Final Boarding Call

March 10–14

by Stefani Kuo
directed by Mei Ann Teo
in partnership with Ma-Yi Theater Company

Written by rising star Stefani Kuo and directed by Mei Ann Teo (SKiNFoLK: An American Show), Final Boarding Call tells the stories of the current Hong Kong protests. The play revolves around the interconnected stories of seven characters whose backgrounds and perspectives run the spectrum – a protesting brother and flight attendant sister struggling to keep her job; a Mainland Chinese mother and her estranged Hong Kong daughter; a non-Cantonese speaking reporter and her Indian partner; and an American expat CEO and Hong Kong lover living in the shadows. Final Boarding Call begins and ends with a flight, an entrance into the Hong Kong protests and how the politics we see on the news every day affects the citizens of Hong Kong in their day-to-day lives. It gives the audience a window into China’s grip on global capitalism. How far will they go to fight for family, freedom, and the right to be heard?

WP Theater is thrilled to team up with the acclaimed Ma-Yi Theater Company—one of the country’s leading incubators of new works shaping local and national conversations about what it means to be Asian American today—to share a story as current as the headlines in today’s news.

For more information about Ma-Yi Theater Company and their work, go to ma-yitheatre.org.

Stefani Kuo

(she/her) is a playwright/performer and native of Hong Kong and Taiwan. She received her B.A. from Yale and is an MFA Playwriting Candidate at the Yale School of Drama. Currently based in New York, Stefani has worked in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Berlin, Provence, and the U.S. She has been an awardee of the Jerome fellowship, finalist for the National Playwrights Conference, Jerome fellowship at Lanesboro Arts Centre, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Van Lier New Voices Fellowship, NAP Series, DVRF Playwrights’ Program, semi-finalist for the Page 73 playwriting fellowship, Princess Grace Playwriting Fellowship, and the Ground Floor at Berkeley Rep. As a performer, she was most recently seen in Bedlam Theatre Company’s six-women production of King Lear at Bristol Riverside Theater Company, PA. She is fluent in English, French, Mandarin, and Cantonese. Her work in translation and non-fiction involve all four languages, and have appeared in China Hands, and the New York Times. She is currently commissioned to write a play for Roundhouse Theater Company in D.C. which will be produced in the spring of 2021.

Mei Ann Teo

(they/she) is a Singaporean director/dramaturg/devisor. At the intersection of artistic/civic/contemplative practice, they make work across genres, including experimental participatory work, music theatre, and documentary theatre. Teo’s work has been seen internationally including Belgium’s Festival de Liege (Lyrics From Lockdown, “Truly polished, meaningful and entertaining” –New York Times), Edinburgh International Fringe (MiddleFlight, “Stunning” –Scotsman), Beijing International Festival (Labyrinth – Top 8 in Beijing News). They have directed and/or developed new work at OSF (Phil Killian Fellow 2015), Goodman, Public, Berkeley Rep, Playwrights Realm, and the National Black Theatre. Recent work: Dim Sum Warriors the Musical by Colin Goh and Yen Yen Woo, composed by Pulitzer Prize winner Du Yun for national China twenty-five city tour, Jillian Walker’s world premiere SKiNFoLK: An American Show at the Bushwick Starr (NYTimes Critics Pick, NYMag’s matrix “Highbrow and Brilliant”) Upcoming: Nia Witherspoon’s Chronicle X: Windows (with composer Troy Anthony) at the Shed. Teo is the Artistic Director of Musical Theatre Factory, a resident company of Playwrights Horizons and an artist service organization that provides all access and affinity spaces for the development of new musical theatre that dismantles oppressive ideologies towards collective liberation. www.meiannteo.com

Hao

(DESIGNER, she/her) is a multidisciplinary designer in lighting, sound, and video projection for live and virtual performances. Hao works with groundbreaking and innovative artists including Charlotte Braithwaite, Abigail DeVille, Mei Ann Teo, Ping Chong Company, The Talking Band, Mabou Mines, The Wooster Group, The Builders Association, The Hawtplates (Justin Hicks), Pioneers Go East Collective, Loco7, Nia Witherspoon, and New Stage Theatre, etc. Hao’s work has been seen internationally at Asia Culture Center (South Korea), WuZhen Festival (China), in the states at CAC (Cincinnati), Stanford, Jone Hall (Houston), and in New York at The Public Theatre, NYU Skirball, BAAD!, La MaMa, JACK, Bushwick Starr, Performance Space New York, New Stage Theatre, 59E59, A.R.T/New York Theatres, 14 Street Y, Stella Adler, The Performing Garage, The Gallery Players, The Tank, etc.

  • Final Boarding Call