Henry Ong is a journalist turned playwright. He worked for several newspapers and magazines before embarking on his theatrical writing career.
His first produced play, "Madame Mao’s Memories," based on the life of Chairman Mao’s widow, became an instant hit when it made its debut at Theatre/Theater’s second stage, a small 24-seat space. "Memories" received critical acclaim from all the local media, including the Los Angeles Times which called it “a mesmerizing drama.” The play was subsequently produced in many U.S. cities, including San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre. "Madame Mao’s Memories" was also produced internationally, at the Latchmere Theatre in London, the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland and in Singapore (TheatreWorks).
Ong is an ten-time recipient of the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department grants. His first Cultural Affairs grant back in 1991 was to produce Madame Mao’s Memories for underserved Los Angeles students who seldom get to see theater. The play was staged in the state-of-the-art 400-seat Keck Theatre in Occidental College—a huge leap from its humble beginning.
Since then, Ong has received grants for community arts projects, the latest being oral history workshops for Chinese and Filipino Americans.
Ong also wrote "Sweet Karma," a play based on the life of Haing Ngor, the Oscar-winning actor of The Killing Fields. It was performed at the Los Angeles Theatre Center during The Big Weekend, in December 02, and is currently being considered for productions in Los Angeles and New York (by the Immigrant Theatre Project).
Another play, a one-act entitled “The Silkworm Scientist,” was presented by the Los Angeles History Project, as part of the Edge of the World Festival 2001, at the Los Angeles Theatre Centre.
Ong wrote and directed "People Like Me," another Cultural Affairs grant project, at Playwrights’ Arena in 1997. That production won Ong a Drama-Logue award for writing. The play was recently published by Norman Maine Publishing.
In 1998, he wrote and directed Fabric, a play about the Thai garment
workers slavery case (another Cultural Affairs grant project), at several
community venues. Singapore Repertory Theatre in Singapore produced "Fabric"
at the Singapore Arts Festival in 1999 (Ong once again directed), and
the Nomad Theatre in Surrey, England the following year.
Ong wrote several one-acts: "Voices of Hiroshima," "The
Letters of Wei Jingsheng," and "Rape of Nanking" (based
on Iris Chang’s best-seller), all produced at various community
venues. Other works include "Odd Birds" (a musical he wrote
in conjunction with composer Dick Hamilton, and presented at Los Angeles
Theatre Centre) and "China Boy," a commissioned screenplay based
on Gus Lee’s best-selling novel of the same name.
In 2000, the Library Foundation of Los Angeles commissioned Ong to write an adaptation of "Dream of the Red Chamber" and to present it in conjunction with Visible Traces, a special travelling exhibition of rare books and collections from the National Library of China. A staged reading was presented at Central Library in the summer of 2000, and the following year, Action Theatre in Singapore also did a staged reading.
Ong has written several plays for youth, including "The Fire Boy" (a Japanese folktale), "Golden Flower Princess" (a Thai folktale), and "Lady White Snake" (a Chinese mythological tale) and "The Wedding of Bolak Sonday" (a Filipino folktale).
He has conducted several youth drama workshops. For four years he collaborated with Marlton School, Los Angeles' only day school for the deaf on a series of Asian folktale plays.
Ong has written a number of 10-minute pieces, several of which have been performed, including "Dim Sum and then Some" (Asian American Theatre, San Francisco, 2001) and "Sunset in Silver Lake" (Playwrights Arena, Hot Night in the City, 2003).
A community activist, Ong founded a non-profit organization “Artists Against Oppression” (AAO). The organization, committed to community involvement through artistic expression, has raised monies for several charitable organizations, like the LA Mission and Project Angel Food.
Ong is a member of the Dramatist Guild, the Los Angeles Stage Alliance, and the Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights. He is an Artistic Associate of Playwrights’ Arena, a member of Theatre East and Mezclao.
Filipino American Oral History/Writing Workshop
(Eagle Rock City Hall, Aug 06)
Drama Workshops
(Marlton School, May 03-May 06)
Youth Drama Workshop
(TeenScape, LA Public Library, Jan.-Feb. 98)
Writing Workshops for Youth
(David Geffen Center, Jul-Aug. 96)
Writing Workshops for Youth
(South Gate High School, Aug. Sep. 96)
Writing Workshops for Youth
(American Youth Foundation, Apr.–May 95)
Writing Workshop (TheaterWorks, Singapore, 92)
City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department
grants, 91-92; 96-97; 97-98, 00-01, 02-03, 03-04,
04-05, 05-06
DramaLogue Award for excellence in writing – “People
Like Me” 98
Active member, Dramatist Guild;
Member, Association of Los Angeles Playwrights;
member, Los Angeles Stage Alliance;
Artistic Associate, Playwrights' Arena.
Member, Theatre East
Artistic Associate, Mezçlaõ
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