Food Bank Influencer

Program Book

SEP 19 — 21, 2025

Emerson Paramount Center

In an effort to reduce paper waste, we have stopped printing full show programs. Instead, we’ve created a small printed piece with the essentials that all audiences receive which then links to a complete digital program.


Dearest ArtsEmerson Friends,

We are excited to kick off ArtsEmerson’s historic 15th season here in the City of Boston and at Emerson College with the hilarious and brilliant Kristina Wong, #FoodBankInfluencer. Kristina Wong is a Doris Duke Artist Award winner, Guggenheim Fellow, and the first Asian American woman to be named a Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama. Throughout her extensive career, Kristina has established herself as a writer, actor, and comedian who is unafraid to interrogate systems and amplify the experiences of those often overlooked. In Kristina Wong, #FoodBankInfluencer, Kristina offers a timely and incisive critique of the emergency food system in the United States through humor, karaoke, and a whole lot of heart–and we are thrilled that Boston audiences get to share in this experience. 

At ArtsEmerson we often say “the art is the prompt; conversation is the point,” and as part of Kristina’s run here in Boston, we are honored to be able to uplift some incredible local organizations including the Greater Boston Food Bank, The Boston Foundation, Mayor’s Office of Food Justice, among others – who are all doing phenomenal work to combat food insecurity here in Boston and across Massachusetts. This work does not end when the curtain falls, and we hope this piece inspires our audiences to find ways to get involved and support their neighbors. 

It has been a privilege for the last 15 years to bring art to Downtown Boston that inspires, connects us across difference, and challenges us to build the world we want to see. This is all possible thanks to you and we look forward to continuing to make good on that promise this season. 

Sincerely,

Ronee Penoi Signature
Ronee Penoi
Interim Executive Director of the Office of the Arts and ArtsEmerson
Director of Artistic Programming

Show Credits

ArtsEmerson Presents Food Bank Influencer

Directed by
Jessica Hanna

Production & Stage Manager
Amanda Eno

 Written & Performed by
Kristina Wong

Music Director & Musicologist
Howard Ho

 Lighting Design by
Sam O’Dea

 Guest Appearance by
Thea Hopkins

Notes on sewn set and props pieces: Many of the pieces on the stage were sewn and designed by Kristina Wong. Many of the old school food stamps were sewn with the collective labor of audiences and crew members at our Kennedy Center residency in Summer of 2023. The Pitchfork Pantry soup can prop was completely designed and sewn by Julie Chamberlain.

Artistic Note

One fateful afternoon in 2019, I wandered into World Harvest Grocery Outlet in Los Angeles not realizing that I had stepped into a non-traditional food bank whose generous distribution model would find its way into my mutual aid work, community activism, and a new show six years later. I certainly didn’t think that said show would be a solo karaoke rom-com musical about emergency food systems.

This show comes on the heels of my last work “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord” and attempts to answer the questions I was still left with in the aftermath of leading the Auntie Sewing Squad, a 500+ day national mutual aid mask sewing effort powered by 800 volunteer Aunties: Isn’t there actually enough for everyone? Why is everything distributed wrong? What is actually killing us? Who is going to save us?

I was fortunate to receive an ASU Gammage artist residency which gave me three years to develop the piece. I’ve met with dozens of food banks, pantries, social service agencies and mutual aid efforts to research this work. I hung out with ASU’s student-led Pitchfork Pantry and had many conversations with ASU community members. I met with professors and sustainability scholars. I even got to be in conversation with Jose Andres of World Central Kitchen onstage at ASU Gammage. I’ve gotten the valuable time of the policy experts at Mazon who advance policy solutions to end hunger. I’ve also visited food security efforts on the Navajo Nation, New York State, London, Washington DC, Western Massachusetts and more. At one point during the SAG-AFTRA/ WGA double strike in LA, I initiated a months-long food giveaway at World Harvest for union members who were in need of food. I can’t possibly begin to thank every food giveaway entity I’ve encountered in this development process, every nuanced moment I’ve witnessed, every food insecurity factoid I’ve been told, but I so greatly appreciate everyone who took time to meet with me as I figured out what the story was of emergency food and how to make it this show.

I was introduced to Germaine Simonson, owner of the Rocky Ridge Gas Station and Market located in a rural part of the Navajo Nation by Arizona State Senator Theresa Hatathlie-Delmar whose mutual aid network Navajo Hopi Families Covid-19 Relief Fund worked with the Auntie Sewing Squad in the pandemic. One of the original paths this show was going to take was not a theatrical show, but instead, a handsewn fabric installation inside her gas station market that would have pointed visitors to more indigenous foodways. This would have been a collaborative project with local seamstresses to help visitors to the market imagine what food sovereignty is. The market had to close because of weather damage and we pivoted to a ribbon skirt sewing workshop in July of 2023. While I am sad we could not see the original fabric installation through, I hope some seeds of that time have shown up in this show. I also hope we find ways to collaborate together in the future.

I read many books on emergency food while researching this work. The most impactful texts were Janet Poppendieck’s Sweet Charity and Andrew Fisher’s Big Hunger. I had the great fortune of Janet surprising me with her attendance at a showing in progress at the Catskill Arts Center in Summer 2024. I’ve attempted to integrate her feedback about clarifying that World Harvest has a very atypical food bank model in the show.

Now we sit in a terrifying moment of history where social safety nets are being cut drastically and food banks can’t sustain the demand. It’s been tricky as an artist to critique bandaid solutions when everything is on fire. I find inspiration in mutual aid and efforts that connect people back to each other and the land. I believe that rebuilding a world that operates on true community trust is where we’ll ultimately find liberation.

While I can’t include the thousands of learning moments I’ve had in my process during tonight’s show, I’ve sifted through it all with my incredible director Jessica Hanna and lined up what I feel are some of the most enlightening moments for your enjoyment. Thanks for being here.

ABOUT

Self-proclaimed “Food Bank Influencer” Kristina Wong offers her rendition of the American Musical that nobody asked for by celebrating our emergency food system. Having experienced food distribution (or lack thereof) from New York to the Navajo Nation, Wong shares irreverent commentary while illuminating American food insecurity and the subsequent national pastime that is collecting and giving away free food. But, how will she pull this off with humor?  It’s a SNAP! (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, that is!)

Join us for the sing-a-long show you never knew you needed (you’ll even leave with some food to take home).

Artist Bios

Kristina Wong is a Doris Duke Artist Award winner, Guggenheim Fellow and the first Asian American woman to be named Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama. She’s a performance artist, comedian, actor, writer and former elected official who has been presented internationally across North America, the UK, Hong Kong and Africa. Notable solo shows include: Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Going Green the Wong Way, The Wong Street Journal, and Kristina Wong for Public Office. Her role in accidentally starting theAuntie Sewing Squad, a national mutual aid mask sewing network during the Covid-19 pandemic, was the subject Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord— a New York Times Critics Pick that premiered off-Broadway at New York Theater Workshop. That show was the 2022 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Drama and winner of the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Awards for Outstanding Solo Performance. Her three year Artist-in-Residence appointment at ASU Gammage has run concurrent to being a Kennedy Center (rest in peace) Social Practice Fellow. Her work has been awarded with support from Creative Capital, The MAP Fund, Center for Cultural Innovation, National Performance Network, a COLA Master Artist Fellowship from the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, nine Los Angeles Artist-in-Residence awards, Center Theatre Group’s Sherwood Award, the Art Matters Foundation, and the Joan D. Firestone Commissioning Fund from En Garde Arts. In addition to guest starring roles on movies on Netflix and shows on Nickelodeon and ABC, she’s been a commentator on late night shows on NBC, Comedy Central and FX. She starred in her own pilot presentation with Lionsgate for truTV. Her commentaries have appeared on American Public Media’s Marketplace, PBS, VICE, Jezebel, Playgirl Magazine, Huffington Post and CNN. She’s been awarded artist residencies from MacDowell, San Diego Airport and Ojai Playwrights Festival.  Auntie Kristina’s Guide to Asian American Activism will be published Spring 2026 from Beaming Books and is co-written with the producers of Radical Cram School, the web series she has created for kids.  www.kristinawong.com

Jessica Hanna is a Los Angeles based Director, Producer & Space Maker. She is founding Producing Artistic Director of Outside In Theatre, a new non-profit theatre company based in Highland Park. A member of The Kilroys and was Chair of SITI Company’s Board of Directors (2019-2023). Her focus as a director has been on new play development. Thrilled to be working with Kristina Wong, supporting her world changing work. Upcoming: World Premieres of Jami Brandli’s O: A RHAPSODY IN DIVORCE at Outside In Theatre. JessQueen.com for more info.

Howard Ho is a playwright, composer, and Youtuber based in New York City. He recently sound designed the Off Broadway show MY MAN KONO at Pan Asian Rep and has earned sound design nominations from the Ovation Award and SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. He is a 2024 winner of the Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival for BEETHOVEN’S THIRD. His play RESET was produced at Moving Arts and is published by Next Stage Press. His Youtube musicology channel (youtube.com/HowardHoMusic) has over 125,000 subscribers and was recognized by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jon M. Chu. Based on his Youtube analyses, his forthcoming book “How Hamilton Works: The Music Theory of Lin-Manuel Miranda” is being published by Smith & Kraus. He thanks Kristina and Jessica for their collaboration. IG:@howardwho

Amanda Eno is a native of Colorado who now calls Los Angeles her home. She often works in immersive theater, brand activations, and corporate events. She also just started her own Stage and Production Management company, Live Management Society. Most of all, she is thrilled to be joining Kristina again after previously touring with her for KRISTINA WONG FOR PUBLIC OFFICE.

Thea Hopkins is a member of Aquinnah Wampanoag tribe of Martha’s Vineyard MA, performing songwriter Thea Hopkins calls her music Red Roots Americana. She has been described as a “standout writer” by the Washington Post. Her new album, “Blossom & Ghosts”, is scheduled to be released in September 2025. In 2024, Thea attended the ISPA Congress in Perth (AUS) and WOMEX in Manchester (UK) as a Western Arts Alliance artist delegate. She was an official showcase artist at the International Indigenous Music Summit in June 2023. Her song, “The Ghost Of Emmett Till” was the grand prize winner of the Great American Song Contest in 2021.

Venues where Thea has performed include Massey Hall (CN), Banff Centre For The Arts (CN) Kennedy Center (DC), Woody Guthrie Festival (OK), the Moseley Folk Festival (UK), the Summertyne Americana Festival (UK) and the Bluebird Cafe (TN). Her new album, “Here In Our World” is scheduled to be released in September 2024. She first came to wider public notice when Peter, Paul & Mary recorded her song “Jesus Is On The Wire” in 2004, and then again in 2010 with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. It is considered one of their later signature.

ArtsEmerson Donors

Leadership Circle ($50,000+)
Barr Foundation
Massachusetts Cultural Council
TJX
Ted and Mary Wendell

Legacy Circle ($25,000-$49,999)
Pamela and Bob Adams
Fresh Sound Foundation
Liberty Mutual Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts (supported presentations of Utopian Hotline and On The Eve of Abolition)
The Shubert Foundation
Valentine Talland and Nagesh Mahanthappa

Majestic Society ($10,000-$24,999)
Anonymous
Stewart Barns
Daryl and Joseph Boren
Boston Arts Summer Institute, Inc.
The Charlotte Foundation
Fellowes Athenaeum Trust Fund
Marian A. Godfrey
Barbara and Amos Hostetter
Lars Charitable Fund
Alyce and Patrick Lee
Drs. Robert and Shari Thurer

Paramount Society ($5,000-$9,999)
Asian Community Fund, The Boston Foundation
Laurie Burt
Estella Restaurant Boston
Teri Groome and Paul Belanger
Marni Grossman
Harvard Allston Partnership Fund
JP Morgan Chase & Co.
David and Christine Letts
Barry Schaudt
*Uncle Nearest

Marquee Society ($1,000-$4,999)
Alchemy Foundation
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts
Boston Medical Center HealthNet
Peter M Bryant
Cabrera Legal LLC – Immigration
Jim Canales and Jim McCann
Dr. Jon Derek Croteau and Justin P. Croteau
Mary E. Darmstaetter
Drs. Lynne and Sidney Levitsky
Patrick McVeigh
Faith Montgomery
MTT
New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Theater Project, with lead funding from The Mellon Foundation and support from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Christopher and Nancy Oddleifson
Robert J. Orchard
Colette Phillips
Sue and Bernie Pucker
Senior Living Residences
Paul Rabin and Arlene Snyder
Rappaport-Flavin Family
Tami Dew Rich and David Michael Rich
Jean Walsh and Graham Davies

ArtsEmerson Family ($500-$999)
Ronald G. Casty and Susan Mendik
Christine M. Dunn
Stephanie Fan
Jeannette Herrmann and Christopher Owens
Richard Laura and Mary Delahanty
Holly Laurent
José and Divina Masso
Michael and Michele Nathan
Christine Pratt
Howard Rogut
AnnMarie and Frank Schembri
Maliaka Shepard
Carole Simpson
Mark P. Smith and Elizabeth W. Brown
Leah Soffer
Sandra Stratford MD, MSc and Oscar Malcolm
Ann B. Teixeira
Leverett Wing
Esther Zee Lee

ArtsEmerson Friend ($250-$499)
Akiba Abaka
Jon and Matt Andersen-Miller
Anonymous (2)
Robert and Patricia Berens
Jeffrey Burt
Bithiah Carter & Andrew Hoffman
Susan Clare
Kathryn and David Dahl
Allison and Greg Dawson
Sumru Erkut
Jean Fuller Farrington
Todd Gordon and Susan Feder
Carmen Fields
Felice Frankel
Thomas Hanold and Marnie Bolstad
Jennifer Hershey
David Howse
Margaret Jacobson
Japanese American Citizens League New England Chapter
Neida Jimenez
Jean Marrapodi
Barbara T Martin
Elsa Mosquera-Sterenberg
William S. and Katharine Reardon
Mary Rivet and Christopher Meyer
Marta T. Rosa
Omar and Raynya Simmons
Ellen Simons
Alexander M. Tetradze
Jaan Whitehead
Rachel and Mark Winkeller
David & Marilyn Yee
Ms. Cynthia Yee

ArtsEmerson Patron ($50-$249)
Anonymous (3)
Apprentice Learning
Hamish Allen
Jeannine Ayotte
Sandra and David Baird
Janeen Barker
Barricklo Family
Vivian Beard
Martha Berardino
Judy Bernstein
Nancy Blackmun
Melissa Blaeser
Mr. and Mrs. Shahan Bromberg
Edward Cardoza
Linda Champion
S. Chapman
Susan Chinsen
Koren Christensen and Nancy King
Howard Chun
Elise Dahan
Aija Dreimane
Ann Schlesinger
Mark Elenko
Ellen Epstein
Sarah Fader
Thomas Ferguson
Mitchison/Field Family
Frances A. Francis
David Govonlu
Roger and Adelaide Haynes
Sharon and David Hessney
Laura Huang
Nikki and Freddie Jacobs
Gina Marie Jamieson and Casey Cwynar
Terence Janericco
Kyle Johnson
Kathleen Keleher
Norva Kennard
Elena Kingsland
linkru & pj
Heidi B. Kummer
Herman and Fay Lee
Nancy and Barry Levy
Howard and Gareth Levy
Linda and Steven Luz-Alterman
D & S Lyons
Eileen and Brian MacDougall
Virginia Mara
Richard McLaughry
Peggy Miller
David Miller
Lizette Morris
Aziza Musa
Mrs. Elizabeth Nagarajah
Abigail Norman
John Petrowsky
Anya Phillips Thomas
Julia Propp
Patrick Rivelli
Sara Rivera
Elaine and Art Robins
Thomas Rome
Mallory Ruymann
Mary Schipa
Susan Scott
Kate Shore
MJ Shultz
Polly Slavet
Richard and Faina Smith
Antoniya Statelova
Ms. Maria Steele
Quita and Mark Sullivan
Joan Thacher and Ed Tiffany
Susan Shattuck Truitt in memory of Pam Pritchard Orchard
Catherine Truman
Paula Tyack
Deborah Valenze
Hannah Verlin
William Walsh
Theodor Weinberg
Jennifer Weissman
Linda Whitlock
Gregory Wong
Aja Wood
Shannon Worthington and Noah Putterman
Jack Wright
Mary and Joseph Wrinn
Steven A. Yakutis and Guy Pugh

The donor listing reflects all gifts of $50+ received between July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025.
Our deepest thanks to all who have generously contributed gifts in support of ArtsEmerson. Every gift matters!
For corrections to your listing, contact Patricia Chiang at patricia_chiang@emerson.edu.
*Denotes in-kind donation

FUNDERS AND SUPPORTERS

This performance/ event is supported in part by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as part of Social Impact’s Social Practice Residency Program, a three year Artist residency at ASU Gammage supported by Michelle Jung and Chris Rodriguez, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Social Practice Fellowship from the Kennedy Center, the Joan D. Firestone Award from En Garde Arts and additional residency support from the Dr. David M. Milch Foundation.

This has also been developed with residency time at the following: New York Theater Workshop’s Residency at Adelphi U., Catskill Arts Center in partnership with A Single Bite (sponsored by the Dr. David M. Milch Foundation), UMass Amherst, and Center Theater Group.  With development opportunities at World Harvest Food Bank in Los Angeles. Additional rehearsals were made possible by Outside In Theatre, Los Angeles.

This artist has also been supported with a 2023 Doris Duke Artist Award.

Accessibility

This Show will have:

  • Open Captioned Performance on SAT, Sep 20 @ 8:00 PM
  • Audio Described Performance on SUN, Sep 21 @ 2:00 PM

Buzz

“Wong is good company and an accomplished story teller”

— The New York Times

“[Wong] turns real-life experiences into hilarious performance pieces touching on serious social justice themes.”

— NPR
September 2, 2025

Who is Kristina Wong?

Read More
August 27, 2025

Inside The Greater Boston Food Bank

Read More