My first foray into playwriting was the internationally-acclaimed Madame Mao's Memories, a one-person play based on the life of Chairman Mao's widow, Jiang Qing. From a humble beginning in a 24-seat theater in Los Angeles, the play traveled to many U.S. cities, including San Diego at the prestigious Old Globe Theatre. It was also performed in London (at the Latchmere Theatre), in Singapore (produced by TheatreWorks), in Scotland (at the Edinburgh Festival) and most recently in Canada (at the University of Regina).
Fabric, a play about enslaved Thai garment workers in Southern California, was staged by the Singapore Repertory Theatre at the Singapore Arts Festival (1999) and by the Nomad Theatre Surrey, England the following year. Sweet Karma, the tragic life and death of Haing Ngor, the Oscar-winning actor of "The Killing Fields." was developed from a Cultural Affairs Department grant and presented at "The Big Weekend" in December 2002 (Los Angeles Theatre Centre).
I am currently working on my eighth Cultural Affairs grant which will be presented in the summer of '06 by Marlton Charter School, Los Angeles' only day school for the deaf. Marlton also produced "Lady White Snake", "Golden Flower Princess", "Fire Boy" and "The Old Lady who Popped Out of the Sidewalk and Became a Christmas Tree", all written by me.
I have an extensive list of ten-minute plays that might interest you, one of which is Sunset in Silver Lake, inspired by the beautiful sunsets outside my home. On the other end of the spectrum, there's an adaptation of the Chinese classic, Dream of the Red Chamber, which requires six-hours to do justice to the seventeenth century comedy of manners. If the length is daunting, think of The Royal Shakespeare Company's production of "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" or Peter Brook's "Mahabharata," both of which are nine-hours long.
