In 1989, two actors, Richard Eng and Mia Katigbak, founded the National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO) in response to the lack of opportunities for Asian Americans in American theatre. At a time when diversity was being celebrated, we found ourselves severely limited, forced to conform to ethnic stereotypes in dramatic representation, having to contend with being the “token ethnic” in productions that could then boast of being cross/multi/trans/intercultural. We had to contend with the fact that what was then considered the very fundamental and basic American theatrical repertory, the classics of the western canon, was not available to us, unless we followed the standard prescription of “Asianizing” our presentations.

We presented European and American classics as written, with all-Asian American casts, giving our directors freedom to innovate, as long as they did not reset the plays in an Asian cultural context. Not because this was illegitimate, but because it was limiting, and it often reinforced and perpetuated the stereotypic representations of Asian Americans on stage.

After seven years of cultivating the interest and support of Asian American actors and other theatre practitioners, we decided to recalibrate and reassess our purpose. We knew what we wanted to do, but we wanted to clarify and focus on why and how we did our work. In August 1996, a Positioning Statement was drawn up to serve as a guidepost to ensure our continued development and relevance.

We set out to address two critical needs: to provide opportunities for Asian American actors, directors, designers, and technicians; and to actively develop and encourage Asian Americans to become a significant part of a more diverse audience in American theatre. We believe that our work has a critical impact on the non-Asian American segment of our audiences as well, cultivating in them an appreciation of Asian American contributions to the development of theatre arts in America.

Given the dearth of performance opportunities, we were well aware of the production conditions that characterized the kinds of projects that were the norm for us. Theatre is fraught with anxiety and insecurity under the best of circumstances, and it seemed that the lower the budget, the higher the levels of stress. We determined to strive for conditions marked by carefully matched artists, rehearsal and production environments as free of conflict as possible, and interactions marked by civility.

To this day, these foundational purposes have guided our growth and development, allowing us to respond to the times through the extension of our repertories and activities, and the expansion of our areas of interests and geographical reach. This excerpt from final paragraph from the 1996 Positioning Statement remains true to our core:

To continue what we are doing is paramount. To be able to do so with financial security is preferrable. It would be greatly rewarding to produce where cost is not necessarily the issue, but artistry is; to have audiences who are at least half Asian American; to be recognized for good, solid work; to have the theatre play a significant role in the disintegration of the divisiveness that continues to mark our society today.

The National Asian American Theatre Co., Inc. (NAATCO) is a tax exempt (501(c)3) not-for-profit organization formed in 1989.

Our mission is to assert the presence and significance of Asian American theatre in the United States, demonstrating its vital contributions to the fabric of American culture. To do this, we present under the following programs:

NAATCO puts into service its total commitment to Asian American theatre artists to represent onstage more accurately the multi- and intercultural dynamics of our society. We demonstrate a rich tapestry of cultural difference bound by the American experience. The enrichment accrues to each different culture as well as to America as a whole.

The superimposition of our Asian faces on a non-Asian repertory, our interpretation of the western classical canon using diverse and truly universal references, and our innovations on all aspects of American theatre reflect and emphasize the kinship among disparate cultures by representing Everyperson in an Asian American body. We do not say we are all the same, we say that we have quite large areas of understanding. We also say that affirmations of timeless values and new insights about the world we live in can come from unexpected faces.