<DIV><P>Jessica Hagedorn has transformed her bestselling novel about the Philippines during the reign of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos into an equally powerful theatrical piece that is a multi-layered tour de force. As Harold Bloom writes, "Hagedorn expresses the conflicts experienced by Asian immigrants caught between cultures . . . she takes aim at racism in the U.S. and develops in her dramas the themes of displacement and the search for belonging."</P> <P><B>Jessica Hagedorn </B>is a performance artist, poet, novelist and playwright, born and raised in the Philippines. Her novels include <I>Dogeaters </I>(Penguin 1990) which was nominated for a National Book Award and <I>The Gangster of Love </I>(Penguin 1996); a short story collection, <I>Danger and Beauty </I>(City Lights 2002).</P></DIV>