Event Info
Voaden Prize Stage Reading
Presented by Kingston WritersFest
6:00pm - 8:00pm
$19.61-$21.69
Event Description
Voaden Prize Stage Reading
Brandon Zang
Performance and Talkback
Islandview
6:00 – 8:00 pm
Event Sponsor: DAN School of Drama and Music
A world-premier public stage reading co-presented by DAN School of Drama and Music. Be the first to hear Ah Wing and the Automaton Eagle, winner of the 2023 Voaden Prize national playwriting competition. A talk-back with the playwright will follow the stage reading. Previous Voaden Prize winners include Jordan Tannahill for Late Company and Norman Yeung for Theory. This year’s best play, announced at KWF’s July launch, receives a prize of $10,000.
Ah Wing, a genius kid inventor living in 1877 San Francisco Chinatown, has built a sentient automaton eagle and the whole world wants it for their own. Together with his ambitious older sister, they must figure out a way to protect their invention before it falls into the wrong hands. In a metropolis forged from steel, nothing is quite as it seems.
The Voaden Prize is a national playwriting competition. It was established in 1993 and held its first competition in 1997. The Voaden Prize is offered biennially. In 2023, Ah Wing and the Automaton Eagle took first prize. The play was written by Brandon Zang (he/him), a sci-fi and fantasy playwright who uses worldbuilding to distance, deconstruct, and dissect the complex issues of today. An immigrant from Tianjin, China, Brandon's plays are often stories about longing & belonging, beautiful nightmares, and trying your best. He is currently completing his MFA in playwriting at Boston University under the mentorship of Nathan Alan Davis, Ronan Noone, and Melinda Lopez, and he holds a BA from the University of Chicago. Check out Brandon’s work on New Play Exchange and his website brandonzang.com.