Z Space

Word for Word Performing Arts Company presents:

Immortal Heart

By Amy Tan

July 16 – August 8, 2004
at Magic Theatre
Directed by Delia MacDougall
with Assistant Director Michael Cheng

Our 11TH Anniversary Show, "Immortal Heart", reveals a hidden world, one circumscribed by the powers of family and destiny, and the strict tenets of women's roles in rural China in the 1900's. Tan's heartfelt tale introduces us to a complex world of family ties, ghosts, mystery, duty, and love.

"Immortal Heart" won BACC 2004 Awards for Entire Production, Ensemble, and Best Direction, toured to the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts in Berkeley, and then to France (with understudy Hawlan Ng), where we had the pleasure of having Amy Tan in attendance. Never had we seen such a throng of audience members, pleading for entrance!

"Immortal Heart" was first published in 2000 as a short story in The New Yorker, and was the central heart of Tan's 2001 novel, The Bonesetter's Daughter.

“Word for Word is a marvel. While respecting the author's every word, the company also manage to create something completely new, going well beyond the page into an art that has no words. I was completely bowled over by the acting, the stage, the costumes, the choreography — the sheer power of the experience of watching words come to life.” — Amy Tan

Directed by Delia MacDougall
with Assistant Director Michael Cheng

Cast

Mitzie Abe
Michael Cheng
Julia Cho
Tina Huang
Lisa Kang
Kerry Lee
Melissa Wong Renati
Brian Rivera
Dennis Yen

Designers and Crew

Randall Wong - Original Sound
Keiko Shimosato - Costumes
Miiko Uesugi - Set
Jim Cave - Lights

David A. Young - Stage Manager

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amy Tan is the author of The Valley of Amazement, The Joy Luck Club, The Kitchen God's Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter's Daughter, The Opposite of Fate, Saving Fish from Drowning, and two children's books, The Moon Lady and Sagwa the Chinese Siamese Cat.  Tan was also a co-producer and co-screenwriter of the film version of The Joy Luck Club and the librettist for the opera The Bonesetter's Daughter. amytan.net