The Far Country

Full-length
Drama
2W, 5M, Flexible

Overview

2023 Pulitzer Prize in Drama Finalist

In the wake of the Chinese Exclusion Act, an unlikely family carries invented biographies and poems of longing on an arduous journey from rural Taishan to Angel Island Detention Center, in hopes of landing in San Francisco. Intimate and epic, THE FAR COUNTRY weighs the true cost of selling the past for the hope of a brighter future.

Casting & Production

Casting

GEE 朱, male
HARRIWELL, male
DEAN, male
YIP 葉, male
LOW 羅, female
MOON GYET 文傑, male
INSPECTOR, male
INTERPRETER, male
ONE 一
TWO 二
THREE 三
FOUR 四
YUEN 元, female

Casting Note
With doubling, the play can be performed with as few as 7 actors, though doubling is not required. The roles of ONE, TWO, THREE and FOUR can be played by actors of any gender. The roles of GEE, YIP, LOW, MOON GYET, YUEN, ONE, TWO, THREE and FOUR must be played by actors of Asian descent.

Setting

Time:
1909-1930

Credits

THE FAR COUNTRY includes published and copyrighted material from Island: Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940, by Him Mark Lai, Genny Lim, and Judy Yung, University of Washington Press, 2014, which was an essential and primary source in the research of the play.