Theatre Artist Ping Chong Brings Immersive Experience To Centerstage

RESTON, VA — Theatre artist and National Medal of Arts recipient Ping Chong will be coming to the CenterStage for a series of events that will involve the community, especially Reston-area high school students, according to a Reston Community Center release.

New York-based Ping Chong and Company's months-long residency is part of the RCC's 2022 – 2023 season of Professional Touring Artist Series performances. They will work with Reston students to create a performance inspired by their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“To connect with an artist of Ping Chong’s stature is thrilling for us,” said RCC Board Chair Bev Cosham, in release.“He and his colleagues will offer us a chance to reach deep into our emotional wells and surface the compelling stories of how we navigated these last traumatic years. It promises to be both a revealing and a healing experience.”

A theater practitioner for 50 years, Chong has started the process of retiring, according to the release.

"I will be 77-years-old this year and it is time for reflecting on a fortunate, rich life," he said. "Time passes. I am delighted to share this moment of transition here in Reston with a documentary theatre work that is very dear to my heart, Undesirable Elements. It is a work that encourages connection in a world that is terribly disconnected. If theatre can do one thing, it is bring community together. Thank you for this opportunity to remind us all that we are all connected by our humanity, that we are all human beings regardless of where we come from. All islands connect under water.”

As part of Chong's residency, Storycatcher Productions, Inc. will be working with RCC staff to document the artist's work on video.

"It’s not often that we have such creative tools with which to examine shared experiences or to illuminate the perspectives of people unused to the spotlight coming to their lives,” said RCC executive director Leila Gordon, in a release. “Being part of this kind of experience can be life changing. We also want to remind people of our Fee Waiver program which can support participation in this and all our programs regardless of financial resources.”

The following events will be presented as part of Chong's residency:

• Awkward Conversations: Mondays, Sept. 19, Oct. 24, Nov. 14, Dec. 19, 7-9 p.m., at RCC Hunters Woods. Free. Local artists Tuyet Pham and Kelly King, working side-by-side with Ping Chong, will host four movement-based evenings called “Awkward Conversations.”
• Story Circles with Ping Chong and Company: Mondays, Jan. 23, Feb. 13, March 13, 7-9 p.m., at RRC Hunters Woods. $45 Reston/$75 Non-Reston Join artists from Ping Chong and Company and connect with other Reston community members to share, listen, and learn about our individual and collective relationships to where we live.
• An Evening with Ping Chong: Wednesday, March 15, 8 p.m., at RCC Hunters Woods at the CenterStage. $15 Reston/$20 Non-Reston. Ping Chong will join theReston Community Center for a conversation about theatre and social transformation. It is recommended that children under 16 be accompanied by an adult.
• Generation Rise: Reston: Friday, March 24, 8 p.m., and Saturday, March 25, 8 p.m., at RCC Hunters Woods at the CenterStage. $10 Reston/ $15 Non-Reston. Ping Chong and Company will partner with Reston Community Center and local theatre artist Tuyet Pham to create Generation Rise: Reston, to uplift and share real-life stories made by teens from Reston.