UPSTREAM / DOWNSTREAM
By Sam Hamashima
Directed by May Liang
A San Francisco Playhouse Zoomlet
Original air date: February 21, 2022
Featuring Gabby {G} Momah and Dennis Yen
An unlikely interaction between strangers in a park. Sometimes the most welcoming interaction in a new city comes from an unexpected place.
PLAYWRIGHT
Sam Hamashima
Sam Hamashima (them+) is a contemporary playwright especially excited by puppetry, magical realism, and “everyday magic”. Described as “serious whimsy” in the Washington Post, Hamashima creates theater for empowerment, healing, and discovery. Past commissions include Supposed Home (Seattle Public Theater), Garden State (Lyric Stage of Boston), and Shoyu Tell (Lexington Children’s Theater). Produced and/or developed by John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and National Queer Theater, among others. Proud Alum of the National YoungArts Foundation. BFA in Musical Theatre, University of Michigan. samhamashima.com @Sam Hamashima (Biography courtesy of Sam Hamashima)
DIRECTOR
May Liang
May Liang (she/hers) is the artistic director of Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company, the Asian and Asian American theater in the San Francisco Bay Area. She is also a freelance theater director/artist of color and has worked with the likes of American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theater’s Ground Floor Lab, California Shakespeare Theater, and Crowded Fire Theater (Resident Artist). May was a member of the 2017 Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab in New York City, a member of the 2019 Directors Lab Chicago and was nominated for Outstanding Direction of a Play at the 2018 Theater Bay Area Awards for Inside Out and Back Again at Bay Area Children’s Theatre. (Biography courtesy of May Liang)
ACTORS
Gabby {G} Momah
Gabby {G} Momah is an Oakland based black and queer performing artist and is a recent graduate of Stanford University. They were last seen in Killing My Lobster’s hilarious production, Hello my name is BARB! Theater credits include: Bay Area Childrens Theater, New Conservatory Theater, Those Women Productions, Stanford TAPS, Crowded Fire Theater, San Francisco Mime Troupe, Spectrum Queer Media, and Ubuntu Theater Project. Gabby is dedicated to pushing boundaries through art and social justice and is thrilled to join the Crowded Fire family as a resident artist. (Biography courtesy of Crowded Fire Theater)
Dennis Yen
Dennis is honored to take the stage once again for San Francisco Playhouse. He always relishes noodling with characters, such as Adam in Impact Theatre’s As You Like It or the Father in Ching Chong Chinaman. Dennis is a veteran Bay Area performer who was fortunate to understudy in Berkeley Rep’s Aubergine and the San Francisco Playhouse presentation of King of the Yees. Additional performances include multiple roles in the Word for Word production of Amy Tan’s Immortal Heart, and Ojichan in Contra Costa Community Theatre’s Allegiance. Dennis’ film credits include the Sundance Award winning Dopamine, the Cinequest presentation of The Cleaning Lady, and the Korean film I Can Speak. And he continues to work in the pandemic era garnering roles in a variety of indie productions that are currently in various stages of post-production editing. (Biography courtesy of Dennis Yen)
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Wera V. W.
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