SKY OF DARKNESS, A New Play By Siting Yang to Get 2022 World Premiere

Siting Yang's Sky of Darkness is a documentary-style play that takes a somber look at neocolonialism, race, and the perils of personal choices in the face of complex global issues. Loosely adapted from Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and informed by the harsh 1975 critique of the novel by African writer Chinua Achebe, the work is based on actual, first-person accounts of Chinese nationals who found themselves in the service of a huge government-owned industrial conglomerate selling and operating military equipment in West Africa. Focusing on the developments that get little exposure in the Western media, Yang's play asks questions pertaining to the social and ethical consequences of the modern-day expansion of Chinese industrial power in the Black Continent. Featuring the international cast and creative team and infused with multimedia, the two-act piece juxtaposes live actors and pre-recorded content, creating a dreamlike narrative that examines the fleeting nature of memory.

Sky of Darkness tells the story of a modern-day persona modeled after Conrad's Marlowe - a young Chinese pilot Ma Luo who is sent on a mission to West Africa under a state-owned enterprise in military aviation. Ma Luo starts off with his naive belief that he could make a contribution to the aviation industry in Mali, but as he learns more about the corrupted and selfish intentions of his colleagues and the actual threats of terrorism around him, Ma Luo gradually becomes disillusioned and starts to question the real agenda behind his mission. Confronted by the ghost of the Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe, Ma Luo departs on a profound journey into his own memory of Africa, dissecting his dream, guilt, and disillusionment.

Playwright Siting Yang explains: "The issues of colonialism, race, and history have been at the center of my interests and relate to my artistic mission of engaging literary specters in contemporary struggles. I believe as a Chinese-born artist based in the US, I am in a unique position to present to American audiences certain issues that affect the modern world at large but are not a part of the current discourse on anti-racism in the United States. Possessing a personal, direct connection to people who lived in the complicated reality and having been exposed to heated discussions on the topic on Chinese and American social media, I felt compelled to raise questions I still seek answers to: What does colonialism look like in our time? How does it function in today's global political-economical agenda? We all know colonialism is ethically bad, but what do we make of ourselves when we're part of its blueprint? I hope Sky of Darkness will inspire the viewers to ponder the state of the world beyond America and extend their perspective on problems usually viewed from a very Western-centric perspective."

The show, starring HanJie Chow as Ma Luo, Malcolm Opoku as The Ghost of Chinua Achebe, and Sanskar Agarwal as The Pakistani Pilot is directed by Rakesh Palisetty and features dramaturgy by Zhe Pan, projection design by Andrew Freeburg, sound design by Sophia Shen and Lemon Guo, and cinematography by Daniel Cho. Elliot Gong is the producer of the film used in the show.

The world premiere of this new play will be presented at Theaterlab as part of its TLab Shares slot from Thursday, June 2nd thru Sunday, June 12th. Learn more at www.theaterlabnyc.com/sky-of-darkness.