TIANANMEN REQUIEM Comes to the Players Theatre in March

TIANANMEN REQUIEM, running March 10 - 27, at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal St, NYC, is already the subject of controversy. An all Asian cast brings to life a deeply moving tale of a young gay couple trying to survive the Tiananmen Square crackdown and how their daughter - more than a decade later - is attempting to uncover one of her parents' secret ties to the Chinese military during the massacre. This tragic love story set against the backdrop of the Tiananmen Square Massacre displays the brutality of this terrible moment in history.

TIANANMEN REQUIEM has had its share of obstacles already. This play - one that the Chinese government doesn't want you to see - lost its director, cast members, and even one of its producers before reaching first rehearsal. Some simply quit without offering a reason. Even a university professor, a mentor to the playwright, refused to be involved - even as dramaturg. Finally now, a company has been gathered for what is bound to be a unique treatment of a controversial subject that bitterly divides the Chinese diaspora community.

Director Dennis Yueh Yeh Li has assembled a valiant group of actors including Charles Pang & Michael Benzinger; and Karina Wen, Joyce Keokham, Ethan Grant Wong.

Toney A. Brown & Marc Levine have taken over the role of producers with sponsors Wang Dan (Dialog China) and Rod Lathim (Santa Barbara Foundation) joining the team. Dialog China is an organization founded by famed Tiananmen student leader Wang Dan, who became China's "Most Wanted Man," in the aftermath of Tiananmen; he was imprisoned twice, and is spending his exile in America as an indefatigable human rights activist.

In his endorsement of the play, he wrote on Twitter in Chinese "Seeing those who were not born during the Tiananmen Massacre dedicating themselves to preserving history, makes me incredibly thrilled. Looking at the younger generation, I no longer feel lonely."

"The Tiananmen crackdown affected my family. In my family were educators, professors. When they witnessed students who were protesting peacefully being slaughtered, it was very painful," said the playwright, who wishes to remain anonymous to avoid any further danger to his family.

"Another of my family told me what they saw," they continued; "He had walked into a lane, it was lined with corpses that were flattened into color, it was just a smear of flesh."

"Tiananmen also affected my own life," they said seguing into his parents; my family is Christian and tried to escape religious oppression but had to leave me behind. That's because China wouldn't let them take their child with them, the government wanted to make sure my parents wouldn't flee."

"[This play] is my only way of dealing with the trauma."

The Tiananmen Square student movement is a controversial subject matter for the Chinese diaspora community, where opinions on this important historical event are heavily polarized.

TIANANMEN REQUIEM, running March 10 - 27, at The Players Theatre, 115 MacDougal St, NYC, is already the subject of controversy. An all Asian cast brings to life a deeply moving tale of a young gay couple trying to survive the Tiananmen Square crackdown and how their daughter - more than a decade later - is attempting to uncover one of her parents' secret ties to the Chinese military during the massacre. This tragic love story set against the backdrop of the Tiananmen Square Massacre displays the brutality of this terrible moment in history.

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