Arts

April 25, 2025 0

Eddie Ahn Draws From His Life as an ‘Advocate’: Artist Chats About Creating Graphic Novel

During the height of Covid in 2020, environmental policy advocate Eddie Ahn started what he thought was just a pandemic project — posting snippets of his comic book memoir to social media. The posts — about career anxieties, the bumpy road to artistic success, and growing up Korean American with industrious immigrant parents — resonated with readers. And then his comic strips took off. The original goal was to develop a series of short stories for the small but well-respected […]

April 25, 2025 0

‘No One Can Walk It For You’ – Iranian-American Haleh Liza Gafori to Appear in Hub to talk about Her Translation Life

by Kevin A. Mani

Haleh Liza Gafori had the offer of a lifetime. And then she said no. Gafori was one of the lucky few to get accepted into Harvard Medical School. But instead, the Iranian-American writer and translator decided to pursue her true passion: The arts. “It’s a pity,” her mother said recently, holding a framed copy of her daughter’s acceptance letter. Instead, Gafori earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from the City College of New York.Now, years later, […]

April 25, 2025 0

‘Beastly’ Is Poignant But Fails to Address Elephant in the Room

by Virginia Sun

The one-woman theater performance Beastly: An Autobiographical Feminist Folk Tale at the Boston Center for the Arts opens in a not-too-distant dystopian future where oil tycoons rule while the world burns. Melissa Hale Woodman, who created and starred in Beastly, delves into female sexuality, identity, and aging, while connecting these autobiographical experiences with critiques of patriarchy, corporate greed, and climate crisis. The show is told through interwoven short personal monologues with Woodman dressing up as animals to tell fables in […]

April 25, 2025 0

‘A Man of No Importance’ at Speak Easy Theater Compassionately Explores Queer Life

by Virginia Sun

The musical A Man of No Importance, set in 1960s Dublin, delved thoughtfully into how love, community, and art can be spiritual bulwarks for a closeted queer person amid homophobia and conservatism. At Speakeasy Theater, this wonderfully acted and staged performance addressed queer themes of both “coming in” to oneself and coming out to the world with emotional depth, vigor, and bravery. Paul Daigneault directed this beautifully produced musical, his last show after 34 years at the helm of the […]

April 25, 2025 0

Queer Voices Festival Makes a Show of Joy, Defiance & Pride

by Harmony Witte

Amid a political push back against diversity and the rights of transgender people, the Queer Voices Festival at the Boston Center for the Arts Plaza Theater in late March brought together a diverse group of performances of pride, joy, grief – and defiance. “Gay, gay, gay!” is how opening performer Peter Mill described his evening’s song and dance show. Indeed, during his time on stage, Mill commanded the space with powerful vocals and a magnetic stage presence, performing a mix […]

April 25, 2025 0

Autism Symposium Focuses on Inclusion, Tech and Arts

by Sampan Staff

“We must learn to see not only the differences, but also the talents and admirable qualities that reside within them.” Those words, spoken by Dr. Xue-Jun June Kong, summed up the theme of this year’s Autism Awareness Symposium at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center on April 5-6. The event – held during the globally recognized Autism Awareness Month – touched on a variety of topics related to the neurological condition including uses of technology, inclusion, arts and education. More than […]

April 11, 2025 1

Double Exposure: Photographer Lisa Tang Liu explores what it means to be ‘American’

by Adam Smith

Photographer Lisa Tang Liu made a career out of taking other people’s portraits. But she was never interested in taking her own photo — not even selfies on her phone. Then Covid hit, and some old, bad feelings from her childhood began to return. Having grown up in a predominantly white suburb in New Jersey as a child, she said, she felt “a sense of shame” for being Chinese. She wanted those around her to embrace that she was as […]

April 11, 2025 0

As Some See a Taller Chinatown With New Zoning, Let’s Focus on Getting to the Right Heights

by Mingjia Chen

In the black box theater inside Chinatown’s Josiah Quincy School last month, hundreds of people reached into their little gift bags and pulled out small bottles of soap. As Dr. Heang Leung Rubin led the room in a collective wish, her voice was gentle: “Close your eyes and imagine — what could Chinatown look like in ten years?” Kids, young families, seniors, city officials and others all held their wishes in silence. Then, as bubbles filled the room, they caught […]

April 11, 2025 0

REVIEW: ‘White Poverty’ Exposes Myths of Race, Class and Democracy

by Christopher John Stephens

The triple threat Venn Diagram bubbles of race, class, and social identity have conspired to define us as a nation since our founding. As we sit on the eve of our Bisesquicentennial in 2026, Americans are more divided and disturbed than ever before. Who are we? What have we become? Is this the legacy we really want to leave behind for our children? The much discussed (but never fully owned) “Project 2025” has planted seeds and borne fruit in the […]

April 11, 2025 0

‘SenStory’ Breaks Mental Health Taboos With Performing Arts

by Virginia Sun

Elderly Chinatown residents took the stage at the Pao Arts Center last month – some sang karaoke to their favorite classic Chinese songs, a couple of them showed off their jianzi (birdie foot game) skills to the rest of their crowd, while others watched bilingual improv theater sketches in Mandarin and Cantonese. But behind the music, crafts and performing arts enjoyed by the nearly 200 participants, the March 8 event, “SenStory: Home as a Verb” contained a central theme: How […]

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