I discovered Cheeyang Ng on social media, where they posted a video for “In the Beginning” from their solo show Legendary. The ritual aspect of their songwriting captivated me, which is saying something from someone who isn’t generally a fan of participatory theater. So much so that I invited them to be my special guest at Solo Unplugged, a salon-style afternoon Q&A that’s part of 1 Minute Critic’s partnership with the United Solo Theatre Festival. To my delight, they said yes.
Over the summer, with three sold-out performances in New York City, momentum built as Ng prepared for a run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In a highly competitive landscape with more than 4,200 shows, Legendary lived up to its name. Ng won the Asian Arts Award for Outstanding Individual Performance, the IC Awards’ Personal Achievement Award, and a Somewhere: For Us Queer Fringe Award, and was shortlisted for Musical Theatre Review’s Best Musical Award.
It wants better content.
After the applause
But the accolades are just part of the story. Ng’s work offers a fearless and personal examination of ancient Chinese myths and queer storytelling. The trans and nonbinary artist refuses to accommodate an Aristotelian narrative that many cultural institutions and artistic leaders have long treated as the baseline. And that stance has become as central as the shows themselves.
Ng invites us to rethink the form and dispel our assumptions about what theater “should” be.
In a recent Instagram video, Ng spoke candidly about what they’re facing in an industry that often amplifies white narratives.
“Somehow, I still feel like at every turn I am still needing the institution to validate the work that I’m creating,” Ng says. “Why have I been conditioned to believe that no matter what I achieve or how much I achieve, my success still depends on these institutions validating my work?”
There’s no single answer, but I can’t wait to have this conversation and get an insider’s look at Ng’s creative process, which inevitably brings joy to the forefront.
Ng has tossed out the rulebook. On Nov. 7, 4 p.m. at Theatre Row, we’ll find out how. After all, “If the seat is not offered to you,” Ng says, “you create the table for yourself.”
And then there’s the question driving Ng’s work now: “How do we go back to the roots of being human?”
Fast facts: Solo Unplugged with Cheeyang Ng
After a breakout Edinburgh Fringe, the Singaporean artist behind Legendary joins 1 Minute Critic’s Solo Unplugged to talk myth, ritual and why awards aren’t the whole story.
- United Solo Theatre Festival, Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street, New York City
- Saturday, November 7, 4 p.m.
- Running time: 60 minutes
Have another minute?
