Photos: First Look at PrideArts' US Premiere of TANGO

PrideArts' 2022-23 season will close with the US Premiere of TANGO by Singaporean-born and London-based playwright Joel Tan. Described as one of the most exciting Singapore playwrights of his generation, the 36-year-old Tan has received acclaim for his plays' lyrical and incisive interrogation of his home city's politics and society. TANGO will be directed by Singaporean-born Chicago-based director and dramaturg Carol Ann Tan. Press opening will be May 15, 2023, at 7:30 pm, following previews from May 11-14, and it will play through June 11, 2023.

Check out photos from the production below!

TANGO is inspired by the Blog "4 Relative Strangers" by James D. Williams and based loosely on the experiences of a real-life gay male couple with two adopted sons who moved their family to Singapore, a country with no protections or legal recognition for non-normative families. Singapore offers uneven levels of acceptance for LGBTQ lives and thus has what the playwright calls "an ongoing and exhausting public debate about LGBTQ equality." In TANGO, an elderly waitress insults a male couple and suggests the relationship with their adopted son is immoral. The incident becomes a social media sensation that causes havoc in the lives of the gay couple, their son, the couple's father/father in-law, the waitress, and the nephew she has raised like a son.

PrideArts and director Tan have assembled a cast that includes Singaporean- born and other Asian -American actors to play the six Singaporeans among Joel Tan's eight richly-drawn and deeply human characters. The two married men that are the targets of the waitress's homophobic slur will be played by G Hao Lee, as the Singaporean-born Kenneth; and Mike Newquist as his British-born husband, Liam. Newquist is a veteran of the Chicago storefront scene who has performed with such companies as Aston Rep, The Comrades, Raven, Pride Films & Plays, Jackalope, Strawdog, and Mary-Arrchie. Lee is a recent transplant from Sydney, Australia who is making his Chicago debut. Luke Gerdes, a recent graduate of CCPA, will play their British-born adopted son, Jayden. Kenneth's father, Richard, struggling to rebuild his relationship with his son, bond with his adopted grandson, and learn to use social media, will be played by Cai Yong. Yong was born and raised in Singapore and will be making his professional acting debut in TANGO.

In the role of the waitress Lee Poh Lin is the Chinese American actress Rainey Song, co-founder of AlMarte Productions, a Chicago-based arts and entertainment company. Her nephew Benmin, a man who is coming to terms with his sexual orientation, will be played by Oscar Hew, a Singaporean actor and a recent graduate of the Chicago College of Performing Arts who appeared in last fall's NATIONAL MERIT by BoHo Theatre.

Carolyn Hu Bradbury, whose credits include WHITE MONKEY and MASKS OFF (Goodman Theatre Playwright's Unit), PASSAGE (Remy Bumppo Theatre), and FAST COMPANY (Jackalope Theatre); will play Kenneth and Liam's Lesbian friend Elaine. Zul, a young Singaporean gay man who awakens Benmin's sexual desires after they meet online, will be played by Ronnie Derrick Lyall. Lyall's credits include MACBETH (Fearless Fiction Productions); VALENTINE'S DAY (Bernath Media); and COMEDY LIGHTS THE DARK (MadTactics Technology and Media).

The production team for TANGO includes Elliot Hubiak (Lighting Design), Val Gardner (Sound Design), Savanna Nix (Costume Design), Hannah Dains (Properties Design), Kayla Menz (Intimacy Director), James Stone (Dialect Coach), Carol Ann Tan (Scenic Concept), MaK Eddins (Lead Electrician), Brett Baleskie (Technical Director), and Jacob Sexton (Stage Manager).

Director Carol Ann Tan says, "Joel Tan's TANGO depicts a world under pressure: a world with strictly defined norms and a low tolerance for deviance, all filtered through the endless exposure of social media and the 24-hour news cycle. At its heart, TANGO asks us to consider the meaning of home. Is it possible to still call someone or something home after they have failed you, betrayed you, and simply let you down? I cannot wait to share this uniquely Singaporean story-a piece of my own home-with Chicago audiences."

Performances will be Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 3 pm, and Wednesday, June 7 at 7:30 pm from May11 through June 11, 2023, at Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago. Tickets are $35 for regular performances, $25 for previews (May 11-14). Seniors and students receive a $5 discount off regular performance prices. Tickets will be on sale soon at www.pridearts.org.

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