THE CHINESE LADY

The Pear
Pear Theatre - Mountain View, CA

Director: Wynne Chan
Asst. Director: Daniel Cai
Lighting Designer: Sonya Wong
Scenic Designer/TD: Louis Stone-Collonge
Costume Designer: Sharon Peng
Sound Designer/Composer: Howard Ho
Stage Manager: Kelly Weber Barraza
Historical & Cultural Consultant: Patrick Chew
Artistic Director: Sinjin Jones

Photos: Sonya Wong, Sinjin Jones

The Chinese Lady by Lloyd Suh was inspired by the true story of Afong Moy’s life, allegedly the first Chinese woman to set foot in U.S. soil. Afong Moy is fourteen years old when she’s brought to the United States from Guangzhou Province in 1834 to be put on display for the American public as “The Chinese Lady.” For the next half-century, she performs for curious white people, showing them how she eats, what she wears, and the highlight of the event: how she walks with bound feet, and as we follow her through her life we see how her feelings about her exhibit and her perception of America change. The lighting for this play closely reflected Afong’s emotional state and followed her through her journey of being on display in the Room, beginning with warm, open lighting to show Afong’s hope and optimism and gradually transitioning to a more contained feeling with a colder palette as Afong became more disillusioned with her life in the Room. For the last scene of the play, the lighting shifted once again to being warm and gentle to match Afong’s renewed hope for the future. This play was performed in repertory with Love Letters.