The Chinese Lady by Lloyd Suh

11/10/2022

When I’ve talked about The Chinese Lady with friends, family, and colleagues, the reactions are similar to my own when first hearing this story: “Wow, this was real? I had no idea this happened!” And so, I am so pleased that our incredible team of artists gets to share this play with you today. I am also disappointed and angry. While getting to learn about and give voice to Afong and Atung is an experience I will remain grateful for, I am reminded of how much they, and many other human beings and stories, have been forgotten, hidden, slandered, and excluded by American History as part of maintaining a narrative of American and White Supremacy.

Thus, it was very important to me throughout the process that we remembered the power of community and connection, and that our room always had space for love, care, and release. I wanted to balance our responsibility in honoring the historical truths we could find with our privilege to playfully fill in the missing pieces with our personal imaginations.

In a play in which we’re always unsure of what’s authentic and real, I imagined a world that blends Traditional Chinese styles with abstraction. I once heard “Everything Everywhere All At Once” writer-director Daniel Kwan describe the immigrant experience as navigating between multiple realities at the same time, and I wanted to share that feeling onstage, of feeling torn between countries and cultures, and between past, present, and future. Our design elements became our way into Afong Moy’s heart and soul, taking us further than what history could tell us.

We could not have done this without the amazing dramaturgy compiled by our team, but also shared from each of our personal experiences, with so many of us being members of the Asian Diaspora, and all of us constantly unpacking what it’s like to be living in America. Thank you to everyone that has made putting this show together possible.