By: Mariam Mkrtchian
Grant’s Asian American Pacific Islander Club, or AAPI, hosted an informative and entertaining assembly on Wednesday, October 11th, during period two. AAPI is a relatively new club that has been running for two years, organizing annual assemblies to showcase their hard work. The assembly is planned by Teagan Ryan, the club president, and Kayden Mei, the vice-president, along with the help of their sponsor, Mr. Yang. Through their hard work, the club put together an impressive assembly in which they work to spread awareness about different cultures.
The highlight of the assembly was the performance of the “East West Players,” who put on a showplaying performance. To better understand the play, let’s look at some details about the group:
The “East West Players” are the longest-running theater of color activists since 1965. Their Theater for Youth program was initially founded on statistics from the 2000s stating that about 98% of students were unable to name a significant AAPI historical figure. A more recent study in 2022 found that that number went down to 62% of students, demonstrating the progress that has been made throughout the years. This program is significant as it was created to educate students on AAPI culture, showing the inequities of teaching history across the United States. Visiting different schools, as well as putting on performances in libraries, the East West Players and their Theater for Youth production present a play called “Sama Sama: Solidarity in the Fields”. They work towards spreading the story of Larry Itliong and Cesar Chavez, educating students on Mexican and Filipino culture.
The play performed in Grant High School lasted around 40 minutes and used music, poetry, and props to tell the story of the “Manongs” and “Bracero Program” through the perspective of three high school students as they discover their cultural identity. The performance tells the story of the Delano Grape Strike, teaching about the collaboration between Larry Itliong, Cesar Chavez, and Dolores Huerta. Using English, Spanish, and Tagalog, the play highlights the shared narratives of Mexican and Filipino culture, emphasizing this significant historical event.
Thanks to their emotional and passionate performance, the actors grasped the audience’s attention from the initial song. The audience was clapping along to the dances and songs during the play, showing their support for the theater. Not to mention, the crowded room later joined together to wish one of the actors a happy birthday. Following the performance, the engaged audience used up the extra time to ask a few insightful questions to the actors.
The questions considered the actors and their journeys with the theater. A student in the audience asked, “What is your favorite part about performing this play?” The actors shared that the audience and their positive reactions are a memorable part of the performances. They described the play as an opportunity to spread their culture, while also learning about it themselves. Moreover, they enjoyed the overall process of learning about Larry Itliong and Cesar Chavez’s story, as well as both the Mexican and Filipino cultures, allowing them to build a stronger connection with their backgrounds. Additionally, another audience member asked, “What inspired you to become an actor in this type of theater?” The actors discussed their discovery of acting and their love of theater as teenagers in high school. One actress said that acting helped her feel things and connect with other humans, making her want to make a difference through acting and bringing out emotions in the audience. Another actor said acting helps him feel closer to himself and feel comfortable with his emotions.
Overall, this assembly held by AAPI was a definite success as students and teachers alike got the opportunity to learn more about new cultures while enjoying an informative yet entertaining play.
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