MONOLOGUES OF N WOMEN To Be Presented At Theatre Puget Sound, September 16- September 25

Monologues of n Women is a new Chinese-American devised theatre work, comprised of eight stories that dissect the ordeals that many women have faced, such as sexual assault, unrealistic body standards, and the rigidity of societal expectations.

An ensemble of seven Chinese-American actresses portrays the devisers who helped bring the show to life, walking through their individual experiences as women who have lived in both China and the West. Together, they realize that these are, in fact, universal experiences shared amongst many women - they are not alone.

Through a combination of theatre, dance, original music, and poetry, Monologues of n Women not only explores the difficulties and hopes that women face in modern-day society, but also provides a platform for open conversation for audiences of all cultural backgrounds.

The team behind Monologues of n Women resides in various cities across the US and Europe, but all share the experience of sitting between Chinese and Western cultures, with much of the team has grown up in China. Thus, Monologues of n Women will be in Chinese, and English translations will be incorporated seamlessly into the set design.

Monologues of n Women has received grant funding from 4Culture, the US-China Education Trust, and the Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, as well as crowdfunding from a successful Kickstarter campaign. The world premiere of Monologues of n Women will be at Seattle's Theatre Puget Sound Theatre 4 on September 16th, 2022.

When asked about the inspiration behind the piece, director Christie Zhao (she/her) talks of the news that drove her to produce such a piece. "Six months ago, the news of the chained woman broke out. She was trafficked, sold to an abusive man in the village called Fengxian, and forced to give birth to 8 (or more) children. The news spread like wildfire in China but until this day, we still don't know the trace of her or even her identity. Her voice was taken. Her name was censored.

Outraged by the news, I decided that I want to amplify her voice through theatre. Not only that, I want to express all the visible and invisible chains imposed on every woman's life, no matter the nationalities."

For more information on the show, visit https://www.monologues-of-n-women.com/. To purchase tickets, visit https://monologues-of-n-women.ticketleap.com/tickets/.

Christie Zhao (she/her) graduated from University of Washington with a double degree in Drama performance and Computer Science. She has experience in directing, producing, light designing, acting, and video editing. She directed The Good Person of Szechwan by Bertolt Brecht, acted in Bodies of Water produced by UW, SU, and Cornish College of the Arts, and Heart of Stone directed by Alisher Khasanov. Other than that, she founded the Chinese Theater Club at UW during college to provide more opportunities in bilingual theater production in Seattle.

Siming Lu (she/her) is a senior in Arts Management major and Theatre minor at Ohio State University. As an art maker, her work includes Student Social Death Archive (Play), Square One (Devised Theatre), and I Don't Sleep at Night (Installation Art). She previously worked for Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment.

Melanie Zeng (she/her) graduated from the University of Utah and Carnegie Mellon University. She is a published author of The Vanished Jellyfish (Chinese) and Caving: the Bizarre Land (Chinese). Driven by her passion for creative writing, she has explored a variety of genres and themes including fantasy, sci-fi, thriller, and realistic fiction. In 2022, she joined the Documentary team at STArt Film Studio in Seattle.

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