Ma-Yi Theater Company has begun rehearsals for Han Ong's highly anticipated The Suitcase Trilogy. The cast, consisting of David Bishins, Arjun Gupta, Ann Hu, Lindsay Goss, Tom Ikeda, Kenneth Lee, Yusef Miller, Harvey Perr, Gita Reddy, Triney Sandoval, Debargo Sanyal, and Sophia Skiles, are being led by acclaimed director Ron Daniels.

The reading of The Suitcase Trilogy, to be held on Tuesday, June 27 and Wednesday, June 28, will mark the culmination of several years of hard work, with many readings presented by Ma-Yi and many revisions written by Mr. Ong. The end result will be a truly inspirational tale consisting of three pieces: Swoony Planet, Autodidacts, and Virgin.

The readings on June 27 & 28 are closed to the general public. Only a select number of theater and industry folks have been invited.

"The plays are very near and dear to Han. He has been working on them for years. We want to give him a chance to hear his written word and get feedback from his peers before putting it out there for the entire world," stated Ma-Yi Associate Director Suzette Porte.

Following the closed readings, Mr. Ong, Ma-Yi's NEA/TCG Playwright in Residence (and youngest recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Award), will make additional rewrites to the work. Some of the changes will be based on feedback from his peers.

After certain script changes are made, Ma-Yi Theater Company will present the first play of the trilogy, Swoony Planet to audiences in the Bronx and Queens. The readings, held on July 6 & 8 are free; compliments of Ma-Yi Theater Company.

"The Suitcase Trilogy is an incredible story of Asian immigrants criss-crossing the United States, searching for their relatives while searching for their souls," commented Jorge Ortoll, Ma-Yi's Executive Director. "We're going to the Bronx and Queens and we're presenting these readings free of charge, because we want the people who can directly relate to this play to hear it; to bare witness to a truly remarkable story in which some ways is there own."

The July 6 reading in the Bronx will take place at Pregones Theatre (571-575 Walton Avenue). Starting next week, people intrested in attending may call 718-585-1202 to reserve tickets.

People interested in attending the July 8 reading at Queens Theatre In The Park (Flushing Meadows, Corona Park) may call 718-760-0064 to reserve their tickets.

For more information, call Ma-Yi Theater at 212-971-4862 or email info@ma-yitheatre.org.