Zhu Yi's I AM A MOON Set for FringeNYC, 8/9-16

Mia Shen in association with Pocket Theatre is proud to present I AM A MOON, Zhu Yi's lyrical play partially inspired by the life of legendary Japanese porn star Ai Iijima, as part of the 17th annual New York International Fringe Festival - FringeNYC. The show will play the Lynn Redgrave Theater (# Venue 14) Aug. 9-16.

Everyone is a bright moon until you get closer and the craters appear. A closeted pop star, an obsessed fan, a body full of hickeys, a window without curtains... weave together a darkly humorous journey into the beauty of our ugly side.

Zhu Yi's I AM A MOON explores the ways Eastern and Western cultures try to construct beauty and sexuality through shame: the shame of being over-weight, the shame of liberated sexuality, the shame of physical disability, the shame of physical scars, the shame of being a victim of sexual harassment, and the shame of aging.

The playwright was partly inspired by the life of Japanese pornographic star Ai Iijima, who passed away in 2008 due to pneumonia, and the social changes she brought to Asian society. Ms. Iijima was one of the first generation of porn movie stars in Asia when the internet didn't exist and premarital sex was still considered taboo. Her autobiography Platonic Sex revealed her life as an adult video actress. The book's 2000 publication shocked Japanese society, but surprisingly made Ms. Iijima accepted and respected by the mainstream as an artist and a human being, instead of simply sex object.

The play has been performed in both English and Chinese across the globe - Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Nanjing University (Nanjing, China), Mu Ma Theater (Beijing), and Emory University (Atlanta, GA), among others. Last fall, the play's scheduled performances at the Beijing Fringe Festival and Shanghai Grand Theater were cancelled at the last minute by the Cultural Committee of China without public notice.

Directed by Cypriot director Marios Theocharous, produced by New York based Producer Mia Shen in association with Pocket Theatre in Cyprus, I AM A MOON stars Ariel Estrada, Wei Yi Lin, Seth Moore, Victoria Tucci, Kurt Uy and Maja Wampuszyc. The production team includes Laurel Detkin.

Zhu Yi received an MFA in Playwriting from Columbia University. She is an Emerging Artist Fellow at New York Theatre Workshop, a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre's Youngblood, and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. Raised in Shanghai, she currently lives in New York City.

Performance Times:
Aug 9 (FRI) @ 5pm
Aug 12 (MON) @ 4:30pm
Aug 14 (WED) @ 5:45pm
Aug 15 (THU) @ 9:30pm
Aug 16 (FRI) @ 7pm

Tickets: $15- $18. No late seating. To order, visit www.fringenyc.org/basic_page.php?ltr=I#IAMAMO, or www.MoonPlay.org.