Tell me about yourself as an artist & where you are in your artistic journey.

Amy Pan: I've been writing plays since high school, but this is my NYC debut as a playwright! Other things that are happening right now -- Motherland, a Zoom play/film I co-wrote, is currently in the virtual Houston AAPI Film Festival. I'm also in the very early drafts of a new full-length play about an amusement park, and I just finished King Lear with Barefoot Shakespeare (because I'm an actor as well)! Basically, having moved here just a bit before the pandemic, I'm in the beginning stages of getting some artistic momentum going. It's all very weird and exciting!

Mandarin Wu: I am an artist of the theatre. I began my artistic journey in dance as a youth, and later, my performing career expanded to singing and acting. Da came from the land of Cognitive Science and AI, and began doing art because he always has something to extricate from his mind. Da and I first collaborated back in 2006, and after more than a decade of individual artistic pursuits, we are back together with Pleased.

What's new about your NU WORKS production?

AP: What I think is new about Highlighter Girl is the layer of meta story-telling. It allows the play to be both down-to-earth and superhero-fantastical. I think the metaphors allow them to talk about their Asian American identity in an interesting and nuanced way if I do say so myself.

MW: Pleased is a blending of Vaudeville with modern electronic music production techniques, where both the past and future are observed to discover the present. We are breaking away from a more narrative form of theater, and instead, we are embracing an approach of episodes to share fragmented memories and experiential moments. Using these styles, techniques and ideas, we want to have a conversation with the audience about difficult or uncomfortable subjects through the lightness in Vaudeville.

What’s your favorite food from your AAPI heritage(s)?

MW: Deep-fried Stinky Tofu... which cannot go without the golden pickled cabbage and soy garlic sauce.

Da Wu: Yan Duo Xian (Yi Do Xi). A Shanghainese spring dish. A big pot of soup, made up of fresh spring bamboos, salted pork, fresh pork, chicken and bean curd bow ties.

AP: I LOVE Taiwanese popcorn chicken, almost any noodle soup, boba (who doesn't?!), and braised pork belly. Can I have that many answers? 😋😋😋