OUR MISSION

Yangtze Repertory Theatre celebrates artists who are global citizens and produce work that evokes conversations across cultures. Since 2017, we have been focusing on supporting artists from the AAPI immigrant community and developing new works that shine a light on stories rarely told.

We pride ourselves in bringing cultural sensitivity to producing works by, for and about the AAPI community and the Chinese diaspora. We position ourselves at the nexus of ideas from East and West. We strive to foster mutual understanding and bridge the gap between artists and organizations from different backgrounds.

CORE VALUES

Cultural Sensitivity

We embrace differences with our hearts and souls open. As cultural transplants, we constantly find ourselves observing and reflecting, being awed or challenged, feeling moved or transformed. We see the world in a new light that we otherwise wouldn’t have had.

Respect

Artists are vulnerable, because they are willing to share the deepest side of themselves with the rest of the world. We respect people who put themselves at risk and we are here to make them feel safe and supported.

Community

New York has become a city like no others because of its openness and diversity. We choose to build a community with like-minded people and with people whom we disagree, with people who share our experiences, and those who don’t. We believe theatre has the power to connect us all albeit being different.

OUR STORY

Yangtze (/ˈjæŋtsi/) is the name of the longest river in Asia and third longest in the world. The Chinese call it Chang Jiang, which literally means “long river.” It plays an essential role in both the spiritual and physical life of the people, not only just those who live along its banks, but those who live thousands of miles away.

Founded in 1992 by Maryknoll Sister Joanna Chan, Yangtze Repertory Theatre has been a welcoming home for artists whose work is not readily seen in the U.S. and supported them to launch their professional careers in NYC. Yangtze has been responsible for the New York debuts of many artists, most notably Gao Xingjian, the 2000 Nobel Laureate in Literature, who was brought to NY by Yangtze to direct his own play, Between Life and Death, and to present a showing of his ink paintings. To date, these events remain the only full-scale presentations of Gao’s works in the United States. In the fall of 2005, together with Columbia Promotions, Yangtze presented Beijing People’s Art Theater, China’s most historic and prestigious theater company, in its signature masterpiece, The Teahouse, in its New York debut during the company’s first U.S. tour.

River is the perfect metaphor of constant change – a river is not the same river from one moment to the next. We reckon through our work on stage - timely, relevant work that reflect the changing nature of the culturally diverse world we live in today.