Found in Translation Premiere - Two SOLD OUT Shows at Pao Arts Center
Saturday, April 9th, 2022, marked the finale of the two show run of Zhu Li’s dark comedy play, A Deal, at Pao Arts Center. Our theater was packed for both the English-language show, directed by Michelle Aguillon, and the Mandarin Chinese-language show, directed by Tianding He, showcasing the excitement for our first theatre-based production for Found in Translation, our bilingual theatre project with Asian American Theatre Artists of Boston and CHUANG Stage.
Photo Credit: Tianding He
Actress Bowen Huang, Mandarin Chinese Reading of “A Deal”
Found in Translation was originally conceived as a collaboration between AATAB, CHUANG Stage, and Pao Arts Center when the three organizations were discussing the lack of theatre projects involving the bilingual experience in Boston Chinatown. Last year, the project received a Live Arts Boston grant from The Boston Foundation, making it possible to begin bringing the idea of Found in Translation to life.
Actors Hannah Beebe, Vivian Luo-Somers, and Kai Chao from “A Deal (English Reading)”
Bowen Huang, who plays Li Su in both the English and Mandarin readings of the play, remarks, "It was my pleasure to be in this bilingual play that united the east and the west. And it made my heart full as I saw how many people are willing to support both productions. I am very lucky to work in both versions and the casts and directors provided me different perspectives to look at the same script, written in different languages."
Co-producers Sarah Shin (AATAB) and Alison Qu (CHUANG Stage) doing a pre-show announcement.
Photo Credit: Vincy Wang
Following the English reading, Director Michelle Aguillon and Pao Art Center’s Intergenerational Storytelling exhibiting artist, Melissa Teng, talked with Alison Qu and our curator Leslie Condon, about how intergenerational relationships have impacted them, the experience of working as an Asian American artist in the Boston area, and what they hope their work can contribute.
Post-show talkback from “A Deal (English Reading)” - Leslie Condon, Melissa Teng, Michelle Aguillon, Leslie Condon
CHUANG Stage founder and Found in Translation producer, Alison Qu explains, "We are lucky to work with internationally-acclaimed playwright Zhu Yi for the second time since our collaboration earlier in the pandemic, to reimagine this stirringly relevant story of China vs. US ambivalence and the new immigrant dilemma in the whirlwind of 2022 with a fully local cast and creative team. Both Zhu Yi and we are so excited to embark on the adventure of presenting the English and Mandarin version side-by-side, and watch the changes this play sets out to make when we produce this story with incredible specificity."
While the first Found in Translation production has concluded, the momentum for the series continues. Next up for Found in Translation is a trilingual (English with Mandarin and Hokkien) staging of Jamie Lin’s Radio Play, The Ghost of Keelung, happening as a part of Pao Art Center and The Greenway’s VISIONS/VOICES: YEAR OF THE TIGER summer performance series. Learn more about the performance and RSVP here.
Photo Credit: Vincy Wang
English-language reading audience