Alex Lin Awarded Inaugural Beacon Commission for New Play THE TRANSLATOR

Colt Coeur, in partnership with Shea Theatricals, has awarded playwright Alex Lin and her play The Translator their inaugural Beacon Commission, a new program dedicated to commissioning new plays by women and nonbinary artists that combat the erasure of history.

In addition to the traditional artist fee, the Beacon Commission will offer the playwright two workshops, the second of which will culminate in a public reading, and support collaboration with a director, actors, and a designer. The Beacon Commission is made possible through a partnership with Shea Theatricals.

Alex Lin's The Translator is inspired by the story of Tye Leung-the first Chinese-American woman to vote in a U.S. election. The play is a meditation on freedom and its limits, told through the eyes of a woman caught between two cultures, two generations, and two definitions of duty. By interrogating who gets to define liberation-and at what cost-we can finally reckon with the complexity of cultural inheritance in the All-American promise of self-determination. Alex will be collaborating with director Cara Hinh on The Translator.

The Beacon Commission was inspired, in part, by an Executive Order released by the current administration on March 27, 2025 entitled "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History." In the order, the President condemned several American museums for addressing the nation's history of racism and sexism, deeming this history "a distorted narrative driven by ideology rather than truth," and specifically criticizing exhibits from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum. The President made provisions to "remove improper ideology" from Smithsonian properties, as well as to identify and restore any public monuments, memorials, statues, and markers that have been removed or changed "to perpetuate a false reconstruction of American history."

The current administration's attempt to distort history and control national discourse has made terrifying waves throughout the arts world, as evidenced by Trump's takeover of the Kennedy Center, their slashing of NEA funding, and the pressure tactics they've exerted upon entities as varied as universities and media conglomerates.

A beacon can be defined as a light or other visible object that serves as a signal, warning, or celebration. In times of political turbulence, we often turn to theater as a beacon. The stories we see onstage serve both as a warning of what history has taught us, as well as a celebration of what the world can be. With theater, we shed a light on voices too often marginalized by history, forging a path paved in empathy, discovery, and artistry through the darkness.

At such a pivotal moment in our nation's history, Colt Coeur maintains a steadfast commitment to telling stories that illuminate and uplift our complex history, rather than burying it under layers of fear, prejudice, and discrimination. With the Beacon Commission, Colt Coeur is excited to commission plays by women and nonbinary artists that combat the erasure of history.

Alex Lin

(Playwright) Plays at: Roundabout, 2ST, NYTW, MTC, O'Neill, South Coast Rep, New Harmony, Two River, Playwrights Realm, Atlantic Theater Company, and many more. As an actor: NYTW, Actors Theatre of Louisville, New Victory, HVSF, Ma-Yi, Fault Line, Two River, and Commonwealth Shakespeare. Blackburn finalist, Stavis Award winner, two-time Kennedy Center Paul Stephen Lim Award winner. Colt Coeur, Rattlestick, Working Theater, and BMI residencies. TV: The Audacity on AMC. Forbes 30 under 30. Juilliard.