Local theatre company ArtsWest starts their new season with a first-person biographical drama about Afong Moy, a Chinese woman who performed her culture in the 19th century United States. The Chinese Lady by Lloyd Suh is co-produced with Yun Theatre, and is co-directed by directors from both theatre companies, Zenaida Rose Smith and Christie Zhao.
At ArtsWest, the entire staff participates in selecting each new season of plays. “We have this big discussion where we talk about what are the big issues we see and hear in the news, in pop culture, or anecdotally around the city,” Smith said. For 2026-27, Communications Manager Corinne Park-Buffelen suggested The Chinese Lady.
Other plays by Suh had previously been considered, but Smith reports that it was The Chinese Lady that got their attention. “When I read it, I thought it was a dry history at first, and then – Lloyd is clever – it does something remarkable,” she admired. “It makes you aware of its artifice, its lack, which is ultimately the erasure of these real people and an erasure that continues today.”
Meanwhile, Zhao had learned of the play during the Stop Asian Hate movement. “After reading it, what struck me most was the agency to speak, to speak history into existence,” Zhao described. “The play never lets you forget that you’re watching a performance.” As during her life in the 19th century, in this retelling Afong never forgets that she’s being watched.
At the same time, Zhao emphasizes the contradiction in the script, which tempts the audience to see Afong Moy as a real person speaking directly to them. “That’s the magic of the narrative,” Zhao said. “It deliberately mixes truth and story, not really striving for historical accuracy, but using theatre to speak a historical myth into public view.”
Partnering to present this play seemed like a complementary match for both ArtsWest and Yun Theatre. “This felt like a no-brainer for ArtsWest, given Yun’s mission to reflect the intersection of Chinese and American ideologies in order to spark dialogue and contribute to positive change and social justice,” Smith added.
She views this autumn as an ideal time to highlight history that is being replayed here in the U.S. “When this country doesn’t confront the omission of state-sanctioned violence, the social and economic marginalization of Chinese immigrants, the commodification and exotification of Otherness in its myths, it’s a clear line we can draw to now,” she asserted. “The same country that signed the Chinese Exclusion Act into law is the same one that funds ICE raids and defends its agents when they murder innocent people.”
Through The Chinese Lady, Smith and Zhao intend to ask their audiences to confront these continuities. “I came from a country where my ethnicity is the majority,” Zhao shared of her journey from the city of Wuhu, China, to the United States. “Coming here, I had to learn what race means in this context, how I’m perceived through a history on this land that was simultaneously present and erased, layered with how people see China more broadly.” She notes that these gaps in experience can create a sense of isolation for Chinese immigrants.
To combat that, Smith and Zhao are directing the show’s actors to emphasize their agency. “Even in dire circumstances, the Afong we’ve built doesn’t see herself as a victim,” Zhao said. “That allows us to interrogate the situation itself, and what we choose to do about it.”
In this production, the roles of Afong and her interpreter and caretaker Atung are performed by Zoe Ding and Sebastian Wang. The historical Afong may have been a daughter of a privileged family, but has also been reported to be one of many daughters sold by her parents to American merchants to demonstrate the new Chinese fine goods being sold in the U.S. Less is known about Afong’s interpreter Atung.
After working with the actors, Zhao described Ding as appearing striking onstage. “She has a strong, specific physical language that subtly draws you toward her and lets you see Afong’s progression through the years,” Zhao elaborated.
No less important are Wang’s moments in a role supporting the protagonist. “He can convey feeling and thought through stillness and silence,” Zhao described. “Even when he says nothing, you can feel the turbulence underneath.” The co-directors appreciate how Wang takes precise control over when he allows Atung to be seen, and in those moments, they find him imaginative and playful.
Smith and Zhao also appreciate compelling artistic qualities in each other as directors. “I think Christie’s greatest strength is her creative hunger,” Smith enthused. “She also has a strong physical theatre and dance background, which is a part of my practice that I’m trying to nurture in grad school right now.” Smith hopes to learn from Zhao in these areas during the rehearsal process.
For her part, Zhao admires Smith’s command of the written and spoken word. “She has a really strong, detailed understanding of the twists and turns of the English language in this play,” Zhao said. “She’s done so many different roles in theatre and is also a great actor, so her communication with actors is especially efficient and clear.” Zhao reports that Smith’s concise notes and document organization have taught her about the clarity needed as part of the director’s craft.
Beyond the physical and verbal skills necessary for all good theatre, Smith highlights the importance of lived experience as critical for translating The Chinese Lady to Seattle audiences. As a second-generation immigrant, Smith knew it was vital to include first-generation immigration experiences, particularly from China, in the rehearsal room.
All four artists aim to combine the verbal, the physical, and the historical in order to encourage their viewers to immerse themselves in the performance. “It’s really asking you to spend time with these two people and notice how your relationship to them changes as you watch,” Zhao said.
She also hopes that the play sparks more questions, not just about the past, but also about our own perceptions. “I hope audiences leave curious about Afong and Atung, and about the parts of our collective history that have been erased or forgotten,” she said, “but also a little more aware of how we look at other people, and what we think we know when we look.”
The Chinese Lady runs from September 16 to October 11 at ArtsWest, 4711 California Avenue Southwest, Seattle.
