About Us

 

The Sống Collective was founded by Việt Theatre artists: Carolina Đỗ (she/her), David Lee Huynh (he/him), and Jonathan Castanien (he/him), in the spring of 2019 as a response to the United States’ sharp cuts to refugee resettlement in the face of a global refugee crisis. We felt it was morally irresponsible to be the children of refugees and not recognize the similar situation these people were going through in America’s cycle of imperialism and culpable amnesia.

Our first event was a pop-up reading of Vietgone by Qui Nguyen in a vacant storefront downtown, organized to benefit the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (NNIRR), a nonprofit organization that works to defend and expand the rights of all immigrants and refugees, regardless of immigration status. From the moment we opened the doors, a community full of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color heard our call and came together to support us. At the end of the night, the question on everyone’s lips was, “what’s next?”

The word “sống” in Vietnamese means “to live”. It encompasses the fight for survival our families went through after being forced to escape from their ancestral lands and relocate elsewhere. It acknowledges that life contains a myriad of experiences, ideas, and points of view that should be honored and celebrated in its intersectionality.

The Founders

Carolina Đỗ
Carolina Đỗ
Carolina Đỗ is an actor, playwright, producer and one of the founding artistic leaders of The Sống Collective. She is the proud daughter of Việt freedom fighters, a descendant from a bloodline of anti-colonialists. A community organizer and abolitionist, she advocates for art that nourishes and facilitates healing in marginalized communities. Her acting credits: Broadway: NYT’s Critics’ Pick Linda Vista (u/s), Tony Nominated Grand Horizons (u/s). She’s worked with numerous NYC theater companies, including: PlayCo, Loading Dock, The Tank, New Dramatists, Naked Angels, New Collectives. TV/Film: FBI: Most Wanted, Law and Order: SVU, Sideways Smile (Outfest, Austin Film Festival), Aviva (SXSW), Children of The Dust, Catfight, Queens The Series. Her play, My Mother’s Daughter, was a semifinalist for Space on Ryder Farm and a 2020 finalist for BRICLab. BFA: Brooklyn College. She’s working on a tv series about badass Asian women in the restaurant industry.
carolinado.com
David Lee Huynh
David Lee Huynh
David Lee Huynh is an actor and one of the founding artistic leaders of The Sống Collective. His stage work includes the Drama Desk-nominated revival of Henry VI (NAATCO), The Merchant of Venice starring John Douglas Thompson as Shylock (Theatre for a New Audience and Shakespeare Theatre Company), a new adaptation of The Trial of the Catonsville Nine (Transport Group), as well as credits across the country with the Kennedy Center, Alley Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Mixed Blood Theatre, and others. He has been invited to work abroad in Japan, Russia, Zimbabwe, and the Czech Republic. He is among the main cast of the hit DnD podcast Encounter Party! which has charted in over 30 countries and has been featured on SyFy, Nerdist, and the official Dungeons and Dragons podcast. Film: Solitary, Children of the Dust, Roll With It. TV: Blue Bloods, FBI. He delivered a TEDx Talk on institutional racism within the entertainment industry titled Asian Enough? MFA: University of Houston Professional Actor Training Program
davidleehuynh.com
Jonathan Castanien
Jonathan Castanien
Jonathan Castanien is a stage manager, producer, and one of the founding artistic leaders of The Sống Collective. He has stage managed at companies including The Atlantic Theater Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, BAM, Lincoln Center Theater, The Public, and Artists at Play. Independently, he has produced video content, live streams, and digital events for non-profit clients, developmental play readings, and “Inflections,” a collection of five short digital plays celebrating Asian identity in the United States which was live streamed on Howlround. He has been featured on La MaMa’s LiveTalks, the Playwrights Realm’s Making Theatre: With Stage Managers panel, and Howlround’s podcast, Building Our Own Tables. He has been a guest speaker at California School of the Arts – San Gabriel Valley, Fordham University, and the Yale School of Drama. Jonathan holds a BA in Theatre Design and Production from CSU Fullerton. He is an alumnus of artEquity and was included in American Theatre Magazine’s December 2018 “People to Watch” list.
jonathancastanien.com