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May Adrales

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Filipino theater director

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May Adrales
BornCovington, Virginia, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Virginia (BA)
Yale University (MFA)
Occupation(s)Director
Teacher
Websitewww.mayadrales.net

May Adrales, whose full name is Jocelyn May Divinagracia Adrales, is a Filipina American theatre director and teacher in New York City.

Early life

May Adrales was born in Covington, Virginia to Filipino immigrant parents. Her mother was a nurse, her father was a general surgeon, and both moved from medical training and residencies in New York to rural Virginia to fill a need for medical professionals. When she was younger, she loved to run, and she still continues this hobby today. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Modern Studies from University of Virginia, and her Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the Yale School of Drama.

Career

When asked what inspired her to go into directing, she said, "Be the change you wish to see in the world. I took that adage pretty seriously. I wanted to figure out how to make the world a more joyous, more democratic, and more beautiful place -– a world that embraces complexity, creativity and diversity on every level". She originally wanted to go into law, but eventually found theatre. Even then, though, she was faced with a challenge of access; when she first moved to New York, she had no formal training nor contacts in the business. Additionally, in her words, "For the most part there weren’t stories that reflected my experience or people on stage that looked like me. Theater felt impenetrable". Eventually, in part with the support of a community and a mentor, she became an award-winning professional director, teacher, and artist.

Reception

Vietgone

In 2016, Adrales directed Vietgone, by Qui Nguyen, at the Manhattan Theatre Club. The show features two Vietnamese refugees who meet in America in 1975, during the fall of Saigon. The production was well-received, earning three Lucille Lortel Award nominations, as well as several rave reviews. The New Yorker mentioned "its resourceful director, May Adrales," in talking about the "gleefully salacious quasi-musical". The Los Angeles Times said that the show was "directed with controlled spunk by May Adrales". Time Out New York, a city-culture promotion website, said, "May Adrales’s high-octane staging moves so swiftly and surely, you may not initially appreciate the buckets of stagecraft she and Nguyen throw at us scene after scene".

Chinglish

In early 2014, Adrales directed Chinglish, a comedy about cross-cultural communication (or lack thereof) at the Portland Center Stage. This too was well-received. The Oregon Artswatch says, "The show, directed by May Adrales, is as smooth as its revolving scene changes, capturing a brittle and deftly timed presentational comic edge in its performances and navigating the tricky shoals of its bilingual text (about a quarter of the dialogue is in Mandarin, with English supertitles) without an apparent hitch".

Awards

  • Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation’s Denham Fellowship
  • TCG New Generations grant
  • Paul Green Emerging Theatre Artist Award
  • Directing fellowships:
    • New York Theatre Workshop
    • Women's Project
    • SoHo Rep
    • The Drama League

Teaching

  • Director of On Site Programs at the Lark Play Development Center
  • Artistic Associate for The Public Theater
  • Associate Artistic Director for Milwaukee Repertory Theatre
  • Faculty member for
    • The Public Theater’s Shakespeare Lab
    • The Einhorn School of Performing Arts at Primary Stages
    • Brown University/Trinity Rep
    • Yale School of Drama

Selected list

  • Vietgone, by Qui Nguyen
  • Luce, by JC Lee at the Lincoln Center Theater
  • Dance and the Railroad, by David Henry Hwang, at the Signature Theater
  • Tokyo Fish Story, by Kimber Lee (upcoming), at the Old Globe Theater
  • Electric Baby, by Stefanie Zadravec, at the Two River Theater
  • after all the terrible things I do, by A. Rey Pamatmat, at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater
  • Chinglish, by David Henry Hwang, at the Portland Center Stage
  • Breath and Imagination, by Daniel Beaty, at the Cleveland Playhouse
  • Deathtrap, by Ira Levin, at the Pioneer Theatre

References

  1. ^ "Moguls of the World: May Adrales, Fiercely Talented Director Who Is Paving the Way for Women Worldwide". MOGUL. March 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  2. Cubria, Bernardo. "On and Off with May Adrales". Bernardo Cubria. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  3. ^ "Milwaukee Repertory Theater Names May Adrales as New Associate Artist Director". Urban Milwaukee. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  4. "Bio". MAY ADRALES. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  5. "2017 Nominees". The Lucille Lortel Awards. The Off-Broadway League. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  6. "Goings on About Town". The New Yorker. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  7. McNulty, Charles (October 13, 2015). "'Vietgone' is a journey of intersecting lives after the fall of Saigon". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  8. Cote, David (October 25, 2016). "Theater review: Qui Nguyen's Vietgone is sexy, sassy, two-fisted fun". Time Out. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  9. "CHINGLISH". Portland Center Stage. July 2013. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  10. Hicks, Bob (January 21, 2014). "Not-so-innocent Americans abroad". Oregon Artswatch. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  11. ^ "May Adrales". Yale School of Drama. Yale University. Archived from the original on March 18, 2017.
  12. "Goings on About Town". The New Yorker.
  13. Isherwood, Charles (November 14, 2013). "Once Their Son, Now a Riddle". The New York Times. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  14. Feingold, Michael (February 27, 2013). "The Irish Battle in Katie Roche and Donnybrook!, Chinese-Americans in Hwang's Dance and the Railroad". The Village Voice.
  15. Hebert, James (June 3, 2016). "'fish story' spare yet immersive". The San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  16. Sommers, Michael (April 27, 2013). "The Magic That Storytelling Can Do". The New York Times.
  17. Fischer, Mike. "Rep's world premiere 'after all the terrible things I do' smart, sensitive". Tap Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  18. Hicks, Bob (January 21, 2014). "Not-so-innocent Americans abroad". Oregon Artswatch. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  19. Abelman, Bob (February 25, 2014). "'Breath and Imagination' has both rolled into 90 minutes". Cleveland Jewish News. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
  20. Hinton, Tyler. "BWW Reviews: Pioneer Theatre Company's DEATHTRAP is a Tightly Wound Ticking Clock of a Production". Broadway World. Retrieved April 17, 2017.
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