The Gum Saan Cycle
Three plays -- and more in the hopper -- Madame Ho; Chan Family Picnic; and Kitchen Table, span 160 years of a Chinese American clan in California.
Why did I write these plays and why do I continue to write about the Chinese in the West? Because of my family. Over the span of 5 generations in the American West, both my father's (Chan) and Mother's (Lee) families have done just about everything to survive and stake a claim as immigrants to this part of the country. It is my belief that the stories inspired by their lives capture the history of an American West too seldom seen or heard. Now's their chance to be reckoned with and recognized.
Why did I write these plays and why do I continue to write about the Chinese in the West? Because of my family. Over the span of 5 generations in the American West, both my father's (Chan) and Mother's (Lee) families have done just about everything to survive and stake a claim as immigrants to this part of the country. It is my belief that the stories inspired by their lives capture the history of an American West too seldom seen or heard. Now's their chance to be reckoned with and recognized.