Fiji Theater Company Inc dba Ping Chong and Company

FY25 was the final year of a planned three-year transition period.New work and public presentations in FY25 included:minor b by Nile Harris, member of the Interim Artistic Leadership Team (2022 - 2025) and Pink Fangs FY26 Resident Artist, premiered at The Shed on August 8-10, 2024. The work had 3 free performances, all of which reached sold out capacity. Harris and his ensemble used the biography of early 20th century jazz cornetist Buddy Bolden, who spent the majority of his life in a mental asylum, as a launching point to stage a series of discrete events rejecting and subverting minor black behavior that refuses capitalization and respectability.Temporary Boyfriend, by Malcolm-x Betts and Nile Harris, premiered at The Chocolate Factory January 11-16 2025 as part of the Under the Radar Festival with scenic and technical direction by Dyer Rhoads and sound design by Geng PTP. Two additional shows were added after the original run sold out within minutes. Betts and Harris staged the nuanced poetics of their long-term collaboration, mining the friction and intrigue at the pith of their connection in an improvisatory duet of which Daniella Brito (Brooklyn Rail) commented, throughout Temporary Boyfriend, the question is no longer can life be art? It is, when is life not art? From the kinship of ancestors lost to the AIDS epidemic, to contemporary manifestations of ephemeral gay brotherhood, Temporary Boyfriend presented an intimate portrait of the aesthetics of proximity and estrangement. Uncovery: P_____G: In June 2025, Pink Fang revealed the public outcome of our three-year journey delving into the heart of the companys identity at a launch event held at La MaMas Galleria space. With a full-scale visual arts installation designed by Resident Artist Nile Harris and a gathering song by collaborating artist Troy Anthony of the Fire Ensemble that invited a moment of collective gratitude, Uncovery introduced the companys new name, mission, and leadership structure, through performance as a participatory happening. This event drew an enthusiastic capacity crowd of over 150 community members. Additional ActivitiesIn addition to public performances, Pink Fang supported ongoing development of The Table by Mei Ann Teo (Artistic Director, New Work) and Erika Chong Shuch, with dramaturgy by Tomi Tsunoda. The Table grapples with our drive to push and press and pursue, and the unfillable craving it feeds rather than satisfying. It embodies the exertions and contortions that result - sometimes painful, sometimes absurd, often both - and wonders: what might happen when we stop? Manifested through sound, human movement, and mundane objects, The Table confronts a battle fought with the weapons and on the battlegrounds of insatiability, consumption, and grief. The work had two week-long developmental workshops, with invited sharings of work in progress.In FY25 initial development also took place for Memory Generation, a new experiential theater work which invites reflection on aging, isolation and connection, place and belonging. Conceived and created by Sara Zatz (Artistic Director, Engagement) in collaboration with Detroit-based theater director, producer and educator Sherrine Azab (A Host of People), Memory Generation is inspired by her own family history and experience as a caregiver for a parent with dementia. Building on the direct experiences of people with dementia and caregivers, the work explores both the unexpected losses as well as moments of humor and joy that arise when dementia impacts individuals, families, and communities. Memory Generation performances will integrate the concept of Memory Cafes (unique creative and social spaces for people with dementia and their caregivers) with Pink Fangs Undesirable Elements methodology of creating theatrical work from the personal experiences and histories of participants, incorporating techniques designed to accommodate memory limitations.Developmental workshops continued in FY25 for The Truth Beneath by Talvin Wilks and Paul Berman, with contributing writer Cherry Lou Sy. The Truth Beneath, is a fractured narrative about memory, politics, social media, disinformation, and the fragility of democracy rooted in the life and work of Filipino-American journalist Maria Ressa (2021 Nobel Peace Prize recipient). Workshops took place from March 11-14th at Downtown Arts, and May 31-June 3, at the Wooster Groups Performing Garage, both with a cast of 8 performers, culminating with invited sharings of the work in progress. In Arts Education, Pink Fangs 10-week in-class residency program served more than 1,500 public school students through residencies, after-school programs, and performances in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens. Activities included a mixture of writing, oral storytelling, and theater exercises designed to build expressive performance skills and to celebrate the power of theatrical storytelling to build empathy across diverse experiences, with activities in English, Spanish, Mandarin, (based on school need). All residencies incorporated final culminating performances.