The play reading will explore what it means to be an immigrant in Boston
Chuang Stage, Asian American Theatre Artists of Boston, and Pao Arts Center are collaborating to produce a play reading and community workshop series, held on Dec. 17 at 7 p.m. and Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. This project will “[amplify] the power and complexities of being multilingual, immigrants, or identifying as AAPI in Greater Boston,” according to Pao Arts Center.
The first play in the series, called “Chosen Family,” will be trying to understand the Vietnamese-American diaspora and Buddhist reincarnation theory.
“The theory in question for this story is one that claims a person’s soul enters a “void” after passing on,” states Pao Arts Center. “Once in that void, the soul gets to decide if they’d like to live again. In this lies the piece’s Dramatic Question: if you knew everything you know now, would you do it all over again?”
Jessica Luu Pelletier, who wrote “Chosen Family,” is a New York based queer, biracial, Vietnamese-American writer, theatre artist, and actor. She writes multi-culturl stories that she hopes will represent her community and connect generations. Director Cara Hinh is the daughter of a refugee and strives to produce works that expand our ideas of American identity.
Pao Arts Center can be found at 99 Albany Street, in Boston’s Chinatown.
Shira Laucharoen is a reporter based in Boston. She currently serves as the assistant director of the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism. In the past she has written for Sampan newspaper, The Somerville Times, Scout Magazine, Boston Magazine, and WBUR.
