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
Reviews
“Dazzling… a glorious historical epic.”
—SFist
“Fluid and artful… an act, loving and sorrowful, of reclamation.”
—The New York Times (Critics’ Pick)
“An elegy to the immigrant experience, once again a controversial topic in popular culture, THE FAR COUNTRY defies stereotypes in an epic journey as cultures collide and hope and regret mingle.”
—Mercury News
