It was founded by a teacher named Stanley Asis in the school’s Ethnic Cultural Center, with its original members including students of Asian and Hispanic descent.
So we figured we’d better do our own productions.”[2] After graduating, the group remained militant and moved into a theatre in a multi-media center within the Seattle Chinatown-International District, adopting the name of the Asian Exclusion Act (AEA).
The majority of the plays the AEA performed focused on addressing their community's painful history and the racism they still face in society, often in a mocking or humorous way.
Around this time, the group started looking for grants from foundations, and decided to change their name to the Northwest Asian American Theatre (NWAAT).
Full productions include plays by Wakako Yamauchi, Philip Kan Gotanda, David Henry Hwang, Jeannie Barroga, Amy Hill, and other playwrights.