The 2020-21 C1 PlayLab Pao Fellowship is a two-year long commission supporting the creation of community-centered art-making with Kit Yan and Melissa Li, along with Community Producer Christina R. Chan, and Associate Producer/Dramaturg Alison Yueming Qu. The fellowship resulted in a new theatrical work-in-progress that responds to the neighborhood’s vibrancy and perseverance, and reflects a rapidly changing Chinatown.
On August 19, 2021 at 7PM ET, Company One Theatre and Pao Arts Center will host a virtual concert of this work-in-progress, featuring songs of a new musical written and performed by Kit Yan & Melissa Li, the 2020-21 C1 PlayLab Pao Fellows.
ABOUT THE AUGUST 19 EVENT
The virtual concert will be combined with a conversation between artists and community members, to share and celebrate our creative journey with Boston’s vibrant Chinatown, whose stories underpin Li and Yan’s creative process. The event will address the unique and challenging conditions of creation against the backdrop of COVID-19 and the rise in anti-Asian racism, while exploring how community-centered, civically engaged arts practices can combat these forces.
Panelists:
- Kit Yan & Melissa Li (2020-21 C1 PlayLab Pao Fellows)
- Christina R. Chan (Community Producer, C1/Pao Chinatown Project; co-founder, Asian American Playwright Collective)
- Ben Hires (CEO, Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center)
- Alison Yueming Qu (Associate Producer/Dramaturg, C1/Pao Chinatown Project; Executive Producer, CHUANG Stage)
- Moderator: Ju Yon Kim (Faculty, Scholar of Asian American Studies, Harvard University)
ABOUT THE WORK-IN-PROGRESS MUSICAL
An eccentric hoarder grandma, who’s lived in Chinatown her whole life, is the last holdout in a building designated to be demolished for new luxury condos. As the threat of the wrecking ball looms outside her window on the coldest day of the year, she recalls to her trans grandson the history of the objects in her house – a living museum of Chinatown history – and they must decide between staying or leaving.
ABOUT THE PROCESS This musical was developed with, and rooted in interviews with current residents of Boston’s Chinatown, their personal stories and pressing concerns of the neighborhood. The artistic team embedded itself into the Chinatown community, and explored the neighborhood’s history. Li and Yan then crafted new songs with fictional characters based on the team’s extensive interviews. Thanks to the longterm and deep collaboration between two of Boston’s core cultural institutions, community access was facilitated with the support of Pao Arts Center, with funding from ArtPlace America and the Barr Foundation, while artistic and dramaturgical support was provided by Company One Theatre, with funding from the National New Play Network's Bridge Program.