The King of Hell’s Palace
The King of Hell’s Palace was first staged at the Goodman Theatre’s Owen Theatre (Robert Falls, Artistic Director; Roche Schulfer, Executive Director), Chicago Illinois, on September 25, 2016. The cast for this workshop production was as follows:
Yin-Yin / Pei-Pei | Jo Mei |
Lili / Pearl | Celeste Den |
Shen / Kuan | C.S. Lee |
Wen / Minister Li | Wai Yim |
Luo Na / Dr. Gao | Mia Park |
Old Yang / Wang Wei | James Saito |
Little Yi | Rammel Chan |
Jasmine / Han-Han | Michelle Krusiec |
|
Director | Tea Alagić |
Scenic Design | Kevin Depinet |
Costume Design | Rachel Lambert |
Lighting Design | Jesse Klug |
Sound Design | Richard Woodbury |
Dramaturg | Rebecca Adelsheim |
Stage Manager | Jonathan Nook |
The King of Hell’s Palace was originally commissioned and developed by the Goodman Theatre and the Royal National Theatre.
The King of Hell’s Palace was first staged in the United Kingdom at the Hampstead Theatre (Roxana Silbert, Artistic Director; Greg Ripley-Duggan, Executive Producer), London, on September 5, 2019. The cast for this world premiere production was as follows:
Yin-Yin / Luo Na | Celeste Den |
Lili / An Mei / Ruzhen | Tuyen Do |
Shen / Han-Han | Christopher Goh |
Wen / Johnny | Vincent Lai |
Kuan / Wang Wei | Kok-Hwa Lie |
Old Yang / Minister Li | Togo Igawa |
Jasmine / Pei-Pei | Millicent Wong |
Little Yi / Peter | Aiden Cheng |
|
Director | Michael Boyd |
Designer | Tom Piper |
Lighting Design | Colin Grenfell |
Composer & Sound Design | Nicola Chang |
Movement | Liz Ranken |
Fight Directors | Rachel Bown-Williams & Ruth Cooper-Brown |
Cast, with Possible Doubling
Kuan, 38. Migrant worker.
Also plays: Wang Wei, 39. Ministry of Health employee.
Police Officer 4.
Wen, 35. Migrant worker. Kuan’s brother.
Also plays: Johnny, 31. Executive at Phoenix Pharmaceutical.
Xiao Kang, 27. Public Security Officer.
Shen, 32. Ministry of Health employee. Yin-Yin’s husband. Wang Wei’s brother.
Also plays: Han-Han, 19. Luo Na’s son.
Postman Zhou, 45. Rural mailman.
Police Officer 2.
Yin-Yin, 31. Infectious disease specialist.
Also plays: Luo Na, 37. Rural blood seller.
Jasmine, 24. Ministry of Health employee.
Also plays: Pei-Pei, 14. Kuan’s daughter.
Little Yi, 16. Wen and Lili’s son.
Also plays: Peter, 25. Executive at Phoenix Pharmaceutical.
Police Officer 3.
Public Security Officer.
Lili, 34. Potato farmer. Wen’s wife. Luo Na’s sister.
Also plays: An Mei, 29. Public Security Officer.
Ruzhen, 30. Lab Technician.
Old Yang, 65. Potato farmer. Kuan & Wen’s father.
Also plays: Minister Li, 59. Minister of Health.
Police Officer 1.
Place and Time
Rural and urban Henan province. 1992 and 1998.
Act One
Scene One
A rural highway in Henan. Early February, 1992. Sunset on the eve of Chinese New Year. Kuan and Wen, brothers and migrant workers, move briskly along the side of the road, weighed down by overstuffed canvas bags.
Wen Deng Xiaoping says, “It doesn’t matter if the cat is white or black. As long as it catches mice, it is a very good cat.”
Kuan Black cats are bad luck.
Wen That’s called “backwards thinking.” We survived the biggest tragedy of the twentieth century—
Kuan That German killed more.
Wen Mao caused five times as many deaths. His ghost must be pissed the German’s getting more credit. We’re survivors. Can we agree on that?
Kuan I agree we’re not dead.
Wen Which means: it’s time to have bigger dreams!
Kuan Things are better now.
Wen Compared to disaster.
Kuan Our fields are fertile. They produce high yields—
Wen Of a crop worth less than paper. Half our potatoes feed pigs. The famine is over! Why grow a plant that yields so little profit we spend fifty weeks a year in the mines and go home for two weeks?
Kuan Potatoes are practical.
Wen Deng Xiaoping wants to help us get rich. He won’t succeed if we cling to ancient ideas and reject modern thinking. Let’s switch to a cash crop, stay home and live...