Da Head Hawg (and CAATA (Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists) Secretary) Roger Tang, and PFP are hosting a free community watch party at UHeights, on Sunday May 22nd, from 2 to 4 pm, to feature the area’s local representative in this national showcase, Susan Lieu. This watch party will feature a showing of Lieu’s work 140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother, along with a short conversation on producing your own work with her and Tang.
Free event open to all, please RSVP for entry code here!
About 140 LBS:
140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother is a theatrical solo performance written and performed by Susan Lieu, a first-generation American born to Vietnamese refugees. “140 LBS” is the true story of how Susan’s mother went in for plastic surgery and died due to medical malpractice. At the time of her mother’s death, Susan was 11 years old. The performance weaves together several through-lines: the multi-generational immigrant experience; body insecurity and shame; repression and subsequent examination of personal loss; and lack of accountability in the medical system.
Show Description:
Two hours into surgery, Susan’s mother loses oxygen to her brain and the plastic surgeon deliberately does not call 9-1-1 for fourteen minutes. Five days later, while in a coma, she flatlines. The surgeon is charged with medical negligence and her family falls apart; no one talks about what happened. Nineteen years later on her wedding day, Susan’s mother’s seat sits empty and Susan realizes she can no longer ignore what she’s always wanted: to know who her mother was. Sifting through thousands of deposition pages and reaching out to the killer’s family, Susan uncovers the painful truth of her mother, herself, and the impossible ideal of Vietnamese feminine beauty.
About Susan Lieu:
Susan Lieu is a Vietnamese-American playwright, performer, and author who tells stories that refuse to be forgotten. With a vision for healing, her work delves deeply into the lived realities of body insecurity, grieving, and intergenerational trauma with humor. She took her autobiographical solo theatre show “140 LBS: How Beauty Killed My Mother” on a 10-city national tour with sold out premieres and accolades from L.A. Times, NPR, and American Theatre. Her forthcoming memoir, The Manicurist’s Daughter, will be published in 2023 through Celadon Books (Macmillan). You can hear her talk about race, priviledge, and parenthood as co-host of the podcast “Model Minority Moms.” Susan is an alum of Harvard, Yale, and Hedgebrook.
About CAATA:
CAATA is the nation’s pre-eminent advocate for Asian American theatre artists. In place of its biennial conference and festival (ConFest), CAATA is having a virtual showcase of national artists of the best in Asian American theatre
The watch party is a sampler of CAATA’s Virtual Showcase. To see the rest of the showcase (which is on demand and can be seen from the comfort of people’s homes), go to https://caata.swoogo.com/ConFest2022.
· Existing CAATA members are eligible to register for the Showcase at no additional cost.
· Non-members can register for the Showcase for $35 (individual) or $50 (organizational), which includes a year-long complimentary membership with CAATA.
Originally planned as an in-person convening, CAATA currently sees this virtual event as its best path forward. When CAATA accepted the invitation to convene ConFest in Honolulu, it pledged to center the voices of Kānaka Maoli and Pacific Islanders, the very communities hit hardest by the Covid 19 Pandemic; right now, in light of the Oʻahu water crisis and other structural concerns, many Hawaiʻi community leaders continue to say, “At this time, please don’t come.” CAATA offers this Virtual Showcase to celebrate the vibrance of our diverse community as a step towards forming deep, long-term connections between Hawaiʻi artists and Asian American theater artists on the continent while reaching out to artists throughout the Pacific. This showcase advances that objective by celebrating the excellence of scores of theater artists from Hawaiʻi, Guåhan and the continental US.
For more info on the Seattle Watch Party, contact Roger at oink@porkfilled.com. For more information on CAATA, email info@caata.net.