NJ Rep Stages "Issei, He Say"

NJ REP TO PREMIERE

ISSEI, HE SAY

(OR THE MYTH OF THE FIRST)

by Chloé Hung

April 19 - May 20, 2018

LONG BRANCH, NJ – New Jersey Repertory Company located at 179 Broadway in Long Branch, is proud to present the world premiere of Chloé Hung’s Issei, He Say, April 19 through May 20, 2018. Winner of an Edgerton New Play award, Issei, He Say will be directed by Lisa James and stars Stan Egi as Mr. Yamamoto, Kathleen Kwan as Mrs. Chu, Fenton Li as Mr. Chu, and Christina Liang as Lucy Chu.

Lucy Chu, the central character, is a thirteen-year-old girl whose family has emigrated from Hong Kong to Ontario in 1969. They wind up living next to Mr. Yamamoto, a Japanese-Canadian, who spent WWII in a Canadian internment camp. Haunted by memories of Japanese atrocities during the siege of Nanking, Lucy’s father holds his neighbor personally responsible, and forbids Lucy to speak to Mr. Yamamoto. But the rebellious teenager reaches out to her kind neighbor, who can relate to her difficulties and help guide her through the struggles she encounters in her day-to-day life. Prejudices and hatred between the two families reach a boiling point and Lucy is caught in the middle. Ultimately, Issei, He Say is a story about family, told with humor and pathos, about being the first generation in a new country, the ups-and-downs of fitting in, the history they carry with them, and the prejudices that follow them.

Tickets, Subscriptions, Reservations

Issei, He Say (Or the Myth of the First) runs April 19 through May 20, 2018. Previews are Thursday and Friday, April 19, and 20 at 8:00 PM, and Saturday, April 21 at 3:00 PM. Opening night with reception is Saturday, April 21 at 8:00 PM.

Performances are Thursdays, Fridays 8:00 PM: Saturdays 3:00 PM and 8:00 PM; Sundays 2:00 PM through May 20, 2018.

Tickets are $46 (opening night with reception, $60; premium seating + $5). Annual subscriptions are $225 per person. PHONE: 732-229-3166 or online at www.njrep.org.

CHLOÉ HUNG (Playwright) is a Chinese-Canadian playwright currently residing in Los Angeles. A graduate of NYU Tisch’s MFA in dramatic writing program, her first play All Our Yesterdays debuted at the Toronto Fringe Festival to sold out shows and was curated in the prestigious Next Stage Theatre Festival where it received rave reviews. Her next play Issei, He Say (or the Myth of the First) was workshopped at the John F. Kennedy Center with the National New Play Network and is now receiving its world premiere production at New Jersey Repertory Company. Her play Three Women of Swatow was workshopped with Tarragon Theatre’s Playwrights Unit and received Canada’s RBC Emerging Playwrights Award. She developed Model Minority with Los Angeles-based Moving Arts Theater’s MADlab and continues to work on it with the company. Chloé currently writes on season three of the Ava DuVernay created television series Queen Sugar (on the Oprah Winfrey Network OWN).

STAN EGI (Mr. Yamamoto) most recently performed at ACT in King of the Yees, the Sundance Theatre Lab in Morocco directed by Leigh Silverman, and the Pasadena Playhouse in Pygmalion as Colonel Pickering. Broadway: Tony Award winning, Anything Goes. Off Broadway: Public Theatre in Golden Child by David Henry Hwang directed by Oskar Eustis, Day Standing on its Head for Manhattan Theatre Club, Yankee Dawg You Die by Philip Kan Gotanda for Playwrights Horizons. Regional theatres: leading roles at American Conservatory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, South Coast Rep, Huntington Theatre, Guthrie Theatre, Yale Rep. Film: Rising Sun, Paradise Road, Come See the Paradise, Gung Ho, Boys on the Side. TV: CSI, Kickin’ It, Medium, Numb3rs, J.A.G., Law & Order.

KATHLEEN KWAN (Mrs. Chu) Off-Broadway: Joy Luck Club (Pan Asian Rep), The Gentleman Dancing- Master and The Master Builder (Pearl Theatre). Regional: Oleanna (Northstar Theatre Arts), The Seagull (Cornell Center For Theatre Arts, Measure for Measure (Cornell Center for Theatre Arts). Film/TV: Children of Invention, Bull. Education: BA, Cornell University.

FENTON LI (Mr. Chu) is a proud graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Credits include, Lost in Shanghai (Pan Asian Rep), Dream of Red Pavilion (Pan Asian Rep), Planet Hotel (Columbia Stages/Signature), Uncle Vanya (Columbia Stages) and Rabbit Hole (Four Seas Players). TV: Blacklist, Startup, Bull, Carrie Diaries, Brown Nation. Film: Chinese Exclusion Act, Front Cover, New Year, Tiger and the Guru, New York Minute, plus other nominated/awarded at Cannes, Cleveland Int'l, BAFTA, Seattle Int'l, Newark Int'l, First Run, Ft. Lauderdale, Florence River to River, and other venues. Recently awarded 'Best Lead Actor' at the First Run Film Festival '17.

CHRISTINA LIANG (Lucy Chu) Christina’s theater credits include In The Line (Project Y Theatre), A Christmas Carol (ACT), Ah, Wilderness (ACT), Love and Information (ACT). Other credits include Queen's Company, MCC, and Athena Theatre. She is also a regular performer with Amios for their monthly show series, Shotz! at the Kraine Theatre. M.F.A. in acting from A.C.T. and B.A. in Individualized Studies from N.Y.U.

LISA JAMES (Director) is a faculty member of the USC School of Dramatic Arts. She is a multi-award-winning director whose works include Heartstopper (L.A. Weekly Award); Palladium is Moving, (L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award); Lynn Siefert’s Little Egypt; Wendy Macleod’s The Water Children, Matrix Theater Co. (LADCC nomination and Garland Awards); Justin Tanner’s Bitter Women (LADCC Award); Bold Girls, Matrix Theater Co.; and The Visible Horse (LADCC and Garland Awards). World premieres include Beth Henley’s Tight Pants, Billy Aaronson’s The News, ASCAP/Disney presentation Scream (music by David Foster); Justin Tanner’s Oklahomo! and Little Egypt The Musical (music/lyrics Gregg Lee Henry) at the Matrix Theater in L.A. and the Acorn in NYC; Dying is Easy Comedy is Hard E.S.T. L.A. and N.Y.C.; End Days at the Odyssey Theater; The West Coast premiere of Smoke by Kim Davies at Rogue Machine. West Coast premiere of Punk Rock for the Odyssey Theater (Ovation Recommended). She is currently developing a new musical That Was Then.