November 11th at 7:30 PM

Yao Zhen Yu 姚震宇 & Kangdeng 康登 (Kally) Zhao: The white pretenders

Part sitcom. Part history lesson. Part open rehearsal. THE White Pretender(S) is an experimental theater piece that chronicles the history of “Fake Asians,” aka White people who are obsessed with pretending to be Asian. This play is not just an autopsy of racial capitalism, but also a wild, virtuosic experiment which attempts to radically subvert the White gaze (and, by extension, Whiteness).

About the artists

Yao Zhen Yu 姚震宇:

Yao Zhen Yu 姚震宇 [he/they/ta] is a Chinese multi-disciplinary artist based in NYC invested in creating a social and civic practice that is fundamentally engaged in AAPI communities. Recently selected as a Finalist for Soho Rep’s Writer/Director Lab, he made his Mandarin playwriting debut earlier this year with Ripples from a Lost Song (Rattlestick, 2022). Plays include: the desert is not a circle (Pipeline Theatre PlayLab Finalist) and Precipice: The Escape Room Experience (NYU Tisch). He was a NYFA City Artist Corps recipient and first place winner for NFFTY’s Editing Challenge 2022. Other: Reality Show (NYU Shanghai), Man of La Mancha (Symphony Space). Zhen Yu holds a MA in Arts Politics and a BFA in Drama from NYU Tisch. Website: vyao.co

Kangdeng 康登 (Kally) Zhao

Kangdeng 康登 (Kally) Zhao [she/ta] is an independent multidisciplinary arts producer and curator. She strives to foster a cultural ecosystem that supports community-engaged art-making for the Chinese diaspora community. She initiates artistic projects that simultaneously capture, question, and transcend the zeitgeist of the current world. Kally served in various leadership roles in producing, directing, fundraising, and marketing art projects. Highlights from past art projects include filMarathon (Shanghai, 2018-present), Mandarin Musical Man of La Mancha (off-Broadway, Symphony Space, New York, 2019), CineCina Film Festival (New York, 2019), Association of Chinese International Student in Theater (Virtual Conference, 2020), B·O·N·D International Virtual Performance Festival (Virtual, 2021), MandarinWorks Theatre Festival ( Rattlestick Theater ,2022).