Zak Ma

ABOUT ME

Zak Ma is an actor and physical theatre artist born in Vietnam, raised in Southern California. After a battle with cancer at 17, Zak was guided to his pursuit for self expression and healing in the arts. He received his MFA acting training at the Actors Studio Drama School and Butoh training with Ren Gyo Soh. Zak’s work dives into the universality of the human experience, and aims to connect people of all backgrounds. In 2017, he moved cross-country to NYC to begin his MFA training at The Actors Studio Drama School, where he dove deeper into physical theatre and began his Butoh training. After graduation, Zak officially became a company member of a Butoh theatre company, Ren Gyo Soh, and performed in company productions such as EN:2021, Ma on the Edge, and Ikigai. Zak recently produced his debut solo performance, Ma: The Exodus, to explore his personal experience as a Vietnamese American immigrant. In addition to devising experimental works, Zak also transforms into a range of more traditionally recognizable characters, from Alan in Peter Shaffer’s Equus and Prior in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America to Shakespeare’s Henry V. Most recently, he is proud originate characters in world premiere theatrical productions of True Nature of All Being by Lisa A. Giordano (Emerson Theatre Collaborative) and Watch Me by Caky Winsett (Kervigo Ensemble Theatre).

ARTIST STATEMENT

I aim to erase the limitations that are ingrained in me from a culmination of societal, ancestral, and cultural dictations. As an immigrant who was brought to the U.S. at a young age, I did not have time to learn about the country in which I was born, while also being unable to identify with the country in which I was raised in. I am in the in-between, confused about the constituents of my existence, and needing a quantitative measure of who I am allowed to be. Butoh defies this need altogether as it helps me realize that the soul itself does not have definitions or limitations. When the soul is able to express freely, it transcends expectations of ethnicity, language, and other societal establishments. Thus, my sole objective in my art is to liberate the soul, to encourage its limitless expression, and to saturate its existence.

ACTORS STUDIO DRAMA SCHOOL: COHORT 21