Alongside their works at the 2025 Sydney Festival, Annette Shun Wah speaks to two game-changing artists—William Yang and Rainbow Chan—about their artmaking, finding their voices, and paving new paths for Asian Australian storytelling. 

William’s Milestone is a monumental exploration of his eighty-year journey, blending iconic photography, music, and personal stories to address themes of identity, culture, and social change. Rainbow Chan’s own discovery of her heritage comes to life in her groundbreaking pop song cycle The Bridal Lament, set in a world of projection, movement, and colour. Side by side, their works illuminate the rich legacy and ongoing transformation of Asian Australian arts. 

Join William, Rainbow, and Annette for an inspiring conversation on breaking traditions, pushing boundaries, and shaping the future of Asian Australian arts. This is a unique opportunity to gain insight into the journeys of two remarkable artists, hosted by the legendary Annette Shun Wah.

Presented in partnership with Sydney Festival and Riverside Theatres, Parramatta. 

TICKETS AND PERFORMANCES

Mon 13 Jan, 6:30pm 
Riverside Theatres, Parramatta
Tickets: $15 + bf

Tickets 

 

Immerse yourself in the dynamic creativity of Asian Australian artists at CAAP’s Longhouse: Works In Progress showcase. This year’s program bring five bold new works to the stage, spanning dance theatre, multimedia performance, cabaret, and comedy. It’s a rare chance to witness projects in their early stages of development, offering insight into the creative process while connecting with fellow artists and the wider community.

Join us for an evening of exploration and celebration as we spotlight the next generation of Asian Australian voices. After the performances, in true Longhouse style, you are invited to share a plate of food and engage in community chats.

ARTISTS

Christopher Gurusamy
Eric Jiang
Maybelline San Juan
Kimi Shazell
Michelle St Anne

TICKETS AND PERFORMANCES

Wed 27 Nov, 6:30 PM 
Bay 20, Carriageworks 

Tickets

Image: Jay Patel

 

 

In this Longhouse, we’re interrogating the elusive A-word: Authenticity.

Join us in Parramatta on Thursday 26 September for a robust and engaging artist led discussion, that asks – what does authenticity really mean?

Artists often grapple with authenticity— in our personal lives and in our creative work, Authenticity is closely tied to our connection to community, self-knowledge, customs, language, and cultural understandings, not to mention our sense of self-worth!

Inspired by National Theatre of Parramatta’s upcoming production of Dipika Guha’s Yoga Play — a razor sharp comedy that skewers the Western search for peace and authenticity— we reflect on how these themes resonate with us as Asian Australian artists.

How do we stay true to ourselves in a sector desperate to fulfil its own agenda? Is the search for our stories a sordid hunt for an “authentic Asian” experience? And what do they really want when they ask you to tick the CaLD box?

This panel discussion will be with director Mina Morita, Executive and Creative Producer Joanne Kee, and Director/Producer Bali Padda, facilitated by Contemporary Asian Australian Performance Artistic Director, Tessa Leong, followed by time to chat and mingle with food and drinks. In some traditional societies, the Longhouse is the meeting place where the village gathers to share stories and bond as a community. CAAP’s Longhouse Program combines talks, performances, masterclasses and workshops. All artists and arts workers interested in exploring Asian Australian themes through contemporary performance are welcome to attend.

Presented by Riverside’s National Theatre of Parramatta and Contemporary Asian Australian Performance.

PANEL

Mina Morita
Joanne Kee
Bali Padda
Facilitated by Tessa Leong

TICKETS AND PERFORMANCES

Thu 26, 6:30pm 
Riverside Theatres, Parramatta
Tickets: $15

Tickets

NTofP is supported by City of Parramatta and  the NSW Government through Create NSW.
CAAP is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW, and assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body.

 

Asian Australian artists are creating contemporary theatre that extends beyond both domestic and personal themes, drawing on cultural roots as well as international influences. Works like Merlynn Tong’s Golden Blood pose new questions about the boundaries of Asian Australian identity, adding complexity and a global outlook to Australian stages. 
 
Are we looking inwards or facing outwards when we write these stories and are they talking to a local crowd or expecting a global reception? Does one come at the cost of the other? The way we position these stories and who we make them with brings its own set of challenges for the community and for audiences. In a local landscape where representation has often been limited, the stories we choose to tell—and who we’re telling them to—carry significant impact. 

In this Longhouse, we’ll explore the evolving nature of Asian Australian storytelling on our stages.  We’ll be joined by artists who are leading these next steps, shaping the future of Australian theatre. Refreshments will be served after the panel, we encourage participants to stay on to network and continue the conversation.  

PANEL

Jordan Shea
Vaishnavi Suryaprakash
How Ngean Lim
Facilitated by Jules Orcullo 

TICKETS AND PERFORMANCES

Thu 19 Sep, 6pm 
Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf 2 Theatre

Tickets

Ticket Price*
General Admission $12

Transaction fees may apply
$8.50

*All tickets booked to Longhouse x STC receive a discounted ticket to a Monday - Thursday performance of Golden Blood. 
Your discount code will be emailed directly to you after the 12^th of September by STC. 

 

Forging Connections in Intercultural Practice

The West Australian theatre industry is witnessing a surging demand for diverse voices and stories. During this time of change, how can we best nurture and cultivate these stories, weaving the vibrant tapestry of diverse communities into our narratives? What support systems must be forged to ensure these artists receive not just the attention and opportunity but resources to go with it?

Join Encounter and Contemporary Asian Australian Performance at The Blue Room Theatre for an invigorating artist-led discussion, that delves deep into the significance of robust support systems and the art of intercultural storytelling. Come along to assess the essential components, available resources, and further development required to ensure the sector’s future resilience
with us.

The conversation will feature panelists Laura Liu, Min Zhu, Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa and Jay Emmanuel.

Join us afterwards, for drinks and nibbles in true Longhouse style!

Date: 28 November 
Time: 6pm 
Location: The Blue Room Theatre

TICKETS 

Contemporary Asian Australian Performance’s annual Works In Progress showcase returns to Carriageworks on Thu 23 Nov, featuring fresh and original works in development by Asian Australian artists. This year’s featured artists will present a range of ideas spanning gig theatre, musical comedy, K-pop dance and sound installations.

Audience members are invited to participate in a facilitated feedback session during the event and stay for light refreshments with the wider CAAP community.

PROGRAM

Dog Meat/Thịt Chó by Andrew Dang
A supernatural coming of age story centred around a first-generation Vietnamese-Australian. This play explores themes of disconnection from culture and self-actualisation. Can you stay with your family if you have to kill a part of yourself to do it? And how do you reconcile where you come from with who you are becoming?

I Used to Think Wu-Tang Clan were Asian by Cheng Tang
It’s part performance lecture, part musical, and part spoken word that explores intergenerational expectations, colourism, racism, the myth of the model minority and cultural appropriation through the journey of a fictional Chinese Australian hip hop group pitching to a record label.

Fishing Songs by Jasmin Wing-Yin Leung
Fishing Songs draws upon two parallel handheld knowledges, finding the possibilities of resonance, touch, and second-hand memory within these one-to-one practices:
1. The virtuosity of Séuiseuhngyàn (水上人) handline fishing. Water currents and fish behaviour is transduced by the fingertip in contact with a single fishing line, feeling and knowing when the fish has fully swallowed the hook.
and
2. The virtuosity of playing the Erhu in rational intonation. Air vibrations and the sensations of tone are transduced by the fingertip in contact with a single string, feeling and knowing when you have precisely found a frequency to the hundredth of a semitone.

My Dad Never Saw The Beatles by Jules Orcullo
My Dad Never Saw the Beatles is a mythic retelling of an untrue event set in the Philippines in 1966, told by a daughter desperate to fulfil her Dad’s dreams. The 10 minute extract will be told by one person in the form fabulated and fabricated gig theatre with original music by Jules Orcullo.

STANs (A K-Pop Play) by Natasha Pontoh-Supit
STANs is set in the internet-verse and a place where 50% will get you through mostly everything, University. This piece showcases how pop culture shapes and impacts the identities of young people and delves into the politics of internal gatekeeping inside fan culture. Whilst also exploring the beginnings and pressures of adulthood.

 

TICKETS AND PERFROMANCES

Thu 23 Nov, 6pm
Bay 20, Carriageworks 

BOOK

 

Longhouse: Brisbane @ LaBoite Theatre

Longhouse Brisbane: Asian Australian Leadership

As interest increases in the representation of Asian Australian faces, voices, artists and stories, we wonder about the driving forces behind these changes and who is leading the charge. Whilist we heare a lot of people talking the talk, who is out there walking the walk?

Join us for Longhouse to hear from a trio of trailblazing speakers to unpack what it means to be an Asian Australian leader in Brisbane. What are the responsibilities they have to the intersecting artistic and cultural communities? How do they work towards true change when they have to bear the burden of the institution? Come and discuss the blessings and curses of what it means when you are expected to represent more than just you, the joys and the challenges of daily life in leadership and some tips on how to get there!

The conversation will be facilitated by Triona Calimbayan-Giles with fellow panelists Tarun Nagesh, Katrina Irawati Graham and Courtney Stewart. 

Triona Calimbayan-Giles 

Triona is a proud Filipina-Australian artist, with a Bachelor of Acting with Distinction from Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. Triona was recently an Understudy and Director Observer for The Poison of Polygamy at La Boite Theatre, and is currently a Script Assessor for the Queensland Premier Drama Award for Queensland Theatre’s 2025 season. Triona is a fierce advocate for inclusivity, and how we can honour diverse voices in the arts, and has most recently founded mIxED Productions as Artistic Director, who strives to create opportunities for those from underrepresented backgrounds. mIxED productions opened their inaugural show of Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons with a sold out season, for her first dual role as Director and Producer.

Tarun Nagesh

Tarun Nagesh is Curatorial Manager of Asian and Pacific Art at QAGOMA. Tarun currently leads the Asia Pacific Triennial curatorial team and has worked on the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th editions of the APT. He joined QAGOMA in 2011 and has since worked on more than fifteen exhibitions and projects including ‘Problem-Wisdom: Thai Art in the 1990s’ (2017-18), ‘The Long Story’ (2017-18), ‘Indo Pop: Contemporary Indonesian Art’ (2016-17), ‘Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion’ (2015-16), ‘Hanga: Modern Japanese Prints’ (2014-15) and ‘Ah Xian: Heavy Wounds’ (2014). Tarun has published widely and taken on appointments including currently serving as a Board Member of the Institute of Modern Art (IMA) as well as QLD State Representative for The Asian Arts Society of Australia (TAASA). Tarun holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Monash University and a Masters in Art Curatorship from The University of Melbourne.

Katrina Irawati Graham 

Katrina is a director, screenwriter, facilitator, playwright and activist. She works in many genres including feminist horror. She recently co-directed Bali 2002, a STAN Original drama series which explores the journeys of those affected by the devastating 2002 Bali bombings. She also wrote the cultural safety document for the series. She is currently the Resident Emerging Dramaturg at La Boite Theatre.

She wrote and directed a segment of SBS screened Dark Whispers, Australia’s first all-female directed horror anthology. She has also written two award winning online crime series. She is currently in development with Mother Tongue, an anti-racist midwifery drama series. Siti Rubiyah, a supernatural play set in the jungles of Sumatra, was developed with CAAP and PWA . The feature film of Siti Rubiyah has been developed through Screen Queensland. Katrina’s semi-autobiographical play, Bi Empat, was developed with Playlab and La Boite.

Katrina serves in the Women in Film and Television International (WIFTI) board which represents WIFT chapters across six continents. She is the Chair of Screen Queensland’s Equity and Diversity Taskforce. Katrina celebrates her Indonesian-Australian heritage and champions diversity. She is represented by BMEG.

Courtney Stewart 

Courtney Stewart is an acclaimed director, dramaturg, actor and teaching artist with a deep passion for intercultural works and multicultural dramaturgies. She is the current Artistic Director and CEO of La Boite Theatre.

A proud Queenslander, Courtney started her professional career as an actor before honing her talents as an artistic leader, diversity specialist and change maker for some of the country’s most prolific companies and organisations including Sydney Theatre Company (as Directing Associate and Richard Wherrett Fellow), Belvoir and Contemporary Asian Australian Performance (as Artistic Associate).

Courtney was previously Chair of the Equity Diversity Committee, a delegate to the National Performers Committee, and a former board member for Contemporary Asian Australian Performance.

Courtney’s production of The Poison of Polygamy by Anchuli Felicia King premiered at La Boite in May this year and had a subsequent season at Sydney Theatre Company. Courtney’s production of Miss Peony opened at Belvoir in July and will embark on a National Tour.

 

BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL. CLICK HERE TO GRAB YOUR TICKETS NOW. 

TUESDAY 8 AUGUST  |  6.00PM  
La Boite Theatre

  

 

Longhouse: Sydney this August 

Longhouse Sydney: Independent Artists

With no major donors to answer to, no organisational KPI's to meet and no programming pressure to retain subscribers, independent artists create on their own terms. But what does it mean to be without ongoing support, a stable income and the validation of the wider industry? In recent years, we've seen an increase in independent Asian Australian companies and productions that have broadened the Sydney theatre scene. In this Longhouse, we explore the process of producing independently and what it takes to tell your own story. 

 

Learn from our panel of independent practitioners who thrive doing it their way:

Victoria Falconer - Co-Artistic Director of Hayes Theatre Co and Founding member of People of Cabaret       

Victoria Falconer (she/her) is a musical director, cabaret performer, multi-instrumentalist, theatre-maker and creative mentor. Recent work includes writing and composing The Vali Myers Project (Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Frank Ford Commission winner 2022); creating and hosting Smashed: The Brunch Party (Adelaide Fringe/Sydney Festival 2023); performing in The Boy Who Talked To Dogs (Slingsby/State Theatre SA); and musical direction on Godspell (Hayes Theatre Co), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (Sydney WorldPride), Lizzie (Sydney Festival), Leap (Riverside) and M'ap Boule (utp/Perforning Lines). 

Previous credits include Oklahoma! (Black Swan State Theatre), Once (Darlinghurst Theatre Company), Courtney Act (London), and Sasquatch The Opera (by Roddy Bottom of Faith No More).

Victoria has received nominations for Sydney Theatre Awards and Green Room Awards for musical direction. She won Best Cabaret at Adelaide Fringe twice (2018/2011) and Spirit of the Fringe with feminist extravaganza Glittery Clittery (Edinburgh Fringe 2018). 

At the end of 2022 she was appointed Co-Artistic Director of Hayes Theatre Co alongside Richard Carroll, and was also named one of the 40 Under 40: Most Influential Asian-Australians in the arts industry. Victoria is a founding member of The People of Cabaret, an initiative formed to advocate for performing artists identifying as Indigenous and/or Bla(c)k and/ or People of Colour. 

 

Tiffany Wong - Founder and Artistic Director of Slanted Theatre

Tiffany Wong is an actor and director working across Gadigal and Wurundjeri lands. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of Slanted Theatre which aims to showcase and support emerging Asian Australian theatre-makers and presents shows with all Asian or predominantly Asian casts and crews. In three years, Slanted has worked with over 100 Asian-Australian artists and was featured as a Champion of the Asian Australian 2022 List. 

For Slanted, Tiffany is currently directing ‘Boom’, an Australian Premiere of Jean Tay's work to be presented at KXT on Broadway. She also directed ‘Short Blanket,’ a world premiere by Matt Bostock, ‘Lady Precious Stream’ by S. I Hsiung at The Flying Nun at Brand X – testing the concept of meshing traditional Peking Opera with Western performance styles, ‘Three Fat Virgins Unassembled’ by Ovidia Yu for KXT Storylines & Slanted Theatre, and the debut production for Slanted of ‘Ching Chong Chinaman’ by Lauren Yee. 

She is currently the Directorial Assistant to Richard Carroll on ‘Murder for Two’ at the Hayes Theatre Co. She has also been Assistant Director to Courtney Stewart for the Sydney Theatre Company's ‘Top Coat’, Lucy Clements for New Ghosts Theatre Company's ‘Iphigenia In Splott’, and Javaad Alipoor for National Theatre of Parramatta's ‘Things Hidden Since The Foundation Of The World’. 

Aside from directing, Tiffany is also an actor and made her professional onstage debut playing Juliet in William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (Australian Shakespeare Company) earlier this year at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. She will be making her professional film debut in ‘Five Blind Dates’ (Prime Video & Goalpost Pictures) to be released in 2024. She is a proud member of Actors Equity. 

 

Piumi Wijesundara - Former Co-Artistic Director of Stages Theatre Group (Sri Lanka)

Piumi Wijesundara is a Sri Lankan theatre artist currently based in Sydney, Australia. She is a theatre director, teaching artist, writer, and actor who strives to create socially conscious theatre. With over 7 years of professional experience and exposure both in Sri Lanka and internationally, Piumi is a passionate theatre practitioner. Her emphasis lies on original and research-based devised theatre, community theatre, and youth-led theatre. Piumi has credits in producing, directing, acting, writing, and advocacy. She has written and directed award-winning devised youth theatre productions in Sri Lanka, and her most recent production was a devised ensemble play based on stories of migration on the island, staged in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Formerly the Co-Artistic Director of Stages Theatre Group, a renowned ensemble theatre company in Sri Lanka, Piumi is currently working as a Program Manager, Children and Young People at the National Institute of Dramatic Arts (NIDA) while continuing her practice as a devised theatre maker independently.

 

Join us afterwards, for drinks and nibbles catered by renowned Korean Food Exprert, TV Chef, Food Writer, Culinary Instructor and Double Delicious performer, Heather Jeong who has curated a special menu based on the Longhouse event. 

 

BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL. CLICK HERE TO GRAB YOUR TICKETS NOW. 

THURSDAY 17 AUGUST  |  6.00PM  
Carriageworks, 245 Wilson St Eveleigh NSW 

 

 

 

  

Longhouse with
Arts House, Melbourne 

 

Conversations on Experimental Art-Making and Queer Solidarities

Join us for a feast for the mind and body as CAAP partners with Arts House, Melbourne for the first time to present a lively evening of food, conversation and Mahjong.

Hosted by James Ngyuen, who will lead fellow Asian Australian artists - Harry Lee Shang Lun, Elyas Alavi, Kianna Devine Orricci through a discussion of risk-taking, community building and queer solidarities. This event will also be joined by Artistic Director Tessa Leong.

Refreshments will be served following the discussion. 

 

TUESDAY 23 MAY  |  7.00 - 9.00PM  
Arts House - North Melbourne Town Hall, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne

THIS EVENT HAS NOW FINISHED. 

 

 

 

 

Longhouse: Sydney @ Carriageworks

Cultural Consultancy 

Write what you know, they say. When a production needs a cultural consultant, is it an indication they shouldn’t be telling that story? Or is it a significant step towards inclusion, representation and ultimately more authentic storytelling? Where do we draw the line between necessary research -vs- exploiting an unknown domain for the sake of novelty? 

In this Longhouse we centre the conversation on the experiences of practitioners in the field of cultural consultancy - what they’ve learned, where they think it’s going and how it's evolving in the industry. This year we’re exploring more challenging topics and themes affecting Asian Australians in the industry. Does the emergence of cultural consultancy make you feel hopeful or cynical? Join us for this exciting Longhouse: Sydney panel discussion facilitated by Longhouse Coordinator Happy Feraren who will be joined by artists Mayu Iwasaki, Kenneth Moraleda and Pearl Tan. 

 

Mayu Iwasaki 
Hailing from Tokyo, Japan, Mayu Iwasaki is an award-winning actor, puppeteer, theatre-maker and cultural consultant bilingual in Japanese and English who is currently based in Sydney. She is an inaugural creative associate of Monkey Baa Theatre Company since 2020, for which she wrote an original puppet show “Little Bozu and Kon Kon” based on Japanese folklore. Mayu is a graduate of the Atlantic Theatre Conservatory and trained extensively with the SITI Company in New York. In 2018 Mayu first appeared on Australian television as the lead character in the Top Knot Detective on SBS. Mayu has been collaborating with several theatres and arts & community organisations internationally as a cultural advisor, playwright, translator and movement director.   

Kenneth Moraleda 
Kenneth Moraleda is director, actor and writer of Filipino descent. He was part of the STC/CAAP Directing Initiative in 2020-22. For STC he was Assistant Director for Playing Beatie Bow, The Deep Blue Sea How to Rule the World, and directed Rough Draft #48 - Hubris and Humiliation.  He co-founded the company kwento, producing three shows in their 2022 slate, in which he directed Ate Lovia (Old Fitz) and The Marriage Agency (KXT) followed by Co-Writing and Directing One Hour No Oil (KXT) which garnered him a Best Director in an Independent Production nomination. Other directing credits include They Say She’s Different (Melbourne Fringe/Adelaide Cabaret Festival), Eat Me: Blowback (NIDA), co-directing the opera Chop Chef, (Blush Opera/Riverside Theatres), developments of Lola! A New Musical (Hayes) Na’s Marriage Agency(Next In Line) The Grocer (PWA/Belvoir) and readings of Gamers for Life (Martin Lysicrates Prize), Daddy by Jeremy O. Harris and Office Hour by Julia Cho (kxteethcutting). He was a collaborating artist in the works This Here. Land. (Liveworks) and Within and Without (PSpace/Blacktown Arts). Kenneth was also a teacher and facilitator for Playwriting and a participant writer in Performance 4a/PWA Lotus First Draft Program.

Proud member of MEAA since graduating from NIDA. 

Pearl Tan 
Pearl Tan is the Discipline Lead in Directing at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS). She is the Vice President of New Media on the Australian Directors Guild (ADG) Board and was previously the NSW Chapter Head for the ADG. In 2020, Pearl was listed in the 40 Under 40 Most Influential Asian-Australian Awards and was named the most influential in the Arts and Culture category. She was Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the Equity Diversity Committee within the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) and held positions on the MEAA Board and the National Performers Committee (NPC) for Actors Equity. 

Pearl is currently completing her PhD in Creative Practice at the University of New South Wales, where her research focus is on the experience of diverse creatives in the screen industry. As part of her PhD, she will release a fictional podcast entitled Diversity Work in 2023.

 

THURSDAY 27 APRIL  |  6.00PM  |  Track 12 Carriageworks, 245 Wilson St Eveleigh NSW 

Refreshments will be served after the panel, we encourage participants to stay on to network and continue the conversation.  

*Ticket fees are used to cover catering and other related costs. Please reach out if you would like to attend and need a complimentary ticket. 

 

THIS EVENT HAS NOW FINISHED.