Lu Shen, the Mad (w.t.) is a new play adapted from Euripides' Herakles by Princess Grace Semifinalist Christopher Chen. The legendary warrior Lu Shen finds himself trapped in a series of surreal roles across time: From a player in a bad English translation of a Chinese play set during the Boxer Rebellion, to an applicant in an antagonistic job interview for a janitorial position, to an all-powerful investor in a futuristic cyber-marketplace where all the world's national boundaries have dissolved. As he travels across time, Lu Shen struggles to maintain his sanity and identity as an onslaught of Western influences increasingly invades his language and psyche, all while fighting an inexplicable urge to kill his wife. An absurdist reimagining of Herakles, Lu Shen, the Mad is an outrageous chronicle of Asian male rage through the ages. Spring 2010 Workshop
Directed by Ivanna Cullinan
Featuring Siho Ellsmore*, Kenneth Lee*, Mercy Oni, Robert Wu*, and Brian Yang. (*Actors appearing courtesy of Actors' Equity Association.)
April 22 & 23, 2010
7pm
Museum of Chinese in America
215 Centre Street, New York, NY 10013
(b/w Howard & Grand Sts; one block north of Canal St)
RSVP to education@mocanyc.org or (212) 619 4785
