Comfort Women -- a staged reading
Comfort Women
by Tanya Ko-Hong #
director: Debra Whitfield+
at Open Jar Studios, 1601 Broadway (48th Street entrance, west of Broadway) Studio 12L
Fully accessible Sunday April 13 2025 5:00 pm
Free Admission. But you must RSVP to comfort@aroundTheBLock.org
Ae-Kyung lives in isolation in Korea — bitter, closed-off, and struggling with trauma, after surviving sexual exploitation during World War II. The locks on the door to her shoebox apartment haven’t been opened to visitors in nearly 50 years. When her granddaughter Kelly, arrives unannounced from L.A., will Ae-Kyung unlock the door--and also her heart--to her?
with
Sandia Ang*
Le Anne
Sol Kim
MeeWha Alana Lee*
Chuja Seo*
Emily Su
* member, Actors Equity Association # member, Dramatists Guild + member, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society
Sunday, April 13 2025 5:00 pm
Open Jar Studios Studio 12L
1601 Broadway (48th Street entrance, west of Broadway)
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
It is also made possible in part with funds from Creative Engagement, a re-grant program supported by:
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council , New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Howard Gilman Foundation
Our program has also received assistance from
Charles Schwab
Microsoft
BIOS
Tanya (Hyonhye) Ko-Hong (고현혜) is an internationally published award-winning poet, translator, and playwright. Tanya is the author of five books, including The War Still Within (KYSO Flash Press, 2019). She holds an MFA degree in Creative Writing from Antioch University, Los Angeles.
Debra Whitfield
Debra is an award-winning director, playwright and actor. She has worked at The Mint Theater, Florida Studio Theatre, Virginia Stage Company, Bristol Riverside Theatre, Dorset Theatre Festival, Two River Theater Company, Hartford TheaterWorks, the Human Race Theatre Company, Premiere Stages, and the Bickford Theatre, among others.
Sandia Ang 翁春晓, a native of China, received her Master’s Degree, in Voice Performance, from the Manhattan School of Music. She has appeared as Lady Thiang, in The King and I at the Paper Mill Playhouse, the California Musical Theater, the North Carolina Theatre, the Westchester Broadway Theatre, and the Taj Mahal, in Atlantic City. Ms. Ang has created the role of Eva, in the opera The Floating Box, at The New York Asia Society; and the role of The Doctor, in Angels' Voices, at the Kennedy Center. She played Linda Lowman in Jeremy Tiang’s Salesman 之死 which won the Outstanding New Play Award at the OBIE Awards recently.
LE ANNE is proud to be a part of telling this poignant and important story. May we all never forget such devastating history and find a way to prevent it from happening ever again.
Sol Kim is a Korean performer and software engineer based in NYC. She starred as Hope Cladwell in AWT's production of Urinetown and recently wrapped up the comedy show A Sketch of New York. She has been actively involved in the development of Comfort Women, from a monologue showcase to performing as Kelly in its short version. Deeply connected to the story, she is excited to take part in the full play reading and continue contributing to its journey. Fluent in Korean, she is also trained in theater, pop singing, and Latin dance. With a warm, expressive voice and a natural gift for storytelling, she brings characters to life with authenticity and depth.
MeeWha Alana Lee She is an actor and a painter, has appeared in Off-Broadway plays, the award-winning short films NETTLES and FIVE STARS, the Sony Studios’ feature film, UMMA (title role), and TV shows such as AWKWAFINA IS NORA FROM QUEENS, THE CHAIR, and MURDER AT THE END OF THE WORLD. Lee just recently finished a feature film entitled, G20 with Viola Davis. Being an actor gives her the opportunity to tell the stories of immigrants and women, and themes relating to mental illness and racism, all issues she has lived through. She was born and raised in South Korea, received her MFA from The University of Iowa.
Chuja Seo Theater: Cookin’ ( "NANTA", The New Victory/ Minetta Lane), Kim’ Convenience ( Westport Country PH), Wild Goose Dreams (UK Premier), Salt Pepper Ketchup (InterAct & Passage Theater Company; Barrymore Awards nomination for Best Performance), Wit (Playhouse on Park, CT), Prometheus Bound (Getty Villa, CA), Film: Off Hollywood, Sticky, The Skin of the Teeth, Dog Walker, Architect, Gravidity, Joyce, Blink. TV: "Long Bright River" ( Peacock, NBC), "Blue Bloods" (CBS). BA: Brooklyn College, MFA: CalArts.
Emily Su Off-Broadway: Comfort Women, the musical, Peter Jay Sharp Theater at Playwrights Horizons. Regional: Love’s Labour’s Lost and The Shoemaker’s Holiday at the Baltimore Shakespeare Factory. Proud graduate of Johns Hopkins University. @_emilysu_, emily-su.com.