Leslie Ishii To Receive 2025 Paul Robeson Award

Leslie Ishii - Jovell Photography

The Actors’ Equity Association and the Actors’ Equity Foundation have announced their decision to grant the 2025 Paul Robeson Award to Perseverance Theatre director, dramaturg, and performer Leslie Ishii at a ceremony later this year.

Having been held annually since 1974, the Paul Robeson Award aims to celebrate individuals and organizations who have best leveraged the theater “to go beyond the stage and enact their commitment to the freedom of expression and conscience.” It is named after its first recipient, the noted musician, actor, and activist best known for his roles in Show Boat and Othello, as well as for being a tireless campaigner against segregationist policies both in the US and Apartheid South Africa.

Ishii, who was nominated by actress Mary Jo McConnell, is a fourth-generation Japanese American who made her debut in Northwest Asian American Theater’s Breaking The Silence, a play about the Japanese American experience and internment camps, which helped to raise funds for the legal defence of Gordon Hirabayashi, who had resisted his internment by the US government during WW2. It was also acknowledged as helping to advance the intergenerational healing of the Seattle Japanese American community.

Described as a courageous advocate for multiracial and BIPOC artists, Ishii has since worked with numerous People of Color’s theaters dedicated to telling their stories and developing support for decolonization and re-Indigenization. These have included theaters such as El Teatro Campesino, East West Players, National Black Theatre, Penumbra Theatre, Theatre Mu, Native Voices, and the Asian American Theatre Company.

Currently, she is artistic director of the 45-year-old Perseverance Theatre based on Douglas Island, Alaska. As Alaska’s only professional theater, it is dedicated to telling stories by and for Alaskans, performing plays celebrating their histories and culture.

Ishii, who has been a member of Equity since 1990, has stated, “I have long admired the esteemed Paul Robeson for his brilliant artistry, impactful activism, and support of his family and many communities. He was truly a brilliant change-maker. I have always aspired to do the same. I am so deeply moved, humbled, and grateful to receive this prestigious Paul Robeson Award presented by the Paul Robeson Award Committee.”