Pan Asian Rep's INCIDENT AT HIDDEN TEMPLE Playwright Talks Chinese-American Relations, Fake News

Tisa Chang, Founding Artistic Producing Director of PAN ASIAN REPERTORY THEATRE, opens up about Chinese-American relations as the company begins its 40th Milestone Anniversary Season.

As previews of the noir genre play INCIDENT AT HIDDEN TEMPLE begin on January 21st at the Clurman Theatre at Theatre Row, both she and playwright Damon Chua offer up some thoughts on topics within the play that continually arise within conversations across America, just days before the 45th President takes office.

Tisa Chang on U.S. Foreign Relations: "I was born in Chunking, China during WWII on my grandfather's estate on Embassy Row. Generallissimo Chiang Kai Shek had moved China's base of operations to Chungking which functioned as the nation's capital and center of learning with wartime relocations by Nankai, Peking and Tsinghua Universities. There were elegant receptions - for Chinese intelligentsia and the American Air Force elite - hosting scholars and Chinese leadership such as Hu Shih and Chou En Lai. I remember air raids and seeking refuge in a temple. My father, Chang Ping Hsun, worked for Chiang as foreign language press liason and within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, later as Chinese Consul General to New York until 1957. My mother hosted fashionable dance parties and welcomed members of the Flying Tigers. Damon Chua's INCIDENT AT HIDDEN TEMPLE opens personal reflections of a time long forgotten that was catalytic in the global repercussions to come that re-shaped China's destiny."

Damon Chua On Fake News: "All of us search for the truth - sometimes it is easy to find; oftentimes not. How do we cut through the chaos to get to what is real? I, for one, find it harder and harder to do so. There is news everywhere - on social media, blogs, and professional and semi-professional webpages. How do we separate something with veracity from something that is spun, manipulated or even fake? There seems to be no truths, just positions. In such a world, we turn to our convictions.

"In the play, General Cliff Van Holt, head of the Flying Tigers, is bent on building airbases to defeat the enemy; while McAllister advocates for a different strategy. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's position is very clear, but it is not clear to the Americans how defensible that position is. Ava, the would-be journalist, decides to find out. But where do convictions come from? Are they based on past experiences, facts and figures, an inner wisdom, faith, or some combination thereof? Each of the characters harbors a strong conviction that stems from a different source. Who is right? Who is wrong? Who is good? Who is bad? In fact, what is the question we should be asking?"

The sterling cast of INCIDENT AT HIDDEN TEMPLE includes veteran artists Rosanne Ma (FILM CHINOIS, SHOGUN MACBETH), Dinh James Doan (DOJOJI, FILM CHINOIS) and Ying Ying Li, Tim Liu, Jonathan Miles, Nick Ryan, and Briana Sakamoto.

The design team features set design by Sheryl Liu (A DREAM OF RED PAVILIONS), lights by Pamela Kupper, costumes byHahnji Jang (NO-NO BOY), sound design by Ian Wehrle (SAYONARA); and stage combat by Michael G. Chin.

Building on the success of 2015's FILM CHINOIS by Damon Chua, an atmospheric mystery in the genre of film noir, INCIDENT AT HIDDEN TEMPLE focuses on China 1943 with the historic US Flying Tigers squadron and the presence of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek. The play throws open a window into the critical role played by American pilots in China during WWII, and hinges upon three Chinese women - who cross paths unwittingly in a secret quest.

Damon Chua, playwright, is a member of The Public Theater's Emerging Writers Group 2014-15 and Ma-Yi Theater Company's Writers Lab, and is the recipient of an Ovation Award (Best World Premiere Play) for FILM CHINOIS, which made its Off-Broadway debut with Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in 2015. His TYA play THE EMPEROR'S NIGHTINGALE recently made its world premiere at Adventure Theatre MTC. A National Endowment for the Arts, Dramatists Guild Fund, UNESCO and Durfee Foundation grant recipient, Damon's plays are published by Samuel French, Smith & Kraus, Plays for Young Audiences and the Proscenium Journal. He is also a published poet and short story writer. Visit www.damonchua.com.

Kaipo Schwab, director, was born and raised in Hawaii, directed FILM CHINOIS at Pan Asian Repertory and acted the title role of SHOGUN MACBETH in 2008. He has worked at The Roundabout, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public Theatre, Second Stage, Playwrights Horizons, Hartford Stage, Cincinnati Playhouse, and New York Theatre Workshop where he is a Usual Suspect (their official company of artists). In 2004, he directed part of ABC Television's Cultural Diversity Showcase. He is the Artistic Director of the Imua! Theatre and Film Company, where he has produced and/or directed over 20 plays including THE GREEKS, BALM IN GILEAD, and JULIUS CAESAR as well as the internet web series HELP WANTED. Kaipo teaches film acting technique and is a professional cinematographer and film editor.

Tisa Chang, Pan Asian Rep's Founding Artistic Producing Director, is a theatre professional for 5 decades as dancer, actor, director and producer. She is a former Executive Board member of SDC and directing highlights include: 2015's SAYONARA; 2007's THE JOY LUCK CLUB intercultural epic CAMBODIA AGONISTES, which toured nationally and to Cairo and Johannesburg; KWATZ! The Tibetan Project; and RASHOMON which was invited to Havana Theatre Festival in 2003. Ms. Chang also created premieres of the Peking opera RETURN OF PHOENIX, and the bilingual epic A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM set in 1000 BC.

Performances of INCIDENT AT HIDDEN TEMPLE play The Clurman Theatre at Theatre Row (410 W. 42nd St.) in New York City: January 21 - February 12, 2017, Tues through Sat at 7:30pm and matinees Wed & Sun at 2:30pm. There is an additional weekday performance on Monday, January 23, 2017 at 7:30pm and NO performance on Friday, January 27, 2017.

Tickets are $102.25 for Opening Night and $66.25 for all other perofmormances and can be purchased by calling 212-239-6200 or online at www.telecharge.com. For instructions on how to receive discounts for groups, seniors and students, call 212-868-4030.

Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, celebrating its 40th Milestone Season, was founded in 1977 by Tisa Chang and core artists at La Mama with the help of the late Ellen Stewart, where she used Artistry in Action to counter stereotyped casting, and to broaden the theatrical vocabulary of Americantheatre. PAN ASIAN REP is regarded as a pioneer for artistic excellence and service - with an off Broadway Season, Training/Outreach, and Play Development - and is recognized by diverse communities, press, and the American theatre mainstream. Mel Gussow of The New York Times described it as "A Stage For All the World of Asian -Americans" and wrote that "Before Pan Asian Rep, Asian Americans had severely limited opportunities in the theater..." The company has nurtured thousands of artists and is a "who-is-who" of Asian American theatre history, with notable alumni/ae including Lucy Liu currently seen on CBS TV's Elementary, and Daniel Dae Kim on Hawaii 5-0.

Pictured: Nick Jordan and Tim Liu (photographed by Michael Blase).