Found in Translation: SKINLESS Reimagines the Essence of Love

Found in Translation, a collaboration between Asian American Theatre Artists of Boston (AATAB), CHUANG Stage, and Pao Arts Center, held three, free staged readings to sold out crowds last month. The second play of the current Found in Translation season, SKINLESS, was written by liqing xu and directed by Tianding He.

Playful and mysterious, SKINLESS translates and reimagined the ancient Chinese legend The White Snake as a queer, gender-bending modern fairy tale. Blending text with music and puppetry, this play created a dynamic visual world where the crossing of boundaries between species, genders, and sexualities, takes place through inner and outer transformation.

After open night, the SKINLESS creative team and cast participated in a talkback hosted by the dramaturg, Annie Jin Wang.  liqing xu, Tianding He, Jenine Florence Jacinto, Yolanda Yuanlu Peng, and Sharifa Yasmin spoke about the development of the story and characters throughout the writing and rehearsal process.

“(To preface, I am trans) I really appreciated how this play approached this story as a trans allegory with unambiguously trans characters, without over-explanation or trying to force an absolute 1:1 comparison of these two snake spirits’ experiences to trans experiences. It felt natural and oddly more relatable to me than most trans fiction I have seen as a result … This play introduced me to the Legend of the White Snake, which I had never heard of before!”
— Audience Member

After the Saturday matinee performance, in collaboration with the brand new cafe-library Panethnic Pourovers, attendees were able to get their creativity flowing with a zine and art-making pop-up.  Guests, cast, and the creative team connected through through hands-on activities while enjoying Panethnic Pourovers coffee and snacks. 

Participants in the Panethnic Pourovers Pop-up (Photo courtesy of CHUANG Stage)

Yolanda Yuanlu Peng demonstrating paper-puppet making (Photo courtesy of CHUANG Stage)

Creative Team
Playwright: liqing xu (they/she)
Director: Tianding He (she/her)
Stage Manager: Sarah O’Neill (she/her)
Dramaturg: Annie Jin Wang (she/her)
Scenic and Puppet Design: Yolanda Yuanlu Peng (she/her)
Production Puppet Design: Sean Devare (he/him)
Sound Design: JK Wong (he/him)
Lighting Design: Ashley Yung (she/her)
Costume Design: Sandra Zhihan Jia (she/her)
Sound Engineer: Vyren Grey (they/them)
Projection Operator: Sunny Xia (she/her)
Found in Translation Season Artist: Nina Bhattacharya
Producers: Alison Qu (she/they), Sarah Shin (she/her), and Ashley Yung (she/her)

Cast:
White: Sharifa Yasmin (she/her)
Green: Jenine Jacinto (they/them)
Ash: Jupiter Le (he/him)
Mogwai: Michael Blunt (they/he)

Found in Translation is a collaboration between Asian American Theatre Artists of Boston (AATAB), CHUANG Stage, and Pao Arts Center. Established in 2021, Found in Translation celebrates the power and complexities of being multilingual, immigrants, or identifying as Asian American in Greater Boston through theatre.

Season 2 of the Found in Translation Series is supported by the New England Foundation for the Arts' Public Art for Spatial Justice program, with funding from the Barr Foundation.

Pao Arts Center