THE CHINESE LADY at Magic Theatre

BWW Review: A BOX WITHOUT A BOTTOM at The Marsh Berkeley Conjures Magic out of Japanese American Histories

David Hirata has got quite a lot to offer with his multi-layered 'A Box Without a Bottom (Soko-nashi Bako).' He combines elements of a magic show with his own personal narrative as he also tells the surprising history of Japanese magicians in 19th-century America, all in a tight 55 minutes. It's a tall order, and Hirata largely succeeds. The idea for the show came to Hirata, a lifelong magic nerd, when he learned that the first Japanese person given a passport to leave Japan for the US was magician Namigoro Sumidagawa in 1866.

BWW Review: THE CHINESE LADY At Magic Theatre Dramatizes the Life of Afong Moy, The First Chinese Woman In America

BWW Review: THE CHINESE LADY at Magic Theatre is a dramatization of the life of Afong Moy, the first Chinese Lady to set foot on American soil.

BWW Review: THE CHINESE LADY at Magic Theatre Brings to Light a Fascinating Piece of Cultural History

Magic Theatre kicks off its 2019-20 season with Lloyd Suh's intriguing a?oeThe Chinese Lady.a?? Suh's point of departure is one of those fascinating a?oetruth is stranger than fictiona?? tales that are so compelling it's hard to believe they aren't more widely known. His play tells the story of Afong Moy, the first Chinese female to set foot on American soil in 1834. Moy was brought to New York at the tender age of 14 by a pair of businessmen in their effort to sell affordable Chinese furniture to America's growing middle class. They created an exhibition wherein patrons could pay to view a real Chinese lady in her supposedly authentic surrounds. This exhibition proved so popular to the public it went on tour throughout the Eastern U.S., and Moy was taken to the White House to meet President Andrew Jackson. Unfortunately, we have no historical record in Moy's own words, and virtually all of the story of her latter life is lost to history. Thus, playwright Suh describes this work as a conjuring of who he imagines Moy might have been.

Photo Flash: Magic Theatre Presents The Bay Area Premiere of THE CHINESE LADY

Magic Theatre presents the Bay Area Premiere of Lloyd Suh's The Chinese Lady, directed by Mina Morita. Opening night is Wednesday, October 16 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets range from $15 - $75 and are on-sale now at MagicTheatre.org.