Boston, MA – May 14, 2024 – Fresh Ink Theatre Company and CHUANG Stage announce playwrights and two new plays chosen for a collaboration that aims to uplift and center the voices of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) playwrights through the Development and Inkubation Residencies, as a part of Fresh Ink Theatre Company’s 2024 - 25 season.
This first-time collaboration between Fresh Ink Theatre Company and CHUANG Stage is dedicated to empowering communities and uplifting stories that reflect the ever-expanding Boston identity. Through new work journeys with two next-generation local Asian American playwrights, this is a joint call-to-action in centering Asian American and Pacific Islander artists and invites them to get messy, explore, and luxuriate in their artistry.
The New Play Development Residency is awarded to Ugly Feelings by Karina Cowperthwaite. The program includes a playwright award, including one-on-one meetings with dramaturgs from both Fresh Ink and CHUANG Stage, an internal workshop, and a public staged reading. This public reading performance will take place at Boston Center for the Arts from March 7 to 9, 2025.
The Inkubation Residency is awarded to Mary Magdalene, Daughter, Boatperson by Diana Khong. The program includes a playwright award and community research funding plus 12 months of personalized dramaturgical support from a professional dramaturg.
Fresh Ink Theatre Company is committed to developing fresh, inclusive, innovative new work with theatre artists in the New England area. The collaboration between Fresh Ink Theatre Company and CHUANG Stage represents a joint invitation and call to action to center Asian American artists and their voices. “It's not often that artists of the global majority have the opportunity to luxuriate in their art making. There is always that pressure to get it perfect the first time, especially for AAPI artists, but at this table, we invite just the opposite. Be messy! Explore! Fail gloriously! CHUANG Stage and Fresh Ink's new play processes are uniquely built to nurture growth and create a playground for playwrights, and these plays specifically are pushing the bounds of what a play can be through their innovative forms and fearless storytelling.” says Tatiana Gil, Co-Literary Director of Submissions and Operations of Fresh Ink Theatre Company.
As Boston’s Asian American theatre company, CHUANG Stage cultivates joyful and radical pan-Asian stories and is invested in new works and innovative narratives that have deep roots in the Boston local community. “It is truly a revolving door of communion to be able to continuously center and spotlight the incredibly vibrant Asian American voices in our community. We are so honored to be able to hold space for boundary-pushing, radically creative, thoroughly local artists like Karina and Diana. I cannot wait for Boston to encounter the simultaneous hilarity, grief, and catharsis that I experienced when I first encountered these plays!” says Jenny S. Lee, Associate Producer of CHUANG Stage.
This collaboration is part of Fresh Ink Theatre Company’s 2024 - 25 production season at Boston Center for the Arts. Fresh Ink’s 24 - 25 season explores how different intersectional identities collide with all types of intimate relationships: from sex and romance to family and friends. For more information, please visit https://freshinktheatre.org/20242025-season.
>> About Fresh Ink Theatre Company: Fresh Ink Theatre Company is committed to developing fresh, inclusive, innovative new work with theatre artists in the New England area. We believe that representation onstage and community-building offstage has the power to inspire audiences, shift worldviews, foster understanding, and challenge the status quo. We are dedicated to programming artistic work and curating artistic collaborations that uplift and celebrate the diverse range of voices in New England. We seek to empower writers with the tools to craft plays that showcase their creative vision, and we challenge the Boston community to engage in the evolution of dynamic new work as it transforms from first draft to first production, and beyond.
>> About CHUANG Stage: Founded in 2018, CHUANG Stage is Boston’s Asian American theatre company, cultivating joyful and radical pan-Asian stories that pioneer a translingual activism in the arts. CHUANG Stage envisions a future in the American theatre moved forward by theatre artists and audiences of Asian descent through innovative productions that focus on the diverse language needs of the pan-Asian immigrant community.
