We are thrilled to be showcasing 17 British East and South East Asian playwrights with 17 new short plays. These plays have been written by our 2020 Professional Writers Programme.

These short plays were written as a ‘pitch’ idea for a full-length play, the challenge was to essentialise their idea for a play in 5 pages.

This year our Professional Writers Programme was delivered online entirely via Zoom. It ran once a week over a 5 week period during lock down and was led by director of new writing Ng Choon Ping.

Through these incredibly challenging times we have felt compelled to support our freelance theatre-makers wherever possible and what better way to celebrate the company’s 25th Anniversary than to showcase these plays and writers.

Brought to life by over 60 BESEA freelance theatre-makers, these plays were live streamed on Friday 30 October. Watch the plays by clicking on their titles below.

Telling stories on our own terms #NewStories

The Woman Who Made Her Husband Disappear by Carmina Bernhardt

Relationally stagnant and longing for connection, a couple journey through the forest of their lounge to find their way back to one another.

Island Chains by Zoe Bullock

Island Chains is about three women deeply divided by generation, culture, and old grievances, who are each trying to figure out how to love someone you will never understand.

Miss Phillipines by Rogelio Braga

Miss Philippines is a story of two sassy transgender women, of gowns, glitter, beauty queens, and a fabulous gay beauty pageant in the middle of a bloody war on drugs in Duterte Philippines.

Isle of Red by Jeongeun Choi

Great Britain, 2039. A new virus has swept the nation. When a new plant which can produce a vaccine is finally engineered, Gemma, a geneticist, must smuggle it out of the hands of the corrupt to save the world.

Lucky Cigarette by Megan Cowley

When her trip across China takes a turn for the worst, Chloe is forced to re-evaluate her one remaining friendship and confront the recent trauma she’s been downplaying.

Kami by Enxi Chang 

Kami (‘Us’ in Tagalog) is inspired by the experiences of Filipino domestic workers in Hong Kong, discrimination against Southeast Asians in East Asia, and the impact of the 2019 protests on less visible members of Hong Kong society.

Boy on Canvas by Stephen Hoo 

Who is the beautiful Thai boy in Jimmy and Dan’s new painting? And why is he speaking directly to Jimmy, pulling blithely at the threads of race, age and sex from which he has knotted his life?

In Between Us by Lucas Chih-Peng Kao 

The insular world of Lou and Terese breaks down as they suffer under the stress of immigration laws. Meanwhile as Ellie, the fictional character they created together, empowers and frees herself, their own relationship crumbles.

Before you Go by Lao Lee  

Most people only come out once right? Not for Kit, whose mother has early onset dementia. Caught between wanting acceptance, saving her engagement and searching for her estranged brother, Kit uncovers uneasy truths. Before You Go explores queer identity, repression, and trauma.

God & Monster by Andrea Ling 

Present day, Eccles, UK. It’s Lunar New Year, and a Son brings home a prospective girlfriend to the family. But Mother is convinced she is the daughter she was forced to abandon under the one child policy.

ZAAZAA by Nemo Martin 

Suicidal teenager Taro travels to America to meet their Hannibal-loving internet friend, and together they confront abandoned campsites, run-down murder motels, Japanese internment camps and Death Valley under the stars.

Paper Daughter by Kevin Shen 

In 1882, xenophobia and fear-mongering led the US government to pass the first (and only) law prohibiting all members of a specific ethnic group from immigrating to the country with the Chinese Exclusion Act. So… has anything changed?

Dollars and Sense by Naomi Sumner Chan 

Dollars and Sense is inspired by the real story of 36 Cambodian surrogate mothers who when charged with child trafficking faced an impossible choice. A long prison sentence or keep the child and raise them as their own?

Children of God by Jimin Suh 

A North Korean woman escaped from dictatorship. Now she’s become a dictator in her son’s life from whom he cannot escape – or can he?

Ghost Ferry by Phoebe Tsang 

Ghost Ferry is a romantic comedy that tackles cultural and gender stereotypes with dark humour, set against the turbulent backdrop of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. September 2019. 

A Tidal Home by Marie Yan 

Two friends, Ell and Viv, are stuck in a room with Hannah Arendt, far away from the city they call home while protests are picking up. As the situation degrades, they wonder whether to stay or go back and what is their place in the ongoing struggle.