Masters of the Currents
A Visions and Voices Signature Event

Click HERE to see the program and theme guide.

ADMISSION:
Admission is free. RSVP at the link below.

RSVP

All attendees are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or to have had a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the start of this event. Verification must be provided at the event check-in. Face masks will be required for all attendees, vaccinated or unvaccinated. Masks should be worn at all times when individuals are not actively consuming food or beverage. Additionally, all guests must complete the Trojan Check health screening on the day of their visit to campus. Trojan Check verification must be presented at the event check-in.

DESCRIPTION:
Following three youth who have fled their island nations due to environmental and economic pressures and must now overcome conflicts of identity in their new home of Hawai’i, Masters of the Currents is a theatrical journey based on the experiences of multigenerational Micronesians living in the Aloha State today.

Combining community-based story collection and social justice practices, this engaging and relevant ensemble play co-created by Leilani Chan and Ova Saopeng of TeAda Productions takes us from remote islands to urban cities, from ocean water passageways to paved asphalt highways. As the waters of our planet rise, what can we learn from the culture and descendants of the original ocean navigators of the Pacific?

Bios:
Leilani Chan (Co-creator, Playwright) is an award-winning performance artist, actor, playwright, director, cultural worker, and founding artistic director of TeAda Productions. Masters of the Currents, which had its continental and inter-island tour premieres in 2018, is her newest collaboration with Ova Saopeng. Chan was awarded the 2019–20 Santa Monica Artist Fellowship and is co-chair of the National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival. Born and raised in Hawai’i, she attended Hampshire College and obtained her MFA from UC Irvine in 2004.

Ova Saopeng (Co-Creator, Actor) is a Los Angeles–based actor and writer, born in Savannakhet, Laos, and raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i. He is an associate producer and teaching artist with TeAda Productions, and co-creator, with Leilani Chan, of the only nationally touring play about the Lao-American experience, Refugee Nation. Saopeng received his BA in theatre from USC and has performed nationally with theatre companies including the Children's Theatre Company in Minneapolis, Mark Taper Forum/P.L.A.Y., East West Players, and hereandnow.

Presented by USC Visions and Voices: The Arts and Humanities Initiative.  Co-sponsored by Asian Pacific American Student Services and KCRW.

RSVP here.