Christopher Chen News

Known for high-quality productions and successful collaboration with Kansas City and nationwide theatre companies, UMKC Theatre announces its 2016-17 season.

Two wealthy London bachelors each pretend to be a fictitious man called Earnest in order to win over two eligible young ladies, despite the ladies' avowed preference for that name alone - and the interference of the intimidatingly proper Lady Bracknell - in Wilde's 'trivial comedy for serious people.'

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) and the Consortium of Asian American Theaters & Artists (CAATA) will present the 2016 National Asian American Theater Conference and Festival (ConFest) Oct. 1-9, 2016, hosted by OSF's biannual CultureFest.

Aurora Theatre Company announces the company's newest Originate + Generate (O+G) artist commission, Christopher Chen. Chen has been commissioned for the company's 25th anniversary season to create a new play specifically for the Aurora stage; the working title for the new piece is Secretary of State. As with current O+G artists Jonathan Spector(The State of Nature) and Beth Wilmurt (Cabaret Olga), Chen will have the opportunity to create new work via a process of his own devising and will receive financial support in the form of a $5000 grant. During the O+G creation process, audiences will be invited to attend various workshops and presentations as well as a series of pop-up readings by other theater makers.

Andy Bragen Theatre Projects and Rachel Sussman will present the World Premiere of Andy Bragen's DON'T YOU F**KING SAY A WORD, directed by Lee Sunday Evans (2015 Obie Award-winner for A Beautiful Day in November on the Banks of the Greatest of the Great Lakes) at 59E59 Theaters, November 4-December 4.

Windy City Playhouse, Chicago's most sophisticated theater, presents the Chicago premiere of Apartment 3A by Emmy award-winning, twice Tony award-nominated actor/musician Jeff Daniels.

In response to popular demand, The Play Company (PlayCo), led by Founding Producer Kate Loewald and Interim Managing Director, Robert G. Bradshaw, extends the New York premiere of Christopher Chen's Caught to September 24, the final production in the company's 15th Anniversary Season

The Play Company (PlayCo), led by Founding Producer Kate Loewald and Executive Producer Lauren Weigel, presents the New York premiere of Christopher Chen's Caught (August 17-September 17), the final production in the company's 15th Anniversary Season.

The Play Company in collaboration with the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) is pleased to present a special event tonight, July 28 at 7:00pm.

The Play Company (PlayCo), led by Founding Producer Kate Loewald and Executive Producer Lauren Weigel, is pleased present the New York premiere of Christopher Chen's Caught (August 17-September 17), the final production in the company's 15th Anniversary Season.

Closing out Crowded Fire's 2016 season of new and contemporary plays is the Bay Area premiere of Young Jean Lee's THE SHIPMENT co-directed by Artistic Director Mina Morita and Resident Artist Lisa Marie Rollins. THE SHIPMENT, which took New York by storm in 2009 caused Time Out New York to call her 'one of the best experimental playwrights in America.' As characterized by The New Yorker, Young Jean Lee 'does whatever she can to get under our skin-with laughs and with raw, brutal talk that at times feels gratuitous, and is meant to.'

The Play Company in collaboration with the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) is pleased to present a special event on Thursday, July 28 at 7:00pm.

Stage Left Theatre is pleased to announce the programming for its 35th season. The season begins with the world premiere of The Bottle Tree by Beth Kander directed by ensemble member Amy Szerlong. The Bottle Tree was developed through Stage Left's Downstage Left program, at the Ashland New Plays Festival and and has received an Honorable Mention on The Kilroys List for the past two years. Next, in the winter, Stage Left and Cor Theatre present a co-production of What of the Night? by Maria Irene Fornes, directed by Carlos Murillo. This epic meditation on poverty in America was a Pultizer finalist in 1990. Cor Theatre Artistic Director Tosha Fowler says of the partnership, 'With admiration for Stage Left's longevity and the exciting opportunities they provide to artists through their strong commitment to mission, we at Cor are thrilled to announce a collaboration of theatre that is bound to leave you breathless. Combining Stage Left's strength with our fearless aesthetic, Fornes' poetically primal voice, and Carlos Murillo's passionate vision, What of the Night is going to be our biggest leap yet.' Finally, the company will present LeapFest, its annual developmental festival featuring workshop productions of new plays, at a time to be announced later.

The Play Company (PlayCo), led by Founding Producer Kate Loewald and Executive Producer Lauren Weigel, has announced casting for the New York premiere of Christopher Chen's Caught (August 17-September 17), the final production in the company's 15th Anniversary Season. The stellar cast includes Jennifer Lim (Chinglish), Murphy Guyer (The King & I),Louis Ozawa Changchien (The Bourne Legacy) and Leslie Fray.

San Francisco Playhouse Artistic Director Bill English and Producing Director Susi Damilano continue to build on the momentum of the Award-Winning Sandbox Series-now celebrating its eighth season-by announcing three world premieres, two of which will be presented in the Rueff space at the Strand Theater.

The Hub Theatre announced their 2016-17 season today. Featuring a brand new play by Hub's Artistic Director, and the DC Area debut of playwright Christopher Chen. Season 9 also see's the return of Philip Dawkins, who's FAILURE: A LOVE STORY wowed audiences at The Hub in 2014.

Sideshow Theatre Company, recent winner of the 2016 Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theatre Award, will conclude its 2015/16 Season with the Chicago premiere of CAUGHT, a new, head-spinning collaboration with playwright Christopher Chen, director Seth Bockley and Xiong Art Gallery. CAUGHT will play May 29 - July 3, 2016 at Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.victorygardens.org, by calling (773) 871-3000 or in person at the Victory Gardens Box Office. The press opening is Thursday, June 2 at 7:30 pm.

The Play Company (PlayCo), led by Founding Producer Kate Loewald and Executive Producer Lauren Weigel, closes its 15th Anniversary season with the New York premiere of Caught (August 17-September 18). In this irreverent new genre-bending piece, theatre makers Christopher Chen and Lee Sunday Evans apply their playful imaginations to the work of a Chinese dissident artist. This hybrid work instigates an exploration into the nature of authority and authenticity, inviting you to navigate the labyrinthine relationships between truth and perception, illusionary art and real jeopardy.

Absolute truth is an elusive thing. In our daily lives we lie to get what we want. We lie to be polite and spare someone's feelings. We lie by not telling all the facts. And sometimes we lie by manipulating the facts so they're true to us. Seattle Public Theater's current production "Caught" by Christopher Chen walks a treacherous tightrope between truth and lies on multiple levels with a thoughtful and humorous show. And even as engaging as it was, ultimately it felt a little long winded and I question what its own truth really was.

Golden Thread Productions, the first American theatre company to focus on the Middle East, continues its 20th Anniversary Season with the world premiere of the poetic and heartwarming The Most Dangerous Highway in the World by Kevin Artigue, directed by Evren Odcikin, Director of Marketing and New Plays.