Travel to 1943 China in INCIDENT AT HIDDEN TEMPLE World Premiere at Pan Asian Rep

Tisa Chang, Founding Artistic Producing Director of Pan Asian Repertory Theatre, announces its 40th Milestone Season in 2017 with the commissioned World Premiere of INCIDENT AT HIDDEN TEMPLE, which will run from January 21 - February 12, 2017 at the Clurman Theatre at Theatre Row in New York City (410 W. 42nd Street). The official opening will be on Thursday January 26 at 7:30PM.

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.

The sterling cast 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.

Playwright Damon Chua says "My take on the story sits squarely during a period of US-China engagement (1942-44) for this story provides the context of how America lost its political leverage in China, ushering in the Communist era, which would last until the "ping pong diplomacy" of the 1970s.

Tisa Chang says "We are proud to continue the social justice impetus and timely relevance begun in 2016 with Qing dynasty's classic, A DREAM OF RED PAVILIONS by Jeremy Tiang on Manchu dissolution, and NO-NO BOY by Ken Narasaki with probing questions of post WWII resettlement.

Design Team features set design by Sheryl Liu (A DREAM OF RED PAVILIONS), lighting design by Pamela Kupper, costume design by Hahnji Jang (NO-NO BOY), sound design by Ian Wehrle (SAYONARA) and Stage Combat Choreography by Michael G. Chin.

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. 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 will be in 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. Additional performance Mon January 23, 2017 at 7:30pm and NO performance on Fri 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 American theatre. 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.

Need more Off-Broadway Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...