Sunday, December 17, 2006

"Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"

I was fortunate to be able to attend a sneak preview of Kristina Wong’s upcoming performance, “Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” at the University of Michigan in November, the day after election day. The evening started quietly as everyone in the audience was depressed about the passage of Proposal 2 and the banning of affirmative action in Michigan. Kristina Wong (whom IMDiversity.com readers first met as Big Bad Chinese Mama) quickly confirmed that the problem is not us, but rather the world. She is hysterical! You must go see this! But be ready to dance in the aisles.

"Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" premiered to a packed house December 9 at La Pena Cultural Center, in Berkeley, California, and the excitement flowed over December 15-16, at MACLA, Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana, Inc., in San Jose, California.

The East Coast Premiere is scheduled for March 23-24, 8pm, at Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine Street Philadelphia, PA.

From Kristina Wong’s website: "Initially an exploration of the sky high incidence of mental illness among Asian American women, incisive writer and performer Kristina Wong mixes sharp humor and shaky psychology in Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a semi-autobiographical, serio-comic quest for a cheap fix to eradicate depression, anxiety and all-out neuroses. What came first? The chicken or the egg? Asian American women offing themselves en masse or the maddening world? Wong's irreverent and provocative work has given her a national cult following for 'politically charged art with unapologetic humor.' -Bitch Magazine."

Read more about Kristina Wong and BigBadChineseMama.com in our archives: Pervs, Politicos and Prey: Ethnic Media and the Problem of “Hack Marketing” by Stewart David Ikeda