Esther Chen, Shan Y Chuang, Qihao Huang, Paul David Miller. Photo by Lia Chang

Mabou Mines’ 2015-2016 Resident Artist Chongren Fan’s THE KINDNESS PROJECT at Flamboyan Theater at Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, Jun. 2-3

Photography, Theater
Chongren Fan. Photo by Lia Chang

Chongren Fan. Photo by Lia Chang

Fan & Friends presents THE KINDNESS PROJECT, a work-in-progress presentation by Mabou Mines’ 2015-2016 Resident Artist Chongren Fan, at the Flamboyan Theater at Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center (107 Suffolk St, New York, New York 10002), on Thursday, June 2nd at 5:30pm and Friday, June 3rd at 8:30pm. Performances are free to the public. Please RSVP (with The Kindness Project, date and # of tickets in subject) to rap@maboumines.org. Click here for more information.

Qihao Huang, Paul David Miller, Esther Chen, Chongren Fan, Shan Y Chuang

Qihao Huang, Paul David Miller, Esther Chen, Chongren Fan, Shan Y Chuang. Photo by Lia Chang

THE KINDNESS PROJECT ensemble includes Esther Chen, Shan Y Chuang, Chongren Fan, Qihao Huang, and Paul David Miller.

Shan Y Chuang, Qihao Huang, Esther Chen, Paul David Miller

Shan Y Chuang, Qihao Huang, Esther Chen, Paul David Miller. Photo by Lia Chang

THE KINDNESS PROJECT examines the evolution, good or bad, of “kindness” in early 20th century and today’s China. THE KINDNESS PROJECT is loosely based on interviews with people from different generations. The ensemble uses different devices to explore how the change of kindness affects traditional value, belief system and daily human interactions.

Check out the video preview below produced by Garth Kravits.

Chongren Fan. Photo by Lia Chang

Chongren Fan. Photo by Lia Chang

Chongren Fan (Director) is a Brooklyn-based stage director. This Christmas, Mr. Fan will make his directorial debut in China with Marie Jones’ Olivier Award Best Comedy Stones in His Pockets at Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre. Most recently he directed Yangtze Repertory Theater’s critically acclaimed production Behind the Mask, A Play. In 2017, he will direct Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s 410[Gone] (NY Premier) for the company. Mr. Fan was a Jonathan Alper Directing Fellow at Manhattan Theatre Club where he assistant directed the World Premier of The World of Extreme Happiness (dir. Eric Ting). He also served as assistant director on A.R. Gurney’s What I Did Last Summer (dir. Jim Simpson) at Signature Theatre Company. Other directing credits: The Final Kiss (Flea Theater); Nightfall (NYU Tisch, Goldberg Award); Cloud Nine and Did You See It?/Eight Ways In (Sarah Lawrence College); Tiger Trap (Manhattan Rep/Thespis Theatre Festival). He has also worked with Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment, China Arts and Entertainment Group, Bard Music Festival, Da Camera/Houston Opera, Pan Asian Rep, Ma-Yi Theatre Company, La Mama, New Ohio Theatre, Dixon Place, Prototype Festival, American Dance Institute and Mecoon Theater (Shanghai, China). Education: MFA in Theatre, Sarah Lawrence College. www.chongrenfan.com

Esther Chen (Ensemble) was recently seen in Carefully Taught (APAC), Othello (Seeing Place), Behind the Mask (Yangtze Rep.), Romeo and Juliet (Fools & Kings Project), Miss Saigon, Shrek, Annie Get Your Gun (Sondheim Center Performing Arts), The Truing (NY Int. Fringe), Downward Facing Debbie (Planet Connections; Nom. Outstanding Supporting Actress), Hedda Gabler, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hollywood Icons, Bright Ideas (MHS), Moving Landscape (Terra Incognita), The Triangle Project (NYU), The Sounds of My People (Columbia Stages), Interrupted (Irondale/WorldWideLab), Adam BloomRedrum, Most Evil (ID), and several independent films. She is also a stand up comedienne, recently seen at Gotham Comedy Club and Eastville Comedy Club. Youtube: Drunk Chinese Class. Education: NYU, student and mentee of Polina Klimovitskaya. www.TheEstherChen.com

Shan Y Chuang (Ensemble) is an actress, dancer, singer, musician and choreographer. Ms. Chuang trained at the Circle in the Square Two-Year Professional Musical Theater Workshop. She is a member of LINKED Dance Theater and The Westfall Music Group. Theater credits include Comfort Women: A New Musical (Off Broadway), Behind the Mask (Lead), Gen  (Dolce Vita), Midnight Kill (Young brother), The City (Alive Worldwide), Salute to Broadway (Showcases), Anything Goes (Angel), Smokey Joe’s Café (DeLee), Bat BoyThe Lesson (Maid). Dance credits include The Moments: Journey Walk-Love” (QBG), “9/11 Table of Silence Project 2015” (Lincoln Center Plaza), “Until We Get Caught…” (Ailey Citigroup Theater). She received her BFA in classical voice and MFA in Musical Theater in Taiwan.

Qihao Huang (Ensemble) is an actor, comedian, and sketch writer. His credits include Arviragus in Cymbeline at Hudson Shakespeare Festival, Chen in Midnight Kill for Yangtze Repertory Theatre, and Stage Manager in Our Town for Queensborough Humanities Production. www.qihaohuang.com

Paul David Miller (Ensemble) Off-Broadway: Postal Madness, Tchaikovsky. Off-Off/Regional: Postal Madness: Tchaikovsky: My Three Angels: Almost, Maine; The Laramie Project; Here’s Love; Somewhere I Can Scream; The Gayest Christmas Pageant Ever; Blink of an Eye. TV/Film: “Motive For Murder,” “Celebrity Ghost Stories,” “Vinyl,” “The Normal Heart,” “Outside,” “Boardwalk Empire”. Upcoming: Blue Wall; The Series; Tango Shalom; Immigration.

Shan Y Chuang, Paul David Miller, Qihao Huang. Photo by Lia Chang

Shan Y Chuang, Paul David Miller, Qihao Huang. Photo by Lia Chang

Paul David Miller, Shan Y Chuang. Photo by Lia Chang

Paul David Miller, Shan Y Chuang. Photo by Lia Chang

Qihao Huang, Shan Y Chuang, Paul David Miller. Photo by Lia Chang

Qihao Huang, Shan Y Chuang, Paul David Miller. Photo by Lia Chang

Chongren Fan, Qihao Huang, Esther Chen. Photo by Lia Chang

Chongren Fan, Qihao Huang, Esther Chen. Photo by Lia Chang

Qihao Huang, Esther Chen. Photo by Lia Chang

Qihao Huang, Esther Chen. Photo by Lia Chang

Esther Chen, Shan Y Chuang, Qihao Huang, Paul David Miller. Photo by Lia Chang

Esther Chen, Shan Y Chuang, Qihao Huang, Paul David Miller. Photo by Lia Chang

The Kindness Project was developed during Fan & Friend’s Artistic Director Chongren Fan’s residency in Mabou Mines’ 2015-2016 Resident Artist Program. This program is made possible through generous funding by the Jerome Foundation and with public funds from the City of New York, Department of Cultural Affairs and Materials for the Arts.

Mabou Mines is an artist-driven experimental confederation, generating original works and re-imagined adaptations of classic works through multi-disciplinary, technologically inventive collaborations among its members and a wide world of contemporary filmmakers, composers, writers, musicians, choreographers, puppeteers and visual artists.

The company’s artistic directors – Lee Breuer, Sharon Fogarty, Karen Kandel & Terry O’Reilly – continue to pursue the original vision of the collective, established in 1970, of co-equal voices exploring limitless theatrical possibilities.

Broadwayworld.com: Stage Tube: Fan & Friends to Present THE KINDNESS PROJECT at Flamboyan Theater

Broadwayworld.com: Photo Flash: Fan & Friends to Present THE KINDNESS PROJECT at Flamboyan Theater

Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits

Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits

Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers,  musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Examiner.comJade Magazine and Playbill.com.