In AGO, the newest play by Stan Lai Ph.D. ’83, a group of survivors seek a mythical Pure Land. Inspired by both ancient Buddhist scriptures and by modern life — and moving between the Tibetan plateau and New York — the story explores humankind’s perennial quest for transcendence, as well as its predisposition to folly.
More than 40 undergraduate students collaborated with Lai to organically create the play, serving as actors, playwrights, directors, designers, and technical support. They used improvisation to develop the script for four acts and performed the first two acts in April.
Molly Nicholas, a third-year Ph.D. student in computer science, worked on the production’s sound and augmented reality (AR) features. Several aspects of the show, including the program and the poster, were enabled with AR to enhance the audience experience.
“The general challenge of academia is the distance between the study of a process and actual practice,” says Nicholas. “This was a chance for students to experience a deeper engagement of practice. No lectures, no theory, just doing it like the professionals.”
Since studying dramatic arts at UC Berkeley, Lai (Lai Sheng-chuan) has authored more than 30 plays and a best-selling book on creativity in Taiwan and China. The BBC has called him “the best Chinese language playwright and director in the world.”
With AGO, Lai introduced high-tech elements, “but I was more interested in a grander vehicle — the human imagination,” he says. “We transported our audience to different places through the workings of their own minds.”