By DMAE ROBERTS

In recent years, the lack of opportunities for Asian American performers and the casting of white actors for Asian roles have made headlines.

Groups such as the Asian Pacific American Performers Action Coalition have protested when Asian American actors received few roles even in Asian-inspired plays such as a 2012 production of "The Nightingale" at San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse, which hired two Asian actors for a 12-member cast. In Hollywood, white actress Scarlett Johansson was cast as the Japanese lead in next year's live-action remake of the classic Japanese animated film "Ghost in the Shell" and white actress Emma Stone was cast as a woman of Asian heritage in the 2015 film "Aloha."

ConFest highlights

Here are the six shows during the National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival Oct. 1-9 at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.

"Hot Asian Everything: A Seismic Extravaganza,"

excerpts from more than a half-dozen productions. Oct. 3, Angus Bowmer Theatre.

"Eleven Reflections on September,"

Andrea Assaf's spoken word and multimedia performance on the Arab American experience in a post-9/11 world. Oct. 4-5, Thomas Theatre.

"Empire of the Son,"

's story of two generations of broadcasters, and the radio silence between them. Oct. 4-7, Black Swan.

"Muthaland,"

's story of a young woman's life-changing trip to India, during which she discovers family secrets and her voice. Oct. 5-8, Black Swan.

"The Wong Street Journal,"

Kristina Wong's part TED Talk, part hip-hop performance, part travelogue on global poverty, privilege and economic theory. Oct. 4-5, Thomas Theatre. (Wong will also appear Oct. 13-15 and Oct. 20-23 at The Headwaters Theatre, 55 N.E. Farragut St. in Portland, as part of Boom Arts' 2016-17 season.)

"Purple Cloud,"

's story of three generations of a family dealing with their multiracial identities as they journey from China to Minneapolis and back again. Oct. 4-7, Black Swan.

These issues will be front and center when more than 300 theatre artists converge in Ashland for the National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival, organized by the Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists. Hosted by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, this year's "ConFest," which runs Oct. 1-9, has the theme "Seismic Shifts: Leading Change in the American Theater."

ConFest will present six plays sponsored by the consortium, including performance artist and comedian Kristina Wong's "The Wong Street Journal," which addresses poverty and economics, and director and cultural organizer Andrea Assaf's spoken word performance "Eleven Reflections on September," about the Arab-American experience after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

ConFest also features five staged readings of new plays and three free community performances, as part of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival's CultureFest series. The festival is producing two Asian-themed plays in its 2016 season: Qui Nguyen's "Vietgone," about Vietnamese immigrants in 1970s America, and Desdemona Chiang's Chinese-inspired staging of Shakespeare's "The Winter's Tale."

"We're very excited a major theater like OSF is hosting us," says Tim Dang, who was for 23 years the artistic director of Los Angeles' East West Players, a leading Asian American theater. He and six other theater company leaders formed the Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists in 2003.

Dang got to know the Shakespeare Festival's artistic director, Bill Rauch, when Rauch headed Los Angeles' Cornerstone Theater, and says Rauch's passion for "access and inclusion" led to this "historic partnership" to hold ConFest in Ashland.

Dang says both theatre artists and general audiences will find the ConFest performances and discussions - which will include union representation of Asian American actors, immigrant and refugee community-based theater and international collaborations - relevant to "this time in American history." He thinks the conference can be a way to "heal communities" and get people of different backgrounds talking.

"Many times it's the arts that brings us together because art is allowed to really express the way our community is feeling right now," says Dang. "And I think OSF is a really good place to have that conversation."

--Dmae Roberts, for The Oregonian/OregonLive

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National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival (ConFest)

When: Oct. 1-9

Where: Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Ashland

Tickets/passes: Tickets for staged readings and shows, $10-$35; ConFest passes, $100-$200; caata.net or osfashland.org or 800-219-8161