July 28
Chapters of a Floating Life
WTF’s 2023 L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Award
By Clarence Coo (WTF’s 2023 Jay Harris Commission recipient)
Directed by Jennifer Chang
Two couples from China try to make ends meet in New York City in the wake of the Second World War. One husband and wife live uptown, obsessed with a past of poetry, painting, and gardens. Another pair face the day-to-day reality of keeping a Chinatown restaurant in business. Their worlds, previously separated by class and education, converge when the two women find each other in Central Park and fall under the spell of the Chinese language.
CAST
Teresa Avia Lim as Yun
Grant Chang as Shen
James Chen as Tom
Diana Oh as Elsie
Leah Getz reading stage directions
Clarence Coo was born in the Philippines and grew up in a crowded, multilingual household in Virginia. He writes about language, class, and sexuality. His plays include On That Day in Amsterdam, The God of Wine, The Birds of Empathy, Beautiful Province (Belle Province), and People Sitting in Darkness. His work has been produced or developed at Primary Stages, the Atlantic Theater Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, New York Theatre Workshop, and the Bay Area Playwrights Festival. He has received fellowships from the Dramatists Guild of America, the Rita Goldberg Playwrights’ Workshop at the Lark, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Playwrights Realm, and he has been the recipient of a Whiting Award and the Yale Drama Series Prize. He received his MFA in playwriting at Columbia University. He is a member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab and an alumnus of New Dramatists.
Jennifer Chang – Recent Directing Credits include The Heart Sellers by Lloyd Suh at Milwaukee Rep (World Premiere), On Gold Mountain with LA Opera at The Huntington, The Great Leap by Lauren Yee at The Round House Theatre, Undo The Sea by Inda Craig-Galván with Primary Stages, Vietgone by Qui Nguyen (LADCC AWARD for Direction). New Play/ Musical Development: The Geffen Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, Ashland New Plays Festival, O’Neill Playwrights Conference, New Harmony Project, CTG, PPF@SCR, Sông Collective, Black and Latino Playwrights’ Conference, Theatre Mu, Chance Theater, Boston Court, PlayOn!, East West Players, Artists at Play. Upcoming: American Fast by Kareem Fahmy at City Theatre (NNPN Rolling World Premiere), King of the Yees by Lauren Yee at Signature Theatre (VA) Her play The Devil is a Lie
premieres in April 2023 with Quantum Theatre directed by Kyle Haden. SDCF Fichandler Award Finalist, Director’s Lab West, Drama League NY Fellow, Classical Directing Fellow at The Old Globe, Beatrice Terry Residency (Drama League). Associate Professor UCLA School of TFT. More info: www.changinator.com
Teresa Avia Lim – Broadway: Ayad Akhtar’s JUNK at Lincoln Center. Other works: Shakespeare in the Park’s all female production of Taming of the Shrew, NAATCO’S Awake and Sing, Macbeth, and Call and Response with the Mobile Shakespeare Unit at the Public Theater, Knight of the Burning Pestle with Fiasco and Redbull, Once Upon a Korean Time with Ma-Yi and Snow in Midsummer at Classic Stage. Teresa originated her roles in Peerless, Water by the Spoonful, Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them, and Concerning Strange Devices From the Distant West. TV: “Bupkis” (Peacock), “Monsterland” (Hulu), “The Code” (CBS), “Ray Donovan” (Showtime), “Group”, “Blue Bloods” (CBS), “Limitless” (CBS), “Unforgettable” (CBS), “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” (NBC).Film: Dispatched, Take Me With You, All Rise. She is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama and an inaugural Recipient of the Jerome L. Greene Foundation Scholarship.
Grant Chang – Recently seen recurring in Law & Order: Organized Crime, followed by a large guest star role in the season 10 premiere of the NBC series, “The Blacklist”. Grant was nominated for the 2021 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Lead Actor in a Play for his role as ‘Wen Chang’ in Pasadena Playhouse and East West Players’ co-production of Lauren Yee’s The Great Leap, helmed by Tony Award winner BD Wong. Chang also received a 2019 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Lead Performance. After, he reprised his role at the Round House Theatre in DC, which was directed by Jennifer Chang. Previously, Grant recurred on the TNT series “Mr. Robot” and guest starred on series such as “Law & Order”, “The Knick”, “Deception”, and “House of Cards”. He is a graduate of NYU.
Diana Oh (they/them/Zaza) is a multi-hyphenate Generative Artist — performer, musician, singer, songwriter, actor, director of their own work, maker of installations, rituals, performances, concerts, documentary film, and parties. Oh describes themselves as an open channel to the art that feels good to their body and is driven by pleasure, mutual care, and keeping things heart-centered. Oh’s {my lingerie play}, Infinite Love Party, CLAIRVOYANCE, Asian People are Not Magicians, OH FAMILY CONCERT, The Gift Project, music and more have been featured on PBS, NPR, Mic, SXSW, All Arts TV, Sundance, Huffington Post, People Magazine, Vulture, Upworthy, Vice, The National, MTV, Korean Broadcast Radio, Symphony Space, The Public Theatre, Institute of Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Bushwick Starr, Rattlestick Playwrights, The Harvard Arboretum, American Repertory Theatre, Harvard, Yale, Smith College, and University of Illinois. Oh travels with Shovels to unexpected places with their work say hi @ProfessionalLapDog @ohyeadiana.
James Chen recently wrapped his fifth season on CBS’s FBI playing Analyst Ian Lim. He also entered intergalactic space this year on “The Mandalorian” and enjoyed a great arc on Jason Katim’s Apple TV+ show, “Dear Edward”. You may also recognize him from 5 seasons as Kal on the world-wide cult favorite, “The Walking Dead”, or his 2 seasons as CSU Detective Adrian Sung on “Law & Order: SVU”. Other notable TV / streaming work includes “Run The World” (STARZ), “Iron Fist” (Netflix), “Seven Seconds” (Netflix), “9-1-1” (FOX). He’s had the pleasure working opposite artists such as Kate Winslet, Jim Carey, Tilda Swinton, and Denis Leary in international studio films such as The Amazing Spiderman, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Labor Day, and We Need To Talk About Kevin. His award-winning performance as Ning in indie darling, Front Cover, is currently back on Netflix.
Leah Getz (She/They) is a recent graduate from Fordham University, receiving her B.A. in Theatre Performance. She is so grateful to be spending her first summer in Williamstown at Williamstown Theatre Festival! Past credits include 2nd Stage Theater: Chinese Republicans (Stage Directions), Fordham University Mainstage: La Cocina World Premiere (Helen), and Tartuffe (Elmire). IG: @leahhgetz www.leahgetz.com