Cutting a swathe for Asian women on Broadway

WHEN Korean-born American actor Asa Gim Palomera found that there were so few roles for Asian actresses on Broadway, she decided to do something about it.

The graduate of New York University School of the Arts (now Tisch School of the Arts) ventured into playwriting, even though her training was in dance. Despite a life that has criss-crossed countries and continents as a diplomat's wife, she still managed to keep up with the stage wherever she went.

After three years in Singapore with her Spanish ambassador husband, she will put on her first play on the commercial stage, Women of Asia. Earlier in the year, she had staged another of her plays, The Curious Lives of Shakespeare and Cervantes, at the National Library. The play has been performed in Melbourne, Edinburgh and London to critical acclaim.