Version 3.0: Contemporary Asian American Plays

“The first two generations of Asian American drama articulated experiences and issues of race and identity. In this anthology, a new generation of Asian American playwrights explores the myriad ways in which Asians live in America.”—Editor Chay Yew

This first major anthology of contemporary Asian American drama in almost two decades collects the following: Julia Cho’s Durango; Sunil Kuruvilla’s Rice Boy; Han Ong’s Swoony Planet; Sung Rno’s Wave; Diana Son’s Boy; Alice Tuan’s Last of the Suns;and Chay Yew’s Question 27, Question 28. These are works that readily combine the Medea myth with wave-particle physics; that nimbly move between a field in Kitchener, Canada, and a treetop in Kerala, India; that fully explore complexities of gender, sexuality, and family, demonstrating the cultural and aesthetical diversity of the new generation.

Also included is The Square, a choral piece by sixteen leading playwrights (including Maria Irene Fornes, Jessica Hagedorn, David Henry Hwang, Craig Lucas, José Rivera, and Mac Wellman) meditating on 120 years of relationships between non-Asian Americans and the Asian American community, set in a public square of an American city’s Chinatown.

Chay Yew is a noted playwright and director whose work has been produced Off Broadway and across the United States. He has served as head of the Asian Theatre Workshop at the Mark Taper Forum, and he is a former resident director at East West Players.