Synopsis: It is 1938. Hollywood star Anna May Wong has just returned to the US after a discouraging tour in China. Drinking herself into a stupor, Wong’s dreams transport her back to her time on the film set of “Daughter of the Dragon”, grappling with the constrictions placed upon her because of her race and sex. There, memories entwine with imagination, as she relives moments with key figures in her life. This dreamscape is an exploration of the tensions and unease of making it big as a Chinatown girl amidst a world not made to accommodate her. The Actress Who Died a Thousand Deaths utilizes ‘live cinema theater’ to both recreate and reimagine moments from Wong’s films and life; to subvert type-casted and Orientalist tropes of the original and offer a ‘re-framing’ on stage.
Anna May Wong, The Actress Who Died a Thousand Deaths is being presented as part of Mabou Mines’ performance initiative SUITE/Space.
Creator: Cinthia Chen
Director of Photography: Ben Haven Taylor
With: Michael Anderson, Nellie Blue, Rebecca Wei Hsieh, Elizabeth Sun, Matt Ting & Randall Trang