Exhibit on View February 26 – March 28
Open Rehearsal, Friday, March 20 | 7:00 PM
Play Readings, March 28 | 2:00 and 7:00 PM
Open Rehearsal, 3/20, 7:00 PM
Play Reading, 3/28, 2:00 PM
Play Reading, 3/28, 7:00 PM
In September 1975, Chinatown children were to be bused to Charlestown as part of Phase II of desegregation for Boston Public Schools. The previous year, Phase I, had protests that turned violent between the white and Black communities. Young Chinese students were at risk and would destabilize a residential immigrant neighborhood already under threat. In response, Chinatown mothers—garment workers who did not speak English—refused to remain silent. They planned a boycott if their demands to ensure safety and education for their elementary-aged children were not met.
Created by playwright Christina R. Chan and creatively produced by CHUANG Stage, Busing the Buffer Zone brings this forgotten, painful, and powerful history into the present through oral histories, archival research, and community interviews. The project unfolds as a new theatrical play, paired with an exhibit at Pao Arts Center, both inspired by and honoring the Chinatown mothers whose resistance activated the neighborhood’s fights for justice and belonging.
About the Exhibit
Step into the making of the play and the history that sparked it. The exhibit eatures research materials, interview excerpts, archival photos, and a timeline tracing Boston’s desegregation era and Chinatown’s 1975 busing crisis. Follow a historical “bus route” through the gallery, listen to audio selections from the play, and add your voice through an engagement activity connecting past organizing to today. Please note that this exhibit can be viewed on its own or in conjunction with the play. Click here for Pao Arts Center gallery hours.
About the Staged Reading
Experience the new play, Busing the Buffer Zone, performed live by actors in a staged reading directed by Kai Chao.
The Open Rehearsal (March 20) is a behind-the-scenes look at selected scenes, followed by a facilitated audience conversation--your questions and reflections help shape the next draft. Click here to RSVP.
At the Staged Readings (March 28), the full play will be read aloud with minimal staging, inviting you to imagine the world of the story as it unfolds in real time, with Chinese translations projected. Click here to RSVP.
These are limited, one-time public events--an opportunity to witness history becoming theatre.
About the Artist
Christina R. Chan
Chinese American theater creative amplifying Asian American stories of joy, community, and social change. She was born in Hong Kong and grew up near Chinatown— a place of inspiration for her plays.
About the Partner
CHUANG Stage
CHUANG Stage is Boston’s Asian American theatre company, making multilingual and community-rooted performances that center immigrant stories, pan-Asian joy, and radical access. From new play development to neighborhood tours and lobby activations, CHUANG Stage pairs theatre with exhibitions, installations, and engagement experiences that invite audiences to step inside the community conversations that shape the work.
Busing the Buffer Zone is led by Alison Yueming Qu (Executive Director)--a creative producer, director, and community organizer--whose work builds pathways for artists and communities to gather, remember, and imagine together. The project’s exhibition is designed by Jenny S. Lee (Director of Artistic & Community Programming), a theatre artist and director whose practice bridges performance and visual storytelling--translating oral histories, archival materials, and community interviews into immersive environments that deepen audience connection.
Learn more about CHUANG Stage's work at chuangstage.org or @chuangstage.
Image credit: Northeastern University Library, James Fraser Photograph Collection
Supported By
Development of Busing the Buffer Zone is funded by The Boston Foundation's Live Arts Boston grant and Mass Humanities' Expand Massachusetts Stories grant with CHUANG Stage.
The Pao Arts Center readings is supported by George Yip.