2021 BronzeLens Film Festival – The Virtual Experience: Connecting the Culture, Creators and Content, will take place on BronzeLens.com over six days beginning Tuesday, August 17th, and concluding on Sunday, August 22nd. The BronzeLens festival’s shorts category are designated as an Academy Award Qualifying Festival in the Shorts Category! Anyone who attends the festival can vote for “Being […]

“Ofelio” tells the story of a former border patrol guard who is now a father of a young baby. As he cares for his child, he is haunted by the faces of children who were detained at the border. Join us for a virtual screening and panel talk with the playwright, actor, and Jhona Monroy […]

Ruega Por Mi, written by by Yasmin Ruvalcaba Saludado and performed by Yolanda Porter.A mother is searching for her missing daughter and questions her decision to send her for safety in America. MediaRites has been adapting and transforming the monologues from The -Ism Project into short films. Two were filmed with a crew of four, social distancing […]

That Diversity Thing, written by Bonnie Ratner & Roberta Hunte. Performed by Shelley B Shelley. A Black tradeswoman is interviewed about the complicated terrain of diversity training and working during the pandemic with a partner that is at increased risk. MediaRites has been adapting and transforming the monologues from The -Ism Project into short films. Two […]

A Black middle-class woman recounts experiences of racial profiling in Lake Oswego, Oregon during a time of Black Lives Matter Protests in 2020. Being Me In The Current America written by Josie Seid was originally a monologue written for Here On This Bridge: The –Ism Project produced by MediaRites. MediaRites has been adapting and transforming […]

MediaRites has been working diligently adapting and transforming the monologues from The -Ism Project to your home: Two were filmed with a crew of four social distancing at Shaking the Tree Studios which graciously donated their space to us. Another was self-filmed by the actress, her husband and daughter. Two were seen originally as a theatre production […]

SEE HER STRENGTH written and performed by Samson Syharathand HARVEST by Dmae Roberts performed by Jane Vogel Mantiri, founder of Advance Gender Equity for the Arts. May 16th, 6:00-6:45pm – See Her Strength, written and performed by Samson Syharath, follows a gay Laotian man who honors his refugee mother’s strength while worrying about her from […]

“Here On This Bridge: The –Ism Project” -Promo Trailer from Dmae Roberts on Vimeo. “I grew up in rural Oregon and I know first-hand the difficulty families of color can have,” says Dmae Roberts, executive producer of MediaRites and Theatre Diaspora. “Now more than ever we need to create allies and build bridges —not walls, […]

– POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE – MediaRites kicks off its Spring/Summer tour of “A Bridge To Civil Rights: The –Ism Project” tour on April 13th at Portland Center Stage at 7pm with a three monologue performance and conversation about women dealing with danger from the outside world. “But Am I Really?” a debut monologue written […]

by Prince Gomolvilas OCTOBER 25 – NOVEMBER 16, 2019 A coproduction by MediaRites’ Theatre Diaspora & Coho Productions Directed by Catherine Ming T’ien Duffly Brothers Max and Visarut launch a ghost-hunting business to capitalize on the nationwide increase in sightings of “Asian-looking ghosts.” When the siblings investigate the home of an African-American couple displaced by […]

Bag&Baggage Productions will be hosting MediaRites’ Theatre Diaspora at The Vault Theatre as we continue exploring the intersections of race, gender, orientation and nationality, including stories with specifically Pacific Northwest perspectives. We will be performing three monologues (one is a debut!) focusing on Exclusion and Inclusion. Then we will have a having a post-show dialogue […]

Original New Work by Josie Seid, Samson Syharath, Yasmin Ruvalcaba, Heather Raffo, Bonnie Ratner, Roberta Hunte and Dmae Roberts. Directed by Catherine Ming T’ien Duffly. Here On This Bridge: The –Ism Project premiered at the Fertile Ground Festival at Portland State University’s Boiler Room Theatre, Lincoln Hall (1620 SW Park Avenue, Portland, OR 97201). There […]

Original New Work by Josie Seid, Samson Syharath, Yasmin Ruvalcaba, Heather Raffo, Bonnie Ratner, Roberta Hunte and Dmae Roberts. PORTLAND, Ore., Nov. 21, 2018— MediaRites, a nonprofit organization that provides innovative, award-winning documentary, theatre and outreach programs, today announced its first full production and original work for its Theatre Diaspora program. Here On This Bridge: […]

MediaRites’ Theatre Diaspora  – “The—Ism Project” “The—Ism Project” is an original hour-long new work by MediaRites’ Theatre Diaspora project composed of 6-7 short monologues exploring the intersections of race, gender, orientation and nationality, including stories with specifically Pacific Northwest perspectives. Monologues will be developed in local workshops also curated from a national submission process. The […]

Theatre Diaspora is a project that created the first Asian American/Pacific Islander theatre in Portland by producing an on-going series of  staged readings with movement. The project is committed to celebrating and creatively advocating for the AAPI experience through stage work.  These stories are an under-represented and misunderstood part of the American historical and cultural narrative.

By Dmae Roberts Directed by Carolyn Holzman A collage play with movement, music and sound, Volcano Embrace was performed by Dmae Roberts, Elaine Low, Mary Jo AbiNader, Wendy Graybill, and Sharon McAllister under the direction and choreography of Carolyn Holzman at Dreams Well Studio, November, 1999. Hawaiian music was by Sam Kama, original music by Stephen Hoyt, lighting […]

By Ellen McLaughlin Directed by Carmela Lanza-Weil This multi-ethnic production revolves around the character of Maxine (Sherry Okamura), a search and rescue pilot hired by Dessa (Ithica Tell), a mother whose twelve-year-old daughter, Charlotte (Angela Rollins), has been abducted. Maxine’s search for the girl parallels her search for her own mother, Evie, (Julie Cowden) appearing […]

Written by Sharon Whitney, Ellen West, Cindy McGean, Vicente Guzman-Orozco and Dmae Roberts Directed by Carmela Lanza-Weil Lanza-Weil gathered some of the best talent in Portland to collaborate on this original collage play with Playwrights Sharon Whitney, Ellen West, Cindy McGean, Vicente Guzman-Orozco and Dmae Roberts. This team of commissioned writers created a play based […]

By Dmae Roberts Directed by Carmela Lanza-Weil Dmae Roberts, Ping Khaw-Sutherland and Elaine Low presented a series of 40-minute readings from the stage play Lady Buddha at Multnomah County libraries during Asian Heritage month in May 2001.Those who enjoyed the MediaRites production in June 1997 at the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center featuring stories of Kuan Yin, the […]

By Dmae Roberts Directed by Carmela Lanza-Weil Tell Me, Janie Bigo is an original romantic comedy with magic and music; one of a handful of plays around the country that allows Asian Americans a romantic and comedic side. This fast-paced and energetic play tells the story of Janie Bigo, an Amerasian trying to carve out […]