brothers Paranormal.”
2020-2025 -Roberts informed Syharath of first steps to secure nonprofit, tax-exempt status for the new Theatre Diaspora organization. MediaRites paid for the Theatre Diaspora incorporation fees. Roberts helped Syharath secure operating support funding from both RACC and Ronni Lacroute for a fulltime managing artistic director position for the first year. Wanting to stay involved in the company’s development and as part of the TD community, Roberts said she would continue being a team member.
In 2022-23, Syharath transitioned away from MediaRites as an associate producer and toward Theatre Diaspora as a fulltime managing artistic director.
During this time MediaRites and the new Theatre Diaspora organization co-produced the virtual Oceania Celebration featuring the Honolulu Youth Theatre production of “Stories of Oceania” and local Native Hawaiian and Tongan dancers as well as a panel of theatre artists who identify as NHPI. We also partnered with Theatre Diaspora on three staged readings and an Asian American adoptee project.
Theatre Diaspora has remained steady as an organization for four years under Syharath’s leadership. MediaRites continued to partner and lend our resources to Theatre Diaspora including our zoom account, email lists, logo design and domain ownership, incorporation fees and co-producing three staged readings and helping with the adoptee project. MediaRites will continue to support Theatre Diaspora as a partner organization when requested. Visit TheatreDiaspora.org for more info.