Who are you and who do you play in King of the Yees? I’m Ruth Wong-Miller and I play Lauren Yee in the show. If her name sounds familiar – she is also the playwright of King of the Yees (the show is semi-autobiographical, she says!)
Lauren is an American Born Chinese woman who is not in touch with her Chinese side. She’s a Yale educated playwright and doesn’t understand why her dad wants to involve what seems like EVERYONE (Lion Dancers, Erhu Players, Lum Elders, Face Changers…everyone) in her new play. She happens to be workshopping her play at the Yee Fung Toy (her dad helped her get the space for free…but he wasn’t invited to the reading!)
Through the course of the play, she adventures through San Francisco’s Chinatown, learning about her Chinese community, culture and history. Most importantly, she explores her relationship with her father and why Chinatown is so important to him.
Why should audiences come to see King of the Yees? This show is comedic and poignant while pulling out all the stops to show you (and teach you) about Chinese culture in San Francisco’s Chinatown! The cast is high energy, funny, and simply awesome. Don’t miss our show!
What would you say would be a highlight of working on King of the Yees so far? It is such a treat to work with this all-Asian cast on the stage of the fabulous Walterdale Theatre! It has been a true honour to lead this cast in a piece of theatre that is so close to our own experiences. – we are all so proud to be representative of the Chinese Culture in this show and are having a blast working on it!
Many characters in King of the Yees struggle with different elements of their identity. What is an element of your identity that you discovered, rediscovered, or started to appreciate as you got older? It’s been extra special to explore a character who has experienced cultural identity challenges similar to my own. Growing up (and even now) folks are wanting to belong, and sometimes this comes at the cost of our own sense of self or pride in our own culture. Especially over the past few years, I have definitely come to appreciate even more the opportunities that were afforded to me because of my parents’ hard work as immigrants – and our journey together to learn to live between two cultures!
What was the best birthday party you attended? McDonalds – the Styrofoam box stacking challenge is an epic memory. My mom made me an awesome Grimace Cake (Still love that purple character to this day!)
