ATLANTIC PACIFIC THEATRE is an independent theater & creative storytelling company that crafts narratives for the theatre & cinema, public history programs, and community-engaged experiences for and with communities of color. Through formal experiments and partnership-driven projects, APT aims to enhance visibility, awareness, and understanding around POC histories and identities in local and transnational contexts. The company's underpinning values of cross cultural exchange and pluralism center our work on intimate polycultural experiences that reach across geographical and socially constructed borders.
Recent accomplishments include: 2018 Artist-in-Residence at Downtown Art; 2021 Laundromat Project Creative Action Fund recpient; 2021 NET/TEN Virtual Explorations Grantee. APT was recently featured in "Applied Theatre with Youth: Education, Engagement, Activism" (2021); and in write Vina Orden’s article “Black Henry: Charting New Ways Forward in Filipino History” in CUNY Forum AAARI Volume 9:1 (2021-22)
In 2021 the company has embraced the potentials of virtual theatre-making as a means for amplifying access to non-traditional audiences and global community-building efforts. Thus far APT has produced the virtual presentation of Luis H. Francia's play "Black Henry" directed by Claro de los Reyes and in partnership with NYU King Juan Carlos I Center and Sulo: Philippine Studies Initiative at NYU. Additionally, APT also launched its annual virtual short play festival "Island Table Series: A Play Festival Presenting a Menu of Short Plays Inspired by Global Cuisine and History”.
In 2023 APT obtained the Dramatist Guild Foundation community partnership
Claro de los Reyes, Founder & Director
Claro is an actor, filmmaker, playwright, educator, and a social practice theatre artist. He was born in Metro Manila, Philippines and raised throughout the United States, living in the San Francisco Bay Area, Miami-Dade, New England, and New York City. He is a graduate of the Fordham College at Lincoln Center theatre program where he studied Acting.
As an actor Claro was recently in the cast of the hit action film PLANE (Lionsgate) opposite Gerard Butler and Mike Colter. Additionally he has performed with NY theater companies that include NAATCO, Pan Asian Rep, Leviathan Lab, and International WOW. He has had the honor of co-creating theatre alongside community members in NYC, Minnesota, the Philippines, and Rwanda. Recent accomplishments include: The Laundromat Project Create Change artist commission; National Artists Strategies Creative Community Fellow; Downtown Art Artist-in-Residence; Epic Theatre Ensemble’s Spotlight Playwriting Commission. His work as a theatre-based educator in "Citizen Artists: A Guide to Helping Young People Make Plays That Change the World" (2021) and "Applied Theatre with Youth: Education, Engagement, Activism" (2021) .
His plays have been workshopped by Leviathan Lab and at the Virgin LabFest 2020 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Claro is a member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab. In 2023 he received the Outstanding Artist Award from FANHS-MNY. www.clarodelosreyes.com
Lydia Gaston-Greenberg, Associate Artist
Lydia is a New York actor and teaching artist. She holds an MA in Applied Theatre (School for Professional Studies, CUNY) and a B.A. in Theatre and Dance (Empire State College, SUNY). From 2012 to 2015 she was an adjunct professor at SUNY, Old Westbury, NY and along with Claro de los Reyes was part of the educational initiative with Leviathan lab in New York (PS 124, Playmaking Project). Lydia was a member of Ballet Philippines and has performed on B'way (The King and I, Miss Saigon, Jerome Robbins' B'way) and off-Bway, creating roles with Ma-Yi Theatre Group, NAATCO and Pan Asian Rep. TV credits include guest appearances in The Path (HULU) and The Sopranos (HBO). www.lydiagaston.com
Brisa Areli Muñoz, Associate Artist
Brisa Areli Muñoz is a chicanx director, facilitator & educator. Originally from the Rio Grande Valley, she is based out of Brooklyn, New York. She is an ensemble member of Atlantic Pacific Theatre, Artistic Director of the Applied Theatre Collective & Manager of Community Partnerships for Public Works of The Public Theater. She is a creative and strategic thinker with expertise in experiential learning, innovative problem-solving and liberatory education practices. Brisa is passionate about using art as a tool to motivate, activate & transform and is deeply committed to exploring the ways arts-based strategies can provoke social consciousness, community development and civic engagement. She has facilitated workshops across the country and internationally in Boston, Colorado, Tennessee, Texas, Chicago, New York City, Iraq and Romania.
Laura Cabochan, Associate Artist
Laura Cabochan, Born and raised in Metro Manila, Laura Cabochan (she/her) is a Chinese-Filipino community artist and educator currently based in New York City. She is a graduate of CUNY-School of Professional Studies’ MA in Applied Theatre Program and is currently a Steinhardt doctoral candidate in the Educational Theatre Program of New York University. She has collaborated and continues to work with various communities and institutions, ranging from public schools to senior centers. She collaborates with Asian and Asian-American communities by supporting their community building efforts through artistic means. She first worked with the Atlantic Pacific Theatre in My Baryo, My Borough.
Precious Sipin, Associate Artist
Precious Sipin is an NYC based actor and teaching artist. A believer of continuous learning and the upliftment of black,brown,indigenous, and native communities. A believer of continuous learning, Precious has done outreach in Nicaragua and Ghana, working in solidarity with the communities on education, the Arts, and women's rights. Some credits include- Film/TV: Going in Style (dir. Zach Braff), Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee Off Broadway: Daniel (MCC Youth Theater) NY Theater: Manna-Hata (Peculiar Works Project), Chains (True Stages Theatre Company), The Journey Of A Brown Girl (dir. Jana Lynne Umipig), Tagalogue at the Nuyorican Poets Café (solo show: DALAGA), UnDressing the Fragments (WOW Cafe Theatre), How to Build a Forest (PearlDamour), Bye Bye Birdie! (Harlem Repertory Theatre), Swoony Planet (dir. Mia Katigbak), Wedding Band (dir. Daniel Alexander Jones). For updates and contact info, visit www.PreciousSipin.com
Marion Lopez, Associate Artist & Educator
Marion Lopez is a native New York theater educator, performer and director- creating and collaborating for over a decade. She was nominated for Best Actress in a feature film at the LIIFE film expo and has performed at a variety of notable theaters and festivals such as La MaMa ETC and the International Hispanic Theater Festival of Miami. She is a founding member of Sinteatro-Intimus, focused on creating original theatrical work inspired by the socio-political landscape of various Latin communities. She made her directorial debut with the family drama “Alpha 66” which explored the consequences for siblings who found themselves opposite sides of the Cuban Revolution at Theatre for the New City. As a teaching artist, she works with the Creative Arts Team, Opening Act, People’s Theatre Project and the New York City Children’s Theatre. She holds a MA in Applied Theater from the CUNY School of Professional Studies.
Shamila McBean, Associate Artist & Curriculum Development
Shamilia is an applied theatre practitioner, vocalist, facilitator & herbalist using her mediums to co-create liberatory community spaces. Inspired by familial and communal ancestors, she seeks to continue the legacy of healing, artistry and liberatory practice championed by her foreparents. She believes in art-making to inspire learning, spark movement, preserve culture and build community. In her practice, she focuses on immersive, participatory engagement with stories of transition, transgression, healing, love and liberation in marginalized communities. Shamilia is an alum of Urban Bush Women’s Summer Leadership Institute (2014), received the National Association of Black Storytellers’ Cowtail Switch Award (2015) & was a 2016 Laundromat Project Create Change Fellow. You can keep up with her projects at shamilia.com.
Robert M. Thaxton-Stevenson, Associate Artist
Robert M. Thaxton-Stevenson is a Brooklyn-based theatre maker and educator. Recent performance credits include: The Kavanaugh Files (Geva), Up & Away (Trusty Sidekick Theater Company) and The Last Coin (Spellbound Theatre). As a designer, he has recently worked with the Metropolitan Opera Guild, Bluelaces Theater Company, Edward R. Murrow HS, and the United Nations Int’l School. www.robertmstevenson.com
Alex Tarampi, Resident Visual Artist
ADVISORY BOARD
Marjuan Canady
Gwendolen Hardwick
Caroline Kyungah Hong
Lynn Pono
Betty Yu