Wang Ping, born in Shanghai, immigrated to
the US in 1985 and presently teaches at Macalester College in
St. Paul, Minnesota. She has published the novel Foreign Devil, Of Flesh and Spirit
(poems), American Visa (short stories), and Aching for Beauty, a
scholarly work about foot-binding. She served as editor and
co-translator of New Generation,
an anthology of contemporary poems from
China.
In 1996 and 1997, she received a creative
writing fellowship from the NEA and New York Foundation for the
Arts.
Wang Ping’s poetry has appeared in
numerous journals and anthologies, including Best American Poetry 1993
and 1996,
and Premonitions:
The Kaya Anthology of New Asian North American Poetry.
ABOUT THE ACTRESS, Fiona Choi
Fiona Choi is an Australian-born Chinese
from Melbourne currently residing in New York. Since completing
her Bachelor of Arts in Musical Theatre from the Western
Australian Academy of Performing Arts in 1997, she has combined
a love of travel and performing. Ms. Choi was an original cast
member of RENT, directed by Michael Greif, and played many roles
throughout its Sydney/Melbourne season, including that of
bohemian performance artist Maureen.
Ho Xuan Huong
With bold expression and rich color Ho
Xuan Huong’s poetry sharply criticizes the feudal society
of 18th century Vietnam. Utilizing blunt and forceful language,
she lashes out against social conventions such as polygamy and
castigates the self-righteous and powerful – regardless
of consequences. Timelessly relevant, her work fearlessly
alludes to the most intimate of personal situations with a
refreshing candor and surprising humor and gives the lie to the
misconception of Asian women as quiet and demure.
The Paper Fan
Eighteen or only seventeen …
Ribs? Let me have it in my hands.
Thick or thin, opening its lovely angles,
Wide or narrow, inserted with a stick.
The hotter you get, the more refreshing.
Wonderful both night and day.
Cheeks juicy soft, persimmon pink.
Kings and lords just love this thing.
Izumi Shikibu
Some say that Izumi Shikibu’s life
at the at the center of the Imperial Court in Heian, Japan was
one long scandal. A poet of passionate intensity and emotional
directness, she was famous and notorious even in her own day
for her many romantic liasons. Her freedom of expression
and wealth of imagination has led her to be known as the
leading female poet of Japan. We explore a vivid, larger than
life personality full of sexual independence and artistic
brilliance, constantly at odds with a desire to renounce
worldly intrigue in favor of the bliss and peace that she found
in her Buddhist faith.
Out of the dark
Into the dark
I now must enter;
Shine on me from afar,
Moon over the mountain rim!
Li Qingzhao
Li Qingzhao’s poetry is widely read
in China today and she is considered the greatest woman writer
of Imperial China. Her work is permeated with intense feeling
projected with crystalline imagery. She was the leading
practitioner of Ci poetry–
written to metrical pattern derived from
folk songs. She entered into a marriage celebrated through the
centuries as ideal and happy. She created her art while coping
with the political intrigue of the 12th century Song Imperial
Court. The 1127 Tartar invasion and overthrow of the Northern
Song court coupled with the closely subsequent death of her
husband resulted in a wandering exile. Moving from city to city
with no permanent home, she wrote of happier days in a
reflective style of great
beauty and fascinating sensory imagery.
Plum Blossoms
Already, out of the snow,
You bring news that Spring is here,
Cold plum blossoms, adorning
The glossy jasper branches,
Perfumed faces half showing,
Gracefully fluttering in the middle of the
courtyard.
I come, my jade body fresh from the bath,
Newly powdered and rouged.
Even Heaven shares our joy,
Making the bright moon shine splendid on
your curving flesh.
Let us celebrate with thick green wine in
gold cups.
I will not refuse to get drunk
For this flower cannot be compared to
other flowers.
ABOUT THE
DIRECTOR, Matthew Wright
Matthew Wright is an actor, director and
theatre educator whose work has taken him across the United
States. As an actor he has appeared at such nationally
acclaimed regional theatres as The La Jolla Playhouse, The
McCarter Theatre, The Clarence Brown Company, The Studio Arena
Theatre and Trinity Repertory Theatre. He has worked with
many wonderful theatre artists including directors Des
MacAnuff, Tina Landau, Anne Bogart, and Oskar Eustis and a
roster of award-winning actors. His work as a director
has included such diverse works as Brand, Hedda Gabler, Three Sisters, Ivanov, Misalliance, On The Verge, Harvey, Holy Ghosts and three multi-disciplinary pieces with
CORE Ensemble. He has served on the faculties of The Ohio State
University, Wright State University, and Florida Atlantic
University. He is currently Associate Professor of Theatre at
Oberlin College.
