Laowang: A Chinatown King Lear

Show Info

By Alex Lin
Directed by Joshua Kahan Brody

With Cindy Cheung, Wai Ching Ho, Amy Keum, Jon Norman Schneider, and Daisuke Tsuji

Don't mess with a Chinese grandma. 

When a high-rise developer threatens to buy out A-Poh’s successful Chinatown restaurant, the martyr-complex matriarch gathers her three precious grandchildren from all corners of the country to plan their next mode of attack. 

There’s just one problem – A-Poh's memory is rapidly fading. What follows is a chaotic journey through reality, myth, and magic as A-Poh travels through now and the great beyond in a last-ditch effort to preserve what’s left of her family, legacy, and sanity. 

A caustic and imaginative spin on King Lear that explores the changing face of America's Chinatowns and the fight to preserve a fading cultural memory.

Lead support for Laowang is provided by The Garfield family fund in memory of johanna garfield and the Andrew Leynse Legacy Project at Primary Stages.

Major season support provided by the The Howard Gilman Foundation, the A.R Gurney Playwrights Fund, The SHS Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Laowang was originally developed by Two River Theater (Justin Waldman, Artistic Director; Nora DeVeau-Rosen, Managing Director).
Laowang received support from the New York Theatre Workshop annual summer residency at Dartmouth College/Adelphi University.
Laowang was developed as part of the Liff Lab, a new play development program at Primary Stages.

Please join us for post-show talkbacks after the following performances:

• Friday, November 14 at 7:00PM - Emerging API Artists in conversation with playwright Alex Lin with artists Jesse Jae Hoon, Julia Izumi, and Yilong Liu
• Saturday, November 15 at 7:00PM - API Night: A Community Night and Talkback in collaboration with CAATA (the Consortium of Asian American Theater Artists)
• Sunday, November 23 at 2:00PM - Gentrification and Uplifting Small Businesses in Chinatown with Harry Trinh from Welcome to Chinatown
• Tuesday, December 2 at 7:00PM with the cast and creative team of Laowang

Cindy

Cheung

Wai Ching

Ho

Amy

Keum

Jon Norman

Schneider

Daisuke

Tsuji