Katie Đỗ Wins Merrimack Repertory Theatre's Sokhary Chau Playwriting Fellowship

Merrimack Repertory Theatre (MRT) just announced Katie Đỗ as the inaugural recipient of the Sokhary Chau Playwriting Fellowship for her new play, love you long time (already).

Named in honor of Sokhary Chau, the first Cambodian-American mayor in the United States, the Chau Fellowship seeks to uplift and nurture original narratives that center on the Southeast Asian experience. The fellowship is open to U.S.-based playwrights who self-identify as Southeast Asian, as defined by the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Lowell, Massachusetts is home to the second-
largest Cambodian population in the U.S. and a longtime cultural hub for the Southeast
Asian diaspora, the Chau Fellowship seeks to amplify these stories and share them with
a broader audience.

Đỗ’s play, love you long time (already), follows a Vietnamese mother and daughter as
they navigate the complexities of their immigration to America.

“This fellowship will fill a critical need in building a new canon of work for Southeast
Asian writers,” says Courtney Sale, the Nancy L. Donahue Artistic Director at MRT.
“There is no better place to create these new narratives than here in Lowell. We are
thrilled to welcome Katie to the city and introduce her world and her words to our
audiences.”

Katie Đỗ (she/her/hers) is a Vietnamese-American woman with a mouth from New
Jersey. She’s an alum of the Public's Emerging Writers Group and the Sống Collective's Việt Writers Lab. Her play love you long time (already) was a part of the Pacific Playwrights Festival at South Coast Rep and the Atlantic Theater Company's MixFest. Her play who hurt you? was developed at the Sống Collective, The Public, and Orlando Shakes. She is the Staff Writer for Partner Track on Netflix and wrote Episode 107. She is currently in development with MACRO and is beginning her MFA in Playwriting at UCSD. As an actor, you can catch her in Manifest, To All The Boys I Loved Before 3,
The God Committee, and Mrs. Fletcher. She is honored to be the inaugural recipient of
Sokhary Chau Playwriting Fellowship and is deeply grateful to Merrimack for this
wonderful and symbolic opportunity.

Following a developmental workshop directed by Mei Ann Teo, the cast will share a
public reading on the Nancy L. Donahue stage on Saturday, September 6 at 7pm.
Tickets are free but reservations are required. To reserve tickets, contact the Rockland
Trust Box Office at (978) 654-4678 Tuesday-Friday 11 am- 5pm.

About Merrimack Repertory Theatre  

Celebrating its 47 th Season, Merrimack Repertory Theatre has been Merrimack Valley’s
professional theatre company since 1979 and is an integral part of Lowell’s identity as
the cultural heart of the region. MRT’s mission is to build community through theatre. A
five-show season runs through May in the intimate 279-seat Nancy L. Donahue
Theatre. The company is known as a leader in producing new plays, especially world
and regional premieres. MRT is one of 72 theatres nationwide (one of three in
Massachusetts) with membership in LORT (the League of Resident Theatres).