ABSTRACT
This essay introduces Velina Hasu Houston (b.1957) and selected essays from her blog matchabook (2016– ), a digital scrapbook that archives the contributions of women working in contemporary American theatre. Houston's personal narratives render a vivid picture of a mixed-race female writer's struggles at the intersection between race and gender as she had to navigate changing racial and cultural milieux from suburban Kansas, to California, to the international stage. The observations based on her lived experience in both society and theatre challenge the often abstract, monolithic understanding of multiculturalism and help us see it in ever-evolving terms. What emerges in these essays is a voice that calls for more inclusive aesthetic criteria that recognize the value and equality of different peoples and cultures and strives toward true diversity in theatre.
