Who We Are
Artists at Play is a theatre-producing collective of Asian American creative professionals in Los Angeles. This fall, we will present the Los Angeles premiere of The Chinese Lady by Lloyd Suh, directed by Rebecca Wear.

Since our debut in 2011, Artists at Play has garnered box office success and critical acclaim with the L.A. premieres of Ching Chong Chinaman, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them (Ovation Recommended, GLAAD Media Award Nominee), Cowboy Versus Samurai, 99 Histories, In Love and Warcraft, and the world premieres of The Two Kids that Blow Shit Up and Two Mile Hollow. We proudly continue our tradition of curating quality works missing from the local landscape.

What We're Doing
As our eighth mainstage show, we present The Chinese Lady in a co-production with Greenway Arts Alliance.

Inspired by the true story of America’s first female Chinese immigrant, The Chinese Lady is a dark, poetic, yet whimsical portrait of America through the eyes of a young Chinese woman. Afong Moy is fourteen years old when she’s brought to the United States from Canton in 1834. Allegedly the first Chinese woman to set foot on U.S. soil, she has been bought and put on display for the American public as “The Chinese Lady.” For the next half a century, she performs for curious museum-goers, showing them how she eats, what she wears, and the highlight of the event: how she walks with bound feet. As the decades wear on, her celebrated sideshow comes to define and challenge her very sense of identity.

The Chinese Lady will have a four-week run at Greenway Court Theatre in September-October 2019.

Remove

What Your Support Means
As we continue building our body of work within the L.A. theatre community, we know that this show is another opportunity for growth. We want to expand our resources to help shepherd new, diverse stories to American theatre, and push our own boundaries as a company. An important part of this is increasing financial compensation for the creative teams we work with, which is why the cast of The Chinese Lady will be paid minimum wage (which just went up July 1) in accordance with Equity guidelines. Your support will not only help us take these steps toward being better advocates for diversity in theatre, but will help us make better theatre, period.

Artists at Play envisions a Los Angeles community where Asian Americans are recognized as both theatre-makers and theatre-goers. Our productions represent a new generation of voices in theatre. Your support for The Chinese Lady and Artists at Play will help promote more diversity and inclusion of Asian American artists and stories in the local theatre landscape. With our latest show, we continue to further contribute to the L.A. theatre community as we strive to create entertaining and challenging work that is accessible to anyone and everyone.

Please note that through the fiscal sponsorship provided by Fractured Atlas, donations are tax-deductible.

As Artists at Play continues to grow and develop, THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

The Chinese Lady is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. Contributions for the charitable purposes of The Chinese Lady must be made payable to Fractured Atlas only and are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.