Photo Flash: Fan & Friends to Present THE KINDNESS PROJECT at Flamboyan Theater

Fan & Friends presents THE KINDNESS PROJECT, a work-in-progress presentation by Mabou Mines' 2015-2016 Resident Artist Chongren Fan, at the Flamboyan Theater at Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center (107 Suffolk St, New York, New York 10002), on Thursday, June 2nd at 5:30pm and Friday, June 3rd at 8:30pm. Check out photos from rehearsal below.

Performances are free to the public. Please RSVP (with The Kindness Project, date and # of tickets in the subject line) to rap@maboumines.org. Click here for more information.

THE KINDNESS PROJECT ensemble includes Esther Chen, Shan Y Chuang, Chongren Fan, Qihao Huang, and Paul David Miller.

THE KINDNESS PROJECT examines the evolution, good or bad, of "kindness" in early 20th century and today's China. THE KINDNESS PROJECT is loosely based on interviews with people from different generations. The ensemble uses different devices to explore how the change of kindness affects traditional value, belief system and daily human interactions.

Chongren Fan (Director) is a Brooklyn-based stage director. This Christmas, Mr. Fan will make his directorial debut in China with Marie Jones' Olivier Award Best Comedy Stones in His Pockets at Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre. Most recently he directed Yangtze Repertory Theater's critically acclaimed production Behind the Mask, A Play. In 2017, he will direct Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig's 410[Gone] (NY Premier) for the company. Mr. Fan was a Jonathan Alper Directing Fellow at Manhattan Theatre Club where he assistant directed the World Premier of The World of Extreme Happiness (dir. Eric Ting). He also served as assistant director on A.R. Gurney's What I Did Last Summer (dir. Jim Simpson) at Signature Theatre Company. Other directing credits: The Final Kiss (Flea Theater); Nightfall (NYU Tisch, Goldberg Award); Cloud Nine and Did You See It?/Eight Ways In (Sarah Lawrence College); Tiger Trap (Manhattan Rep/Thespis Theatre Festival). He has also worked with Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, China Arts and Entertainment Group, Bard Music Festival, Da Camera/Houston Opera, Pan Asian Rep, Ma-Yi Theatre Company, La Mama, New Ohio Theatre, Dixon Place, Prototype Festival, American Dance Institute and Mecoon Theater (Shanghai, China). Education: MFA in Theatre, Sarah Lawrence College. www.chongrenfan.com

Esther Chen (Ensemble) was recently seen in Carefully Taught (APAC), Othello (Seeing Place), Behind the Mask (Yangtze Rep.), Romeo and Juliet (Fools & Kings Project), Miss Saigon, Shrek, Annie Get Your Gun (Sondheim Center Performing Arts), The Truing (NY Int. Fringe), Downward Facing Debbie (Planet Connections; Nom. Outstanding Supporting Actress), Hedda Gabler, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hollywood Icons, Bright Ideas (MHS), Moving Landscape (Terra Incognita), The Triangle Project (NYU), The Sounds of My People (Columbia Stages), Interrupted (Irondale/WorldWideLab), Adam Bloom, Redrum, Most Evil (ID), and several independent films. She is also a stand up comedienne, recently seen at Gotham Comedy Club and Eastville Comedy Club. Education: NYU, student and mentee of Polina Klimovitskaya. www.theestherchen.com

Shan Y Chuang (Ensemble) is an actress, dancer, singer, musician and choreographer. Ms. Chuang trained at the Circle in the Square Two-Year Professional Musical Theater Workshop. She is a member of LINKED Dance Theater and The Westfall Music Group. Theater credits include Comfort Women: A New Musical (Off Broadway), Behind the Mask (Lead), Gen ? (Dolce Vita), Midnight Kill (Young brother), The City (Alive Worldwide), Salute to Broadway (Showcases), Anything Goes (Angel), Smokey Joe's Café (DeLee), Bat Boy, The Lesson (Maid). Dance credits include "The Moments: Journey Walk-Love" (QBG), "9/11 Table of Silence Project 2015" (Lincoln Center Plaza), "Until We Get Caught..." (Ailey Citigroup Theater). She received her BFA in classical voice and MFA in Musical Theater in Taiwan.

Qihao Huang (Ensemble) is an actor, comedian, and sketch writer. His credits include Arviragus in Cymbeline at Hudson Shakespeare Festival, Chen in Midnight Kill for Yangtze Repertory Theatre, and Stage Manager in Our Town for Queensborough Humanities Production. www.qihaohuang.com

Paul David Miller (Ensemble) Off-Broadway: Postal Madness, Tchaikovsky. Off-Off/Regional: Postal Madness: Tchaikovsky: My Three Angels: Almost, Maine; The Laramie Project; Here's Love; Somewhere I Can Scream; The Gayest Christmas Pageant Ever; Blink of an Eye. TV/Film: "Motive For Murder," "Celebrity Ghost Stories," "Vinyl," "The Normal Heart," "Outside," "Boardwalk Empire". Upcoming: Blue Wall; The Series; Tango Shalom; Immigration.

The Kindness Project was developed during Fan & Friend's Artistic Director Chongren Fan's residency in Mabou Mines' 2015-2016 Resident Artist Program. This program is made possible through generous funding by the Jerome Foundation and with public funds from the City of New York, Department of Cultural Affairs and Materials for the Arts.

Mabou Mines is an artist-driven experimental confederation, generating original works and re-imagined adaptations of classic works through multi-disciplinary, technologically inventive collaborations among its members and a wide world of contemporary filmmakers, composers, writers, musicians, choreographers, puppeteers and visual artists.

The company's artistic directors - Lee Breuer, Sharon Fogarty, Karen Kandel & Terry O'Reilly - continue to pursue the original vision of the collective, established in 1970, of co-equal voices exploring limitless theatrical possibilities.

Photos by Lia Chang