The Joy Luck Club

The Joy Luck Club
Nova Arts Project
May 18-May 20, 2007
Directed by Jenni Rebecca Stephenson

Nova Arts Project, Houston’s newest performance group, dedicated to recreating classics and inspiring new works in a fearlessly theatrical way, presents a theatrical adaptation of The Joy Luck Club, in collaboration with Houston’s Asian/Pacific American Heritage Association (APAHA), Dance of Asian America and the Maggini String Orchestra.

The whole project is a part of the NEA’s Big Read program, which aims to revitalize the role of literature in the community.

The Joy Luck Club, an international best seller written by Amy Tan, is about four Chinese women who immigrate to America and form the Joy Luck Club as a means to maintain hope and cultural ties in their new lives.

The novel equally focuses on the American-born daughters of these women, as well as the generational and cultural conflicts that occur between them. The theatrical adaptation of the novel centers on a game of mahjong, conveying the stories of the Joy Luck Club members via flashback.

Nova Arts Project Board President Jenni Rebecca Stephenson directs the production and says the opportunity is, “dear to me, because Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club speaks not only to a Chinese audience, but to everyone. While specifically celebrating the Chinese-American culture, it explores the nature of mother-daughter relationships, female identity, and the immigrant experience though a series of vignettes transcending cultural and generational boundaries.”

Dance of Asian America and Maggini String Orchestra provide live dance and music as unifying forces, binding the realism of the present with the ethereal quality of the flashbacks.

Janie Yao of Dance of Asian America says, “I am really excited to be restaging some award winning Chinese dance choreography into the production of The Joy Luck Club. The dances are a great representation of Amy Tan's masterpieces not only because of their depiction of the script, but simply because of the authenticity in movements and style that are derived straight from the heart of China.”