During the pandemic, the LAND OF SMILES creative team worked on adapting the musical to a podcast format. With the director in Hawaii, the actors in California and New York, the writer-composer, musicians, and sound engineer in Thailand, the music supervisor in Michigan, and the sound designer in Chicago, the team recorded the prototype of two songs/scenes: http://www.landofsmilesmusical.net/media/ Podcast Prototype Creative Team:  Director: Seema Sueko Music Supervisor: David O Sound Designer: Andre Pluess Sound Engineer (Thailand): Thomas Van Ness Podcast [...]

On October 16, 2018 the creative team came together to perform new material in a working session of Land of Smiles. The cast featured: Cathy Ang as Lipoh, Jillian Louis as Emma, Gabrielle Wagner as Lewelyn, Sandra Lee as Achara, Melody Butiu as Woman 1, and Renee Albulario as Woman 2. Victor Maog directed, with music direction by David O. The working session was produced by Gregory Franklin.

Myanmar is a nation in turmoil. Still recovering from over six decades of authoritarian rule following independence from British colonialism in 1949, civil war continues to wreak havoc on the country’s ethnic areas. Despite high hopes for Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), human rights issues have remained woefully de-prioritized under the new democratically-elected government. Following the signing of a Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) by Government of Myanmar and eight Ethnic Armed Organizations (EAOs) in 2015, a [...]

Erin's new book, "Rewriting the Victim: Dramatization as Research in Thailand's Anti-Trafficking Movement" is now available from Oxford University Press' series on Gender and International Relations. About the book: The international movement against the trafficking of women, which has gained momentum over the past two decades, is driven largely by the United States, in tandem with state governments and NGO workers. Feminist organizations have played a key role in carrying out anti-trafficking policies, but are increasingly divided over what [...]

Women living in Myanmar’s conflict areas face enormous pressure from ethnic autonomous organizations to support a war effort that does not necessarily serve their interests. These pressures are subtle, and often invisible to development actors who focus on tackling intersections of gender and conflict that are more overt. As a result, advocacy efforts do not always reach women who need them most at the ground level. Building on my previous discussions of the need to see beyond the visible, and [...]