FULL LENGTH
Ching Chong Chinaman
100 mins : 3M, 3W
The ultra-assimilated Wong family is as Chinese-American as apple pie: teenager Upton dreams of World of Warcraft superstardom; his sister Desi dreams of early admission to Princeton. Unfortunately, Upton’s chores and homework get in the way of his 24/7 videogaming, and Desi’s math grades don’t fit the Asian-American stereotype. Then Upton comes up with a novel solution for both problems: he acquires a Chinese indentured servant, who harbors an American dream of his own.
Purchase the play on Amazon or Samuel French!
Production history:
[2011] Artists at Play (Los Angeles) production
[2010] Pan Asian Rep (New York City) production
[2010] SIS Productions (Seattle) production
[2009] Mu Performing Arts (Minneapolis) production
[2008] Impact Theatre (Berkeley, CA) production
[2008] Guthrie Theatre/Asian American Theater Conference (Minneapolis) reading
[2008] UCSC Rainbow Theatre (Santa Cruz, CA) production
[2008] Impact Theatre (Berkeley, CA) reading
[2008] Mu Performing Arts New Eyes Festival (Minneapolis) reading
[2007] New York International Fringe Festival (New York) showcase
[2007] Horizon Theatre (Atlanta) reading
[2007] Yale University (New Haven) reading
Awards:
[2010] KCACTF Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting winner
[2009] PEN USA Literary Award for Drama finalist
[2009] City Pages Top 10 play of 2009
[2009] Jane Chambers Playwriting Award honorable mention
[2008] Princess Grace Award finalist
[2008] East Bay Express Top 10 play of 2008
[2008] Ford Foundation Emerging Writers of Color Fellowship
[2007] Yale Playwrights Festival
[2007] Kumu Kahua Theatre’s Pacific Rim Prize winner
Publication:
[2011] Samuel French
[2011] Asian American Plays for a New Generation anthology (Mu Performing Arts/Temple University Press)
Crevice
80 mins : 3M, 2W
Unemployed, overambitious, and verging on thirty, siblings Liz and Rob vow to build themselves brighter futures. Now if they only knew what that meant. But late one night, they discover something that may just give them the direction they need to finally grow up. A comedic journey through the odyssey years. Commissioned by PlayGround.
Production history:
[2012] Impact Theatre (Berkeley, CA) upcoming production
[2009] Best of PlayGround Festival (San Francisco) reading
Awards:
[2011] PlayGround New Play Production Fund winner
[2010] New Harmony Project semifinalist
Hookman
80 mins: 1M, 5W (cast size flexible)
Freshman year at college is hard when your roommate is weird, home is far away, and the hookmen are really bad this year. What’s Lexi to do when her old high school friend Jess gets killed… I mean, has an accident? Maybe, um, in a car? Not even Facebook stalking the dead can calm the creepy feelings spilling out of the shadows in this existential slasher comedy.
Production history:
[2012] Company One/Boston Center for the Arts (Boston) upcoming workshop
[2012] UCSD Baldwin New Play Festival (La Jolla, CA) upcoming workshop
in a word
70 mins : 2M, 1W
Two years have passed since Fiona’s seven-year-old son mysteriously vanished. As Fiona goes back over the events she remembers leading up to that fateful day, logic buckles and language breaks. Will she uncover the truth and what happens if she does? A lyrical, absurdist journey on how to get over, get around, get through what haunts you.
Production history:
[2012] Aurora Theatre (Berkeley, CA) upcoming reading
[2011] The New Theatre Project (Ann Arbor, MI) reading
[2011] UMass Amherst (Amherst, MA) reading
Production history of one act version:
[2010] Williamstown Theatre Festival (Williamstown, MA) workshop
[2010] Hangar Theatre Lab Company (Ithaca, NY) workshop
[2010] Virago Theatre Company (Alameda, CA) reading
[2010] UCSD Baldwin New Play Festival (La Jolla, CA) workshop
Awards:
[2011] NETC John Gassner Playwriting Competition winner
[2011] KCACTF Paul Stephen Lim Asian-American Playwriting Award winner
[2011] KCACTF Jean Kennedy Smith Playwriting Award winner
[2011] Leah Ryan Prize for Emerging Women Playwrights finalist
[2011] Woodward/Newman Drama Award finalist
[2011] Reverie Productions’ Next Generation Playwrights Contest semifinalist
A Man, his Wife, and his Hat
110 mins : 4M, 2W, 1 wall
Hetchman loves his hat. Oh, and his wife, too. But when both go missing, the retired hatmaker vows to stop at nothing to find them, if he can ever muster the strength to leave the comforts of his armchair. But the arrival of a talking wall and a hungry golem threatens to derail his endeavor. A klezmer-inspired love triangle between a man, his wife, and his hat.
Production history:
[2012] Moxie Theatre (San Diego) upcoming production
[2011] The Hub Theatre (Fairfax, VA) upcoming reading
[2011] AlterTheater (San Rafael, CA) production
[2011] PlayPenn (Philadelphia) workshop
[2011] UCSD Baldwin New Play Festival (La Jolla, CA) workshop
[2011] Coe College (Cedar Rapids, IA) reading
Awards:
[2011] Coe College Playwriting Festival winner
[2011] Seven Devils Playwrights Conference finalist
[2011] Christopher Brian Wolk Award finalist
[2010] San Francisco Foundation Matching Artist Commission
[2009] Theatre Bay Area New Works Fund
Samsara
100 mins : 3M, 2W
When American couple Katie and Craig vow to make a last-ditch effort to create a baby of their own, their quest leads them to India, where a thriving commercial surrogacy industry offers them one final chance at parenthood. But will their decision to “rent out” a surrogate unite or divide them? A hilarious, unsettling look at reproduction in the 21st century, Samsara questions whether we can truly achieve intimacy in the face of shrinking worlds and expanding boundaries.
Production history:
[2012] Queens Theatre in the Park (New York City) upcoming reading
[2011] Orlando Shakespeare Festival/PlayFest (Orlando) reading
[2011] Multicultural Playwrights Festival/SIS Productions (Seattle) reading
[2011] Playwrights’ Center (Minneapolis) workshop
[2010] New Century Theatre Company (Seattle) reading
[2010] City Lights Theatre Company (San Jose, CA) reading
[2009] Desipina (New York City) reading
[2009] Exit Theatre/DIVAfest (San Francisco) reading
ONE ACT
The Life and Death of Joshua Zweig
25 mins : 2-4M, 1W
Today, Joshua Zweig will die. At least according to Dead Joshua Zweig, the ghost who has come back to warn him of his impending death. How does a man cope with life in the face of uncertainty? And what happens to those he leaves behind?
Production history:
[2010] Sleepwalkers Theatre/Three Wise Monkeys (San Francisco) production
[2009] The Looking Glass Theatre (New York City) production
Publication:
[2010] Three Wise Monkeys Bay One Acts anthology
Our Peculiar Institution
55 mins : 2M, 2W
Through the lens of minstrelsy, the institution of slavery and concepts of ownership are tilted in comic relief as a newly married man returns to his family’s long-abandoned ancestral plantation, ready to start a new life. Yet, what he and his young wife find there threatens their nascent marriage and the very ground they tread on. Commissioned by Playwrights Foundation for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival.
Production history:
[2009] Bay Area Playwrights Festival (San Francisco) reading
Over the Asian Airwaves
40 mins : 3M, 3W
In the heyday of old-time radio, a young, idealistic Asian American woman and her motley crew prepare for the biggest broadcast of their lives. A fast-paced 1940s farce.
Production history:
[2010] Ferocious Lotus Theatre Company (San Francisco) production)
[2009] Three Wise Monkeys/Asian American Theater Co (San Francisco) production
[2007] EndTimes Productions (New York City) production
[2005] Playwrights Project (San Diego) production
[2004] Horizon Theatre (Atlanta) reading
[2003] Asian American Theater Collaborative (Boston) production
Publication:
[2009] Three Wise Monkeys Bay One Acts anthology
