Asian American Theater Company archives, 1973-2010

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Summary

Creators:
Asian American Theater Company
Abstract:
The Asian American Theater Company (AATC) is one of only three Asian American theater companies in the United States and is the oldest ethnic, full-season production theater in northern California. Chinese American writer and playwright Frank Chin in collaboration with others established the company in 1973. The company is dedicated to producing plays that are by and about Asian Americans to promote inter-ethnic understanding and provide positive role models within and outside of the Asian American community. This collection covers material from the period between 1973-2010. It contains administrative/personnel records, business and development records, correspondence, flyers, audio and videotapes, photographs, and theater artifacts.
Extent:
68.50 Linear Feet (45 document boxes, 43 cartons, 3 flat boxes, 11 portfolio/print boxes, and 1 shoebox)
Language:
The collection is in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Asian American Theater Company Archives, CEMA 9. Department of Special Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Background

Scope and content:

The Asian American Theater Company Archives consists of twelve series distributed among 101 archival boxes that occupy approximately 68 linear feet of space. The archival materials include administrative/personnel records, grant applications, production files, correspondence, flyers, audio and videotapes, photographs, and a few theater artifacts. The AATC Archives cover the period between 1973-1997.

Additional materials [Boxes 71-119] from the 2013 and 2016 accessions were processed and added to the collection in 2024. These materials consist of 37 additional cartons and three flat boxes of administrative/personnel records, business/financial records, grant applications, production files, correspondence, publicity and fundraising/benefits, and some workshops. There are also four cartons of audio visual materials, 1 carton of born-digital materials, 1 shoebox of DVDs, photographs, newspaper clippings, a t-shirt, large posters, and a scrapbook. These additional materials cover the period between 1986-2010.

Biographical / historical:

The Asian American Theater Company (AATC) is one of the only three Asian American theaters in the United States. Founded in 1973 by the Chinese American writer and playwright Frank Chin and others, it is a professionally-oriented theater dedicated to producing plays that are by and about Asian Americans, and is the oldest, full-season production, ethnic theater in northern California. Its high-quality productions promote inter-ethnic understanding and provide positive role models for the Asian American community as well as the community at large.

The AATC began life as a playwright workshop initiated by Frank Chin and sponsored by the American Conservatory Theatre. In 1975, the workshop became a professional theater company dedicated to the production of plays by Asian Pacific Islander American dramatists and the development and support of Asian Pacific Islander American actors, designers and technicians. During the late seventies and early eighties, AATC was the focal point of an explosion of Asian Pacific Islander American talent in the San Francisco Bay Area. Over the years, the AATC has served as a home for numerous playwrights, directors, actors and designers who went on to careers of national prominence, including: playwrights Frank Chin, Philip Kan Gotanda, David Henry Hwang, Momoko Iko, R.A. Shiomi and Wakako Yamauchi; actors Margaret Cho, Dennis Dun and Amy Hill; designer Lydia Tanji; and dramaturg and director Judi Nihei.

The AATC seeks to challenge its audiences artistically and politically, producing work that is visionary, breaks traditions, crosses boundaries, and leads the audience to question their aesthetic as well as their cultural assumptions. Through its productions, a training program and young artists' workshops, the AATC continues to serve as a focal point for the talents of established and emerging Asian Pacific Islander American playwrights, actors, directors, designers and technicians.

Today the AATC has offices in the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California in San Francisco's Japantown. The goal of the AATC continues to be "to develop theater which nourishes the community, encourages dialogue and understanding, and inspires new generations of Asian Pacific Islander Americans to tell their stories." (Adapted from the AATC website at: http://www.wenet.net/~aatc/)

Acquisition information:
Donated by Asian American Theater Company, 1993.
Custodial history:

Donated by Asian American Theater Company, 1993, 2013, and 2016.

Processing information:

Processed by Zuoyue Wang, Natalie Tan, and Mutindi Kissini, 1999. Machine-readable finding aid created by Alexander Hauschild. Updated by Suzanne Im, 2013. Updated by Holly Snyder, 2024.

Arrangement:

Series and folder titles within them are generally arranged in alphabetical order. Folders with the same subject are usually arranged alphabetically or chronologically.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and may be retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.

All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB at library-special@ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or their assignees for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Asian American Theater Company Archives, CEMA 9. Department of Special Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.

Location of this collection:
UC Santa Barbara Library
Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
Contact:
(805) 893-3062
special@library.ucsb.edu
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