AI MAY DEBUT SEASON ON STAGE - OCT 17th to 27th 2024
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HELP OUR PLAY TO DELIVER NEXT LEVEL EXPERIENCE, REACH MORE AUDIENCE AND CREATE GENERATIONAL CHANGE
AI May is an original theatrical production by Amy Chien-Yu Wang about
GRIEF, LOSS, and LOVE in the Age of ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
A GROUNDBREAKING THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE...
In a not-too-distant future, set in Meanjin (Brisbane) 2035, a grieving elderly migrant mother’s life is about to change again when she is offered a chance to live with a robot built in the likeness of her deceased daughter.
Mrs Chen is a traditional Asian mother who loses her vibrant, creative daughter, May. To reconcile her loss, Mrs Chen must confront her traditional values, embrace new understandings and rediscover her place in the world.
This captivating work explores how A.I and human relationships intersects when robots inevitably become part of everyday life.
While many aspects of life become easier with technology, the experience of navigating the inter-generational trauma, dealing with the loss of a loved one and learning to love yourself remains as challenging as ever.
HERE'S WHAT YOUR DONATION WILL
MEAN FOR THIS PROJECT...
With basic funding in place, the show IS going ahead this year!
We are seeking your support to raise additional funding to take the A.I May project to the next level.
Your contributions will directly support our creative team to ensure high-quality performance and production standards including:
We are committed to pay our actors the rates and conditions in accordance with the Media Entertainment & Art Alliance (MEAA) Performers Collective Agreement (2017) to promote fair wages in the creative industry.
With your support, we can enhance the production's atmosphere through upgraded audio visual effects to create an immersive experience that trasnport the audience to a futuristic yet familiar world.
Your donation will enable us to engage one of Queenland's most experienced set designers to build more intricate and artistic set the stage for the actors to work their magic in storytelling and performance.
Through your contribution, we will be enable to have visually striking costumes that complements the actor's performance to bring the memorable characters to life.
Your support will help us deliver a compelling and emotionally resonant theatrical experience that fosters healing discussions on mental health, intergenerational family tensions, and cultural complexities.
We are aiming to reach a wider audience who are not traditional theatre patrons including migrants who are not confident English speakers and those who cannot physically make it to the live shows
Provide surtitles in Chinese and English projected onto the stage during the performance to provide access to those whose English is not their native language.
Enable us engage camera and sound operator to record of the show to enable access for global audience to watch online.
With your support, we will be able to establish a Pay-It-Forward scheme to enable people to pay for who cannot afford to buy the ticket to watch the play.
Host workshops to discuss the themes of grief, intergenerational trauma and conflict resolution to increase the community impact.
Make a donation to the charity Griefline, who provide support to vulnerable people when they need it the most during difficult times of grief and loss.
Please support our project by donating to our crowdfunding campaign. Any amount, large or small, would be greatly appreciated and will make an impactful difference to the project.
As a thank you to all those who provide donations, we will be releasing group rewards once we reach certain funding target.
$3,000: Social media thank you posts
$5,000: List supporters' names on website and other marketing assets
$10,000: Thank you video from cast and crew with names of supporters
$15,000: Digital Poster
$20,000: Behind the scenes featurette
$25,000: Workshop on Grief
$30,000: Online Launch Event and Q&A
MORE REWARDS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON!
CHECK OUT WHAT PREVIOUS ATTENDEES
HAVE SAID ABOUT AI MAY...
“AI May raises valid concerns as well as the potential societal benefits to robot-human companionship, especially relevant to those suffering loneliness, linguistic/cultural barriers, isolation and processing grief in the domestic environment.
Humanity is at a crossroads where we need to actively define the boundaries and consider the ethical dilemmas associated with the use of robots in the home and community environments.”
James Darymple
“Here, I congratulate Amy Wang and her team for stepping out of their comfort zone a nd bringing together their creativity to articulate the health issues that our modern world is enduring every day in every household.
A topic that we can no longer avoid, which I believe will take years of work to address the current health crisis due to language differences and cultural barriers.
The meanings and values behind her work attracted my attention. This show comprises so many levels of in-depth meanings which resonate with so many of us, including the people whom I have been offering help to in the community.”
Ollie, Founder of Ollie Walk and Talk Multicultural Program
“It was striking a lot of the themes around…all the technology that is out there at the moment and the risks that we have to stake genuine human affection for something that is artificial.
I think the position that we are in in the human history at the moment we’re in the precipice for the line between those things becoming blurred.
The show just fleshed those issues out. It was very thought provoking and I’m very excited to see what happens next.”
Blake Young
Executive Director, Brisbane Arts Theatre
It started with a family tragedy...
The inspiration for AI May came from Amy’s close friend and sister-in-law, Ying, who died suddenly at the tender age of 28 after a trip around the world.
Many questions were left unanswered. Her death was never openly grieved or discussed within the family.
Many questions were left unanswered. Her death was never openly grieved or discussed within the family.
Clues in Ying’s writings and conversations with friends indicated that this seemingly happy young woman had hidden her intergenerational struggles of being caught between Eastern and Western values.
What is Unconditional Love?
This was the title of a poem that Ying wrote before her sudden passing.
Is it possible to love freely without expecting anything in return?
What was she feeling in her heart when she wrote this? Did she know she was loved?
Why is it that despite having the best intentions to provide for the ones we love… our best efforts can still leave us feeling hurt, unaccepted and disappointed?
These questions began years of observing, researching and conversing with other Asian migrant daughters who are now mothers themselves. There was a clear pattern of intergenerational struggles faced by Asian migrant children who are obliged to meet their parents’ expectations at the expense of their true desires and living their authentic life.
Then, there is the technology…
What if it is possible for a robot to provide unconditional love… even from those who we have lost.
What if she could be brought back to life in the form of a robot that acts, speaks, and thinks like her?
How would her family respond? Would the robot help them grieve or make things worse?
These questions have led Amy to walk away from a 16-year journalism career to pursue her creative calling and write her first play, AI May.
At first, it was a means to make sense of a family tragedy…
It has now evolved into a desire to provide healing for the community through the art of theatrical storytelling.
OUR PROGRESS SO FAR...
In 2021, Amy began taking acting classes and was encouraged to write this play by her then acting teacher, Dr. Percy W. Thomas. Transitioning from a journalist specialising in migrant storytelling, Amy dived into playwriting afresh. She was fortunate to be selected into Playlab’s Incubator Program for emerging playwrights to hone her craft.
Since then, there have been countless rewrites.
The first mini version was screened as a short film to audiences at the US Wheaton 10-Minute Play Festival and to live audiences in Sunnybank, Meanjin (Brisbane), followed by a mental health panel discussion on grief and intergenerational trauma, which stimulated a robust discussion from migrant audiences.
The warm response and curiosity from multicultural audiences emboldened Amy to further expand the script and produce a 90-minute work-in-progress showing at the Qld Taiwan Women’s League in Runcorn, Meanjin (Brisbane).
This showing attracted private donations from art-loving local migrants and friends around the world. The story of AI May began as an intention to spark meaningful conversations for families to explore their own intergenerational dynamics and destigmatise grief.
Throughout 2022 and 2023, we hosted various online workshops, including sessions in Mandarin with Taiwanese spiritual wellbeing coach Carol C, targeting migrant women. We also co-hosted a grief workshop with the Victoria-based phone counselling service Griefline and conducted a parenting webinar with Wee-Yeong Eyou from New Zealand-based Teenager Coaching Organisation, MIOMO.
In 2023, AI May underwent further research and development alongside the world’s growing curiosity about the AI tool ChatGPT. We enlisted the support of Meanjin theatre-maker/director Helen Strube as Creative Producer/Dramaturg and mentor to Amy to further elevate the production quality of AI May towards our world premiere season in 2024.
During this time, PIP Theatre’s Deidre Grace came onboard to co-produce AI May with Embodi Theatre, which was founded by Amy with the intention of elevating AI May into a quality production with an afterlife, aspiring to tour Australia and Asia in the future.
We are fortunate to have cast prominent Australian actor/movement coach Anna Yen to play the role of AI May’s grieving mother, and emerging talents Clarise Ooi as May/Robot and Kezhen Yi as Mrs Lin/Dr Tung. We are excited to have recast Justin Ryan as Jeremy after a rigorous auditioning process.
Our creative team consists of Matilda award-winning costume/set designer Bill Haycock, visual media designer Freddy Komp, and lighting designer Geoff Squires.
MEET OUR CAST
ANNA YEN
MOTHER /MRS CHEN
CLARISE OOI
ROBOT / MAY
JUSTIN RYAN
JEREMY
KEZHEN YI
MRS LIN / DOCTOR TUNG
With our exciting line-up of emerging and seasoned intergenerational creatives and cast, AI May is set to make a mark in Australian theatre as one of the first bilingual (Mandarin/English) theatrical productions to highlight the intersection of humanity and artificial intelligence through the poignant story of a grieving migrant mother..
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What are the dates for the shows?
Thu 17th Oct - 7:30pm
Fri 18th Oct - 7:30pm
Sat 19th Oct - 2:30pm & 7:30pm
Sun 20th Oct - 2:30pm & 7:30pm
Wed 23th Oct - 10:30am & 3:00pm
Thu 24th Oct - 7:30pm
Fri 18th Oct - 7:30pm
Sat 19th Oct - 2:30pm & 7:30pm
Sun 20th Oct - 2:30pm & 7:30pm
Where will the shows be held?
PIP THEATRE
Savoir Faire,
20 Park Rd, Milton QLD 4064
How do I buy tickets for the show?
What is the Australian Cultural Fund?
The Australian Cultural Fund is a fundraising platform for Australian artists. It is operated by Creative Australia and was established by the Australian Government in 2003 to encourage donations to the arts. Through the ACF, artists upload their project, start their fundraising campaign and invite art lovers and supporters to donate. Unlike all-or-nothing fundraising platforms, ACF artists set a fundraising goal, but if it’s not met all donations are still taken into account. Donations over $2 are tax deductible, and supporters get the chance to make a real difference to the work of Australian artists.
Is there any risk of the project not going ahead?
There is no risk of the play not going ahead as we have basic funding to take it through the season. The difference lies in whether we are able to raise enough funding to produce a high quality production that elevates migrant representation and storytelling in Australia. Your support will help us make a greater impact and reach a wider audience.
LOVINGLY BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
Embodi Theatre wishes to acknowledge that we work & create on Meanjin, where Traditional Custodians of this Sacred Land have been telling stories for countless generations. We’d also like to pay our sincere respects to Elders in spirit and in flesh. We recognise that sovereignty was never ceded, and that this was, is and always will be First Nations Land.
Copyright © 2024 Amy Chien-Yu Wang