MA-YI THEATER COMPANY
KIDNAPING JANE DOE
MA-YI THEATER COMPANY provided a second intensive development workshop for David Zheng’s new play “Kidnapping Jane Doe.” Directed by Raelle Myrick Hodges, this second workshop focused on strengthening the story by developing the relationship between the Congresswoman and the two anti-heroes. The workshop provided 29 hours for development, along with a full cast, dramaturg, and crew. It was presented at Theater Row Theaters in May 2024 in a pay-what-you-can arrangement with all proceeds donated to Heart of Dinner that provides free meals to elderly AANHPI community members.
BY DAVID ZHENG
Kidnapping Jane Doe is about two residents of the Bronx who takes their Congress Rep hostage, and ends up giving her the time of her life.
BOXER REBELLION
Written by Sung Rno,
“Boxer
Rebellion” follows the story of two down-on-their luck filmmakers who hope to use the Boxer Rebellion as a setting for a blockbuster action movie.
Sung Rno investigates the thorny issues of cultural appropriation in his biting and funny play “Boxer Rebellion,” skewering Hollywood’s obsession with “authenticity" and how the AANHPI community plays a role in sanctioning these movies. Directed by his longtime collaborator Andy Pang, Ma-Yi Theater provided a second development workshop to this play to look at ways to incorporate visual spectacle into the storytelling using simple theatrical language. The entire play takes place in a downtrodden motel room, where walls disintegrate, pictures burst into flames, and entire hordes of mounted armies come crashing through. Clearly, this is not something a small theater can easily do, so it was important for us to experiment with ways to suggest spectacle in ways that honor the intent but keep the production on budget.
49 Days
By Haruna Lee
In this three-part bilingual play by Obie Award winner Haruna Lee, we follow the Nishiyama clan, an interracial family in Japan spanning 3 generations who gather on the 49th day after a loved one has passed away, which in Buddhist ritual signifies the departure of the soul. Each generation holds their own pain deeply tied to family history and femininity — there’s the matriarch surviving literal war and the constant war on her body, her middle-aged daughter who begrudgingly returns home to take care of her now dying mother, and the grandchild who feels unseen in a culture and home that is barely theirs. As the family ancestors broadcast their own radio show singing tragic Enka songs that no living person can hear, three generations of the Nishiyama clan each contend with their version of loneliness, and how bondage to grief and pain have become more attractive and agreeable than letting any of it go.
Playwright Haruna Lee (Suicide Forest) and director
Aya Ogawa (The Nosebleed) conducted research by gathering a focus group of folx who identify as women or non-binary (any age) and cis-men (any age), who have either spent time living in Japan or grew up with some understanding of
Japanese culture. They discussed their experiences living in Japan, and shared meaningful of how straddling both races and cultures have influenced your identity and livelihood to date.
Ma-Yi Theater Company partnered with Playwrights Horizon to to provide 49 Days with an intensive workshop for this investigation. We anticipate more work to happen enroute to the plays world premiere.
The company of 49 Days in rehearsal
DID YOU EAT (밥 먹었니?)
ZOË KIM’s play had been previously staged at 59E59 Theaters in New York City, and at the Edinboro Festival in Scotland. Did You Eat? (밥 먹었니?) is an original semi-autobiographical solo show. While this is primarily a story about generational trauma and how it affects our love language between lovers, friends, and family — it’s also a story about food, identity, parent-child relationships, and the Korean-American experience. Zoë approached Ma-Yi with a desire to incorporate more movement into the piece, to create a kinetic style of storytelling. We partnered Zoë with Soomi Kim for a workshop to explore the incorporation of movement. The result was presented to the public free of charge.
BY ZOË KIM
Kidnapping Jane Doe is about two residents of the Bronx who takes their Congress Rep hostage, and ends up giving her the time of her life.