Leslie Ishii, Perseverance Theatre’s artistic director, will receive the 2025 Paul Robeson Award at a June ceremony in New York City. The prestigious Robeson award was announced in April, then earlier this month Ishii also received the Zelda Fichandler Award for directing.
“First of all, I am just surprised, humbled and, as you can imagine, just feel so honored,” she said.
Given by the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation, the Zelda Fichandler Award honors directors who display creativity and investment in a particular region or community. The late Zelda Fichandler was known as a pioneer of the regional and nonprofit theater movement.
“Sometimes you want to make theater in your own community for, you know, for its own good, and its own purpose and intention, and for the good of the artists right there, you know, in your own public, your own community,” Ishii said.
Fichandler’s legacy is uniquely intertwined in Perseverance Theatre’s history. The founder of Perseverance, Molly Smith, went on to become the artistic director at Arena Stage Theater in Washington, D.C., which was co-founded by Fichandler.
“There’s some beautiful kind of synergy there. I think it’s coming full circle,” Ishii said.
Director Leslie Ishii, right, works with actress Jennifer Bobiwash during Perseverance Theatre’s production of “Devilfish” written by Vera Starbard on Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
For Ishii, the Paul Robeson Award brings back memories of her childhood in Seattle. Ishii saw one of her first musicals, “The Wiz,” at the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Center with her brother. There, she saw a plaque commemorating Paul Robeson’s accomplishments.
“And I remember reading about him and how incredible he was as an artist, accomplishing many firsts as a black artist,” she said. “And then also how he was an activist in his community, making sure folks had freedom of expression, standing in it for his communities, against racism, and supporting people’s creativity like he had been able to experience.”
The Robeson Award is given jointly by the Actors Equity Association, a union, and the Actors Equity Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports professional actors. The award focuses on leveraging theater beyond the stage to promote freedom of expression and conscience to communities.
Ishii’s former colleague, Carmen Morgan, also received the Paul Robeson Award. Ishii worked in Morgan’s artEquity program, which provides training in equity and inclusion to theater personnel. Ishii is currently a National Faculty Member at artEquity.
“If you can incorporate these things right, you’ll retain your workers, your staff, you’ll produce exciting work,” she said.
Community support is an important tenet for Ishii. As a fourth-generation Japanese American, she remembers her parents and grandparents experiencing food insecurity in internment camps during World War II. Growing up, Ishii’s parents started volunteer meal programs to unite their community.
“I kind of grew up knowing this is just sort of what you do in community, with community, you know, for community, and it’s just been something I’ve continued on with,” Ishii said.
After the COVID-19 pandemic, Ishii started serving hot lunches to students at Perseverance’s STAR program, a summer theater arts program for Juneau youth.
“It’s joyful to watch children and families be able to enjoy a meal together,” she said. “Just brings us back together.”
Leslie Ishii, Perseverance Theatre’s artistic director, after a meeting at the White House with artistic directors Oskar Eustis of the The Public Theatre and Christopher Moses of the Alliance Theatre. (Photo provided by Leslie Ishii)
Ishii is strongly involved in the community and has spearheaded a number of community events and programs, including the Stalker Awareness/Prevention program. Ishii was inspired by a training session facilitated by Jeni Brown, a Lingít artist and activist. After the session, she offered the training to the cast and crew during rehearsals of “Cold Case.” The play discusses the issues of Missing and Murdered Indigenous People in Alaska, following the story of an Iñupiaq woman fighting to recover her aunt’s body from an Anchorage morgue.
“I consider the theater a learning space. It’s certainly a place where you can also feel entertained by it, because playwrights are so clever, they’ll entertain you while they’re helping you learn about something very important, you know,” she said.
Ishii hopes to continue the trend of impactful plays, especially in what she considers a pivotal period. She said she’s excited to be producing theater at a time “when the revitalization movement of Alaska Natives for their art, culture, language traditions, or ways of life are really being revitalized.”
Currently, Perseverance is commissioning translations of plays into various Alaska Native languages as well as Native Hawaiian languages. A Lingít opera workshop is also planned for early June.
• Ellie Ruel can be contacted via editor@juneauempire.com.
