Paper Offerings - Meet the Creative Team

www.brave-little.com

About Brave Little Company

Paper Offerings is a story of family history and reconciliation set in the 1970s and today, in Vietnam and Houston, told through letters. Told in English and Vietnamese, this theatre piece for family audiences uses a combination of written storytelling through “snail mail” and virtual online performance. Paper Offerings draws on Vietnamese and Asian folklore, immigrant experiences, and food traditions to create a story that audiences of all ages can enjoy, using all of their senses!

Paper Offerings là câu chuyện về lịch sử của một gia đình và quá trình giảng hòa, lấy bối cảnh vào những năm 1970 và vào ngày nay, ở Việt Nam và Houston. Câu chuyện sẽ được kể qua những bức thư. Được kể bằng Tiếng Anh và Tiếng Việt, câu chuyện dành cho đối tượng gia đình này sẽ sử dụng kết hợp cách kể chuyện bằng văn viết qua thư từ bưu điện và qua buổi biểu diễn trực tuyến ảo. Paper Offerings được dựa trên các câu chuyện dân gian Việt Nam và châu Á, các câu chuyện về nhập cư và truyền thống ẩm thực, tạo nên một câu chuyện mà khán giả ở mọi lứa tuổi đều có thể thưởng thức bằng tất cả các giác quan!

Brave Little Company is theatre for everyone. Since 2013, we’ve created works about, with, and for kids and their grown-ups, reflecting Houston’s diversity with a focus on bilingual programming. We have devised original works in English and Spanish, and produced works in Spanish, Arabic and Cantonese.

We create theatre the way kids play. When children engage in unstructured, imaginative exploration, their creativity is at full power, and they are at the center of the story. Our performances may include hands-on, touch-real props; sensory storytelling; and a meaningful role for the audience in making the story happen.

In addition to annual touring productions, BLC also facilitates THE BIG “US” PROJECT, a communitydriven theatre piece led by 100 members of Houston’s refugee communities, now in its second year. BLC is included on the Texas Commission on the Arts Touring Roster for 2020 – 2022.

Find out more at www.brave-little.com.

Special Thanks Brave Little Company is proud to be a recipient of the MidtownHOU Arts Micro Grant for Paper Offerings, courtesy of Houston’s Midtown Redevelopment Authority, the Midtown Management District, City of Houston, the Midtown Cultural Arts and Entertainment Committee and Houston Arts Alliance. With many thanks this project is funded in part by the City of Houston City Initiative Grant through the Houston Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs and Houston Arts Alliance.

Alexander Le Chau Le Red Dwarf HTX

Jade Chang was born and raised in Texas. Currently they are attending Sam Houston State University, getting their BFA in Theatre Technology and Design with an emphasis in lighting design and minor in dance. Previously they have worked for the Galveston Railroad Museum’s Polar Express as the lightning technician and for The Weathervane Theatre Company in New Hampshire as the master electrician and assistant lighting designer.

Additionally, you might have seen their lighting design for NEOs play festival produced by Theatre 66. They also have a background in graphic design and art. Their favorite mediums to work with are wire, acrylic paint, and ink.

Pin Lim, originally from Singapore, is a freelance photojournalist, composer, and actor in Houston. His photographs have been published in the Houston Chronicle, Houston Press, Miami Herald and in magazines; and his work has been archived at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Past photo exhibitions include “Jazz: In Photos,” performance images of Houston jazz greats; “Winter Celebrations,” an exhibition exploring South American, Asian American and African American rodeo cultures; “Food & Family,” about the diverse food cultures of Houston with the Houston Arts Alliance Folklore program. He has also published the books Farewell the Forbidden Garden and Dandelion. Pin’s compositions have been mainly commissioned and performed in Singapore most notably “Ghost in the Tower” for Harmonica Quintet. As an actor, he has appeared at Main Street Theater, COM Theatre, Cone Man Running, and Dirt Dogs Theatre Co. During lockdown, he has produced a series of videos called the New Silk Road Sessions, showcasing Houston artists in all disciplines.

Mai Le was featured in the Houston Press article “Houston’s Up and Coming Actors of 2019.” After graduating from Stephen F. Austin State University, Mai moved to Houston, where she has performed with numerous theatres. Most recently, Mai appeared in an online performance of Sensitive Guys with Stages, and a Sound Scripts Project performance for Rec Room. Additional performance credits include Prohibition Theatre, Main Street Theater, Next Iteration Ensemble, Rogue Productions, Horsehead Theatre and Cone Man Running Productions. Mai’s first feature film, Acid Test, is currently in post-production. She appears as the host for Space Center Houston’s Explorer Camp TV, and in commercials for Starbucks, Amazon Fire TV, and Houston METRO. Mai is a voice actor for Sentai Filmworks and is represented by Pastorini Bosby.

Hannah Lee received a Houston Press award for Best Breakthrough Artist in 2019 for her performance in Caught. She is proud of her collaboration with Brave Little Company, following her work as devising company on First Day, Nueva Escuela and “A Cry in the Mediterranean” in THE BIG “US” PROJECT. She has recently appeared in online productions of Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 with Dirt Dogs Theatre and Peaches by Soo Jin Lee. Additional theatre credits include Water by the Spoonful (Stages), Speeding Motorcycle (Catastrophic Theatre), Advance Man (Horse Head Theatre), Akeelah and the Bee (Main Street Theater), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Prague Shakespeare Company) and Bermuda Triangle (Mildred’s Umbrella). Hannah can be seen in a Hidrofugal commercial in Germany as well as short films in Seoul, Prague and Los Angeles. She is represented by Pastorini Bosby.

Alan Nguyen primarily works in marketing and communications, but accidentally became involved in acting by performing in Akeelah and the Bee at Main Street Theater. Thereafter, he became a founding member of the Houston Asian American Theatre Coalition. He is currently the marketing manager for Combined Arms, a non-profit organization that connects transitioning veterans with services, community and purpose to accelerate their impact. He is also a professional photographer for arts, music, and theatre events in Houston. He is a graduate of the University of Houston, Bauer College.

Troy Scheid is a director and teaching artist based in Houston and the founder of Brave Little Company. Recent projects include Missing from the Museum (MFTM), an audience-driven adventure teaching participants to examine who is included in arts institutions. MFTM is a collaboration among Brave Little Company, Dare to Dream Theatre (Wisconsin), Off the Page Education (Brooklyn), and Trike Theatre (Northwest Arkansas).

New works devised in collaboration with Brave Little Company artists include First Day, Nueva Escuela; Wooden O: An Interactive Shakespeare Adventure for Ages 3-5; Grandpa’s Garden, a musical science class taught by characters and funded in part by the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America; and an adaptation of Bravo, Chico Canta! Bravo! by Pat Mora and Libby Martinez.

She serves as lead facilitator on THE BIG “US” PROJECT, a communitydriven theatre piece created by 100 members of Houston’s refugee communities and funded in part by the City of Houston/Houston Arts Alliance.

As a freelance director, her work includes numerous productions at Main Street Theater, including two world premieres by Y York, …and L.A. Is Burning and Woof; the regional premieres of Liz Duffy Adams’s Or, and Paula Vogel’s A Civil War Christmas, and many Theater for Youth productions; Houston Grand Opera (Monkey and Francine in the City of Tigers – World Premiere); Mildred’s Umbrella Theatre Company (Lauren Yee’s in a word – Regional Premiere); Classical Theatre Company (The Speckled Band: An Adventure of Sherlock Holmes – World Premiere Adaptation); the Ensemble Theatre; The Landing Theatre Company; Texas Repertory Theatre Company; Black Lab Theatre (David Henry Hwang’s Chinglish – Regional Premiere); Opera Vista (Houdini the Great – American Premiere); Wordsmyth. Additional work has appeared at the New York City International Fringe Festival, the NYC Midtown International Theatre Festival, the New York New Works Theatre Festival, and Chicago’s Rhinoceros Theatre Festival.

She is a graduate of Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and of Rice University (B.A. History, Medieval Studies), and also studied at the University of Houston, Rose Bruford College (London) with the pioneering company Oily Cart, and Lincoln Center Education. She is an associate member of SDC, the union for professional stage directors and choreographers in the United States.