This Is Not a True Story 
Presented by Artists at Play and Latino Theater Company
An Experience L.A. Event 
Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles, CA 90013

This Is Not a True Story will run at the Los Angeles Theatre Center from September 14 through October 15. To attend a performance on your own, visit latinotheaterco.org for more information. 

ADMISSION: 
Admission is free and open to current USC students only, who must use the provided transportation to participate. Space is limited and advance registration is required. Check-in for the event will begin at 6:15 p.m. on campus. Buses will depart at 7 p.m. and return to campus at 10:45 p.m. Dinner will be provided. 

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DESCRIPTION: 
In partnership with the Latino Theater Company, Asian American theatre producing collective Artists at Play presents the world premiere of This Is Not a True Story, written by Preston Choi and directed by Reena Dutt.  

Discover what it takes to control your own narrative as Cio Cio from Madame Butterfly and Kim from Miss Saigon each find themselves locked in a time loop of their respective stories that (spoiler alert!) always end in suicide. How do they fight against the plots that they’re forced to repeat for eternity? And what would happen if a contemporary character joined their ranks? From the perspectives of the characters themselves, This Is Not a True Story humorously challenges the harmful representations and stereotypes that Asian women have suffered for generations.  

The play will be followed by a conversation with the artists and members of the creative team. 

Bios:

Artists at Play is an Asian American theatre producing collective whose programming explores and sharees the Asian American experience. Through these multifaceted stories, they provide resources and a platform for underrepresented theatre artists and their narratives while serving audiences within the Los Angeles community. Through local and national work, they support new, emerging and established artists in their goals to challenge and engage theatrical communities and audiences.

Preston Choi is a third-year MFA candidate at UC San Diego whose work focuses on Asian  American/mixed race/queer lives, social science fiction, and the horrors of being alive. His plays have been developed with B Street Theatre, Interact Theatre, Sideshow Theatre, The Passage Theatre, Victory Gardens, Silk Road Rising. His plays include Happy Birthday Mars Rover (2022 Planet Earth Arts Award, 2022 Darrell Ayers Award), performing class (2022 NNPN New Play Showcase, 20-21 Playwrights Realm Scratchpad Series), and A Great Migration (2021 Paul Stephen Lim Award, 2019 NNPN National New Play Showcase, 2017 Agnes Nixon Award).

Reena Dutt is a theatre and film director dedicated to new and reimagined texts that catapult polarizing conversations through unexpected stories with the bodies, voices, and life experiences of the under-heard. In addition to This Is Not a True Story, current theatre projects include Guards at the Taj by Rajiv Joseph at Chester Theatre Company and Accidental Feminist by Alaudin Ullah at The Public. Dutt is also a film director and producer having screened films at over 80 festivals worldwide including Sundance, LAFF, Outfest, Frameline, Cucalorous, NBCUniversal, BET, PBS/Latino, and HBO. 

Founded in 1985, the Latino Theater Company’s mission is to provide a world-class arts center for those pursuing artistic excellence; a laboratory where both tradition and innovation are honored and honed; and a place where the convergence of people, cultures, and ideas contribute to a more vibrant future. They believe the theater creates empathy and educates, has the power to provoke dialogue by illuminating the social issues of our times, and can awaken the collective consciousness of a community to act in creating a better tomorrow.  

Presented by USC Visions and Voices.