Yangtze Repertory Theatre, a 29-year-old company dedicated to producing new work that allows audiences to see the world through a contemporary Chinese lens, will present "Clubhouse," a miniseries of virtual storytelling featuring works by five writers of Chinese heritage. Running online June 23-July 18, 2021, Clubhouse features five one-acts inspired by Pu Songling's "Strange Stories from A Chinese Studio" and is directed by Yangtze Rep's Artistic Director Chongren Fan. The program is free with registration at www.yzrep.org/clubhouse. Donations are welcome.
"Clubhouse" features five new plays including "my dead husband bought a gun and came for me today " by Stefani Kuo and featuring E.J. An, "Do You Still H8 Me" by Yilong Liu and featuring
Jennifer Tsay, "Ghost Story" by Han Tang and featuring Lennox T. Duong, "Day 364. The Scaled Boy" by Minghao Tu and featuring Julia Gu, and "Stacy in the States" by Livian Yeh and featuring
Carolina Do. Working alongside the all-female Asian American cast are dramaturg Bindi Kang, graphic designer Fufan Zhang, cultural consultant Xiaoyi Huang, and producer Sally Shen.
In March 2021, Yangtze Rep commissioned five playwrights of Chinese heritage to adapt stories from the 18th Century Chinese classic "Strange Stories from A Chinese Studio" (Liaozhai Zhiyi, or literal translation, "Tell Me Strange Tales") by Pu Songling (1640-1715). The book is a collection of over 400 unusual stories and supernatural folktales, focusing on the everyday life of commoners through stories involving ghosts, foxes, immortals, and demons. Although Pu lived and died as an obscure provincial schoolteacher, his work gained fame when it was first printed some 50 years after his death, inspiring many imitations and creating a new vogue for classical stories.
The five playwrights, all of whom are first generation immigrants, were deeply inspired by Pu's stories and deconstructed them in different ways. The richness of the folktales allowed them to explore several contemporary topics including the racial dynamics facing the Asian community in a pandemic-ridden America, motherhood and parent-child relationship complicated by interracial gay marriage, and the constant search for identity, belonging, and love.
Chongren Fan, Director of Clubhouse and Artistic Director of Yangtze Rep, remarked, "Clubhouse is a theater piece reimagined. Since the shutdown of live performances, Yangtze Rep has been looking for an overarching theme that can connect the pains and losses we collectively experienced and the yearning for human interactions we are born into. Just like Strange Stories, Clubhouse provides a platform for underrepresented voices, a safe space for unusual stories, and a gathering place for people who have been through difficult times and needing an outlet. The book is also a shared cultural reference among people with Chinese heritage, so it became a bonding mechanism for the artists and collaborators involved in Clubhouse during this very challenging time particularly for the AAPI community. The five writers gave fresh spins on the ancient Chinese folklores and created a collection of stories that allow our audiences to see today's world through a contemporary Chinese lens."
Please visit https://www.yzrep.org/ for more information.
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