Lloyd Suh2019

Playwright Lloyd Suh excavates ignored, pivotal moments of Asian American history, exploring them in a variety of forms and aesthetics, from historical realism and punk rock musicals to sci-fi plays and comedies for young audiences. He has brought to life the story of America’s first female Chinese immigrant and carnival attraction, Afong Moy, and is currently grappling with the legacy of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. He has re-imagined the “lost years” of Jesus of Nazareth journeying in the East and, via a murder mystery featuring the fictional detective Charlie Chan, considered the history and politics of yellowface, the emerging Asian American identity of the 1960’s, and the work of pioneering Chinese American playwright Frank Chin. As Director of Artistic Programs at The Lark, a leading new play laboratory, he is an advocate for new works and a mentor to many Asian American writers.

 

“An Asian face on stage is significant, and signifying. So as a writer I consider it my job to try and shape how and what it signifies.”