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My Turn by Dmae Lo Roberts

Samson Syharath and I met in 2014 at a time when several theater companies in the Portland metropolitan area were producing plays that replaced Asian or Pacific Islander characters with white actors or had them don "kabuki"-style makeup to look more Asian.

I immediately liked Samson, and I asked him to do a reading of David Henry Hwang’s The Dance and the Railroad. We thought it would be a way to connect Asians to theater as well as create dialogue about Asian representation and visibility.

After that first reading, we encouraged more people to become involved in producing a series of staged readings with community talkbacks. It was a grassroots effort and everyone volunteered their time. Even the well-known playwrights we presented donated their royalties to us because they believed in our mission to create awareness of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) contributions to theater in Portland.

Those readings became Theatre Diaspora and it was a project of my nonprofit, MediaRites, so we could obtain funding to pay the artists. Theatre Diaspora is now its own nonprofit organization with Samson serving as its managing artistic director.

Samson, a Lao American, originally travelled to the west coast from Arkansas to study at the Portland Actors Conservatory. He is now one of the most respected theater artists in Portland and works to connect AAPI community members with local theater through Theatre Diaspora. He considers the company as a conduit to having an "impactful medium to communicate with an audience and to educate and engage with the community."

One of his favorite memories was prior to the coronavirus pandemic during Theatre Diaspora’s full production of The Brothers Paranormal by Prince Gomolvilas. He gave an emotional performance as the lead character, Max, a ghost hunter. I believe the audience that was most engaged was a group of mostly Southeast Asian families the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) helped organize.

"Many of them hadn’t seen a play before," said Samson, "and to be their first theatrical experience was a blessing. I think we’ve come to realize that theater should be for everybody, and it’s so important to reflect that in our programming."

During the pandemic, Theatre Diaspora only produced virtual performances and talkbacks. It has now evolved, thanks to Samson, and includes several community-building projects, such as upcoming film screenings to be held this summer at the Legendary Makers Market, an Asian-centered open-air night market. The screenings are scheduled for July 26 through 28 in Beaverton, Oregon.

Last year, the Legendary Makers Market partnered with the Portland Night Market to hold its first Asian-centered gathering, which was highly successful. Theatre Diaspora was one of the contributors to the 2023 event and Samson has helped organize panels, art, film screenings, performances, and workshops for the 2024 market that will be held at the Patricia Reser Center for the Arts.

Samson is also excited about Theatre Diaspora participating in the two-year anniversary of Wendy’s Little Free Diverse Library. In addition, the theatre company is interviewing community organizations and leaders for Portlandia Diaspora — An Interactive Visual Novel, which explores the Portland scene with an AAPI lens through Portland-specific locations and a variety of AAPI cultural contexts. "It’s like an interactive map with storytelling," he said.

"My friend Wendy Shih has been increasing access to diverse books with her Little Free Library. Those are the little houses that you see across town with books that you can take or drop off," Samson explained.

The celebration will be held on Saturday, June 22, from 1:00pm to 4:00pm, at the Jelly Cup Collective, a fast-growing group of Asian artists in Portland which is located at 3808 N. Williams Avenue, Suite 114. Besides free books, the party will feature poetry by Alex Dang, cotton candy, and raffle prizes. Additional information about the celebration may be viewed on Instagram at @rockcreek_diverselibrary.

The next Theatre Diaspora staged reading is scheduled for Monday, July 29, at Fuse Theatre Ensemble’s Back Door Theatre, 4319 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd. in Portland. The event features The Book of Mountains and Seas by Yilong Liu, a play about a grieving father who decides to take a road trip with his son’s last boyfriend. Samson believes it will open up a series of dialogues about grief and loss in the AAPI community.

"I hope Theatre Diaspora becomes more recognized in the community as a catalyst for new work and new talent," Samson said. "I’d love for us to be able to collaborate with more organizations to bring storytelling and performance into spaces that are usually lacking in diverse cultures."

Samson has done tremendous work building bridges with Asian groups and businesses that don’t normally attend theater. He wants to develop an AAPI theater featuring yearly programs of three staged readings and one full production while also creating an AAPI audience thirsty for important AAPI works.

"We hope that this will provide an opportunity to not only showcase the fine AAPI actors," Samson said, "but also the playwrights and directors Portland has to offer."

To learn more about the Legendary Makers Market II and Theatre Diaspora, visit <www.legendarymakersmarket.com> and <www.theatrediaspora.org>.