PLAYS
BALD SISTERS
2 act: Two bald sisters at an impasse, an imperfect husband wrestling with his faith, a young immigrant hustling to pay for college and Ma– the matriarch whose sudden death has turned their world upside-down. How does this Cambodian American family plan a funeral for a force of nature who manages to bedevil them in death even more than she did in life? Do they honor the past from which she struggled to heal or the future she willed into existence? (Photos by Michael Brosilow/Steppenwolf Theatre)
2 act: Two bald sisters at an impasse, an imperfect husband wrestling with his faith, a young immigrant hustling to pay for college and Ma– the matriarch whose sudden death has turned their world upside-down. How does this Cambodian American family plan a funeral for a force of nature who manages to bedevil them in death even more than she did in life? Do they honor the past from which she struggled to heal or the future she willed into existence? (Photos by Michael Brosilow/Steppenwolf Theatre)
HIGH SCHOOL PLAY:
A NOSTALGIA FEST
2 act: It’s senior year in Carrollton, Texas, and Riverside High School's competitive theatre troupe is climbing back to the top from last year's unprecedented loss. Dara is trying to rally his teammates, while new kid Paul disrupts Dara's complete understanding of himself and his small-town suburban life. When coaches Dirkson and Blow make a bold choice for the one-act play competition and the community takes issue, friends and rivals duke it out and find themselves in this uniquely Texan and thoroughly universal coming of age comedy. (Photos by Lynn Lane/Alley Theatre)
A NOSTALGIA FEST
2 act: It’s senior year in Carrollton, Texas, and Riverside High School's competitive theatre troupe is climbing back to the top from last year's unprecedented loss. Dara is trying to rally his teammates, while new kid Paul disrupts Dara's complete understanding of himself and his small-town suburban life. When coaches Dirkson and Blow make a bold choice for the one-act play competition and the community takes issue, friends and rivals duke it out and find themselves in this uniquely Texan and thoroughly universal coming of age comedy. (Photos by Lynn Lane/Alley Theatre)
KNYUM
A solo show: Guy works the night shift at a New York hotel and goes to class by day, downing cups of coffee as he tries to navigate oceans of squiggly letters and words with no spaces between them: he’s learning Khmer, the language of his family’s home, Cambodia. He will stumble awkwardly towards fluency. He will embarrass himself and his parents. And he will awaken to parts of his heritage, both beautiful and excruciating, which shine through only in his wildly luminous dreams. (Photos by Meg Moore/Merrimack Repertory Theatre)
A solo show: Guy works the night shift at a New York hotel and goes to class by day, downing cups of coffee as he tries to navigate oceans of squiggly letters and words with no spaces between them: he’s learning Khmer, the language of his family’s home, Cambodia. He will stumble awkwardly towards fluency. He will embarrass himself and his parents. And he will awaken to parts of his heritage, both beautiful and excruciating, which shine through only in his wildly luminous dreams. (Photos by Meg Moore/Merrimack Repertory Theatre)
GO
1 act: After decades of being in the family business, the Kear Khmer Dance Studio is in danger of shuttering. Kiri has just returned home from the West after retiring from being a professional drag queen and drug addict. Lek, his sister, is trying to hold her father’s business together while attempting to raise her non-binary child, Go, with her wife and rock, Jo. And Anchaly, the founder and the father, is trying desperately to hold onto the studio along with his standards and his secrets. The family must figure out how to get in sync while making their own moves.
1 act: After decades of being in the family business, the Kear Khmer Dance Studio is in danger of shuttering. Kiri has just returned home from the West after retiring from being a professional drag queen and drug addict. Lek, his sister, is trying to hold her father’s business together while attempting to raise her non-binary child, Go, with her wife and rock, Jo. And Anchaly, the founder and the father, is trying desperately to hold onto the studio along with his standards and his secrets. The family must figure out how to get in sync while making their own moves.
LIEBLING
2 act: After Sovanna publicly blames his book agent for sabotaging his career, Leo, his partner decides it’s time to finally take a break. The two travel to Cleveland, Ohio where they will stay at Leo’s deceased grandmother’s vacant home indefinitely. While Sovanna quickly discovers that the home is not-so empty after all, the lovers quarrel over their inherited histories and how to move forward when endings can be so elusive.
2 act: After Sovanna publicly blames his book agent for sabotaging his career, Leo, his partner decides it’s time to finally take a break. The two travel to Cleveland, Ohio where they will stay at Leo’s deceased grandmother’s vacant home indefinitely. While Sovanna quickly discovers that the home is not-so empty after all, the lovers quarrel over their inherited histories and how to move forward when endings can be so elusive.
KWEEN
2 act: 16-year-old Soma, a Cambodian-American student at Lowell High School has just discovered her secret powers as a poet. Under the alias of the “Khmer Kerouac”, Soma's new-found passion arises against the backdrop of her father's recent deportation, her mother's journey to Cambodia to rectify the situation, and her sister Dahvy's upcoming wedding. Kween is not only a coming-of-age but a coronation.
2 act: 16-year-old Soma, a Cambodian-American student at Lowell High School has just discovered her secret powers as a poet. Under the alias of the “Khmer Kerouac”, Soma's new-found passion arises against the backdrop of her father's recent deportation, her mother's journey to Cambodia to rectify the situation, and her sister Dahvy's upcoming wedding. Kween is not only a coming-of-age but a coronation.
THE BOY LUCK CLUB
2 act: An irreverent, contemporary riff on "The Joy Luck Club" in which four queer Asian American millennials reckon with the cultural legacy of Amy Tan's seminal novel--and the complex immigration sagas of their own families.
2 act: An irreverent, contemporary riff on "The Joy Luck Club" in which four queer Asian American millennials reckon with the cultural legacy of Amy Tan's seminal novel--and the complex immigration sagas of their own families.
