Photo Flash: Meet the Cast of THE GREAT LEAP at Asolo Rep

Asolo Rep, in conjunction with Miami New Drama, presents THE GREAT LEAP, a sharp-witted new drama by award-winning playwright Lauren Yee, directed by Vanessa Stalling.

San Francisco, spring 1989. Manford Lum is a sparky kid, renowned on the sidewalk basketball courts of Chinatown - vertically challenged but with undeniable ball skills. He talks his way onto an American college team traveling to Beijing for a "friendship" game where finds himself in the middle of China's post-Cultural Revolution. As the story bounces between 1989 and 1971, past relationships collide with present day revelations and Manford discovers that the trip is about much more than basketball. Inspired by events from the life of playwright Lauren Yee's own father, THE GREAT LEAP is a fast-paced and hilarious play that explores the cultural collision of identity and politics through the game of basketball.

The play's title refers to both the athleticism of basketball and the Communist Party of China's Great Leap Forward campaign in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Yee sees basketball as an apt metaphor for politics and diplomacy. According to her stage directions in the script, "This is a play about basketball, but it is also a basketball play. The game is reflected not just in the subject matter but the rhythm, structure, language and how the characters move through space."

THE GREAT LEAP previews March 18 and 19, opens March 20 and runs through April 11 in the Cook Theatre, located in the FSU Center for the Performing Arts. For more information visit www.asolorep.org .

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