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The Chinese Lady

Thursday, September 17, 2026 · 7:30 PM PDT · ArtsWest
Performing Artstheaterdramaplayhistoricalongoingco-productionyun theatreco-production with yun theatretheatreplayscontemporarychinese americanchinese-americansolo-showone-woman showbiographicaltrue storysolo showall agesasian american$10
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The Chinese Lady
The true story of Afong Moy, a Chinese woman displayed as a living exhibit in 1800s America. Told in first person from her point of view, she holds nothing back as she recounts a half-century of performing her culture to curious onlookers. Her dreams and aspirations shift with the passing of time as she discovers what it means to reclaim her story. The Chinese Lady is funny, heartbreaking, and devastatingly contemporary portrait of America through the eyes of a young Chinese woman.  “Piercing and intimate.” – The New York Times “Afong Moy might not have fulfilled her intention of educating and connecting the world in her life, but The Chinese Lady sure has the promise and potential [to] do so.” – The Front Row Center “The Chinese Lady goes beyond an indictment of the imperial gaze, peering through the space that allows someone to be considered an other and asking what it's made of. Ignorance, yes. But also curiosity, desire, and a wish to understand.” - The New York Theatre Guide

Lineup

  • Lloyd Suh

    Lloyd Suh is an American playwright and 2019 Herb Alpert Award in the Arts recipient who excavates ignored, pivotal moments of Asian American history. A second-generation Korean-American originally from Indianapolis, his plays including The Chinese Lady, The Far Country (2023 Pulitzer Prize finalist), and The Heart Sellers have been produced at major theaters nationwide and internationally, exploring themes of…

  • Zenaida Rose Smith
  • Afong Moy
  • Christie Zhao
    Christie Zhao

    Christie Zhao 赵元媛 (She/Her) is a theatre director, a producer and a interdisciplinary artist. She currently serves as the founding artistic director at Yun Theatre in Seattle. She is also a 2050 Artistic Fellow in Directing at New York Theatre Workshop (2024–2025).

    Official site

Venue

ArtsWest
4711 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98116 · West Seattle, Seattle
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