Go behind the scenes of Jiehae Park's new Off-Broadway dark comedy peerless, starring Sasha Diamond (Teenage Dick) and Shannon Tyo (The Chinese Lady), in the video above. Previews began September 24 in Theater A at Off-Broadway's 59E59 Theaters. Presented by Primary Stages with Jamie deRoy, the production will run through November 6 with an October 11 opening night.
Diamond and Tyo star as Asian-American twins M and L, respectively, who have made it into The College after sacrificing everything for a spot. But, after their fellow classmate claims that their rightful spot was stolen, the twins decide there's only one thing left to do to secure their spots for good.
"I hope audiences will take away a great time, have a lot of fun," Diamond shares in the filmed interview, "but also take away a more critical understanding of the way that pressure makes people behave in ways that they wouldn't usually behave, or that they wouldn't necessarily want to behave."
"One of the things that I hope audiences will take away from the show is a different kind of Asian character," adds Tyo.
Joining them in the cast are Marié Botha (Dickinson) as Dirty Girl/Preppy Girl, Anthony Cason (Oklahoma!) as BF, and Benny Wayne Sully (My First Native American Boyfriend) as D/Brother.
Margot Bordelon directs, leading a creative team including scenic designer Kristen Robinson(Oratorio for Living Things), costume designer Amanda Gladu (The Jury), lighting designer Mextly Couzin (Which Way to the Stage), composer and sound designer Palmer Hefferan (The Skin of our Teeth), fight director Michael Rossmy (These Paper Bullets), and props supervisor Sean Sanford (Sanctuary City). Vickie Ramirez is cultural consultant.
Megan Schwarz Dickert serves as stage manager, Malie Fujii as assistant stage manager, and Tameishia Peterson as COVID safety manager. Casting is by Stephanie Yankwitt of TBD Casting with casting assistance by Tanis Parenteau.
Park developed peerless while a 2019-20 Tow Playwright in residency at Primary Stages. The play made its world premiere at New Haven, Connecticut's Yale Repertory Theatre and was originally developed in the Soho Rep Writer Director Lab with further development by Cherry Lane Mentor Project.
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