White Phoenix: A Staged Reading

An epic family drama that spans decades and continents told by two actors in one room, The story follows Li CunYi, a Chinese orphan who makes a promise to reunite with his sister, Li CunXin, who is adopted by an American family. As CunYi grows into adulthood in China, he becomes involved with Zhao YanYan, the daughter of a powerful political family, who both aids and manipulates his search for his sister. Meanwhile, CunXin, renamed Annie Bradford, comes of age in America within the family of a senator, is in a secret romance with Gabriel Bradford, the senator's son. Their parallel journeys eventually converge when CunYi travels to Washington DC as part of a Chinese diplomatic mission, setting the stage for a long-awaited and fraught reunion between brother and sister. The incestuous relationships in the play is a metaphor for the equally incestuous partnership between China and America. Playwright: Yide Cai Director: Dmitry Troyanovsky