SO THE ARROW FLIES is a solo performance conceived, written and performed by Esther Chae. The story is about double agent Catherine, a North Korean National Actor exiled to South Korea who becomes an intelligence asset for the FBI, while spying for North Korea and FBI Agent Park who discovers and exposes Catherine's espionage scheme. The play also includes Catherine's 12 year old daughter Mina, and Agent Park's elderly mother Mrs. Park, a survivor of the Korean war.
With only a turn on one chair, the Chae plays all 4 roles to tell the stories of each individual. SO THE ARROW FLIES touches on post-9/11 themes of political ideology, national identities, allegiance, torture, hubris and ultimately love for one's family, and blazes the way for a dynamic new voice in solo performance.
Developed at the Mark Taper Forum's Solo Performance Workshop under the direction of Roger Guenveur Smith, SO THE ARROW FLIES is a composite of real events: the recent arrest of a Chinese-American FBI asset on espionage charges, and exiled North Korean film star Soon-young Chu.
Download the latest SO THE ARROW FLIES press packet.
What people are saying about SO THE ARROW FLIES:
"Amazing and beautiful show"
-David Henry Hwang (Tony award-winning author of M Butterfly)
"Chae skillfully absorbs the audience into a world of espionage and deceptionfascinatingly gripping"
- Edinburgh ThreeWeeks festival magazine
"Emotionally suspenseful like a taught bow string about to trigger"
-Korea Times Newspaper
"Wonderful- full of insight and feeling and complexity"
-Charles Mee (historian and award-winning author of Big Love)
"The subject is engaging, the writing is sophisticated, and the acting
is impressive"
-Paul Thompson (NYU Professor of Screenwriting)
"A well-crafted, gripping piece of theatre. Her performance is
truthful and direct, and her characterizations are apt and fully
embodied. Esther's sense of humor, and that of her characters, is
present throughout, and lends a unique touch to this powerful spy
story."
-Cheryl King, (Artistic Director, Stage Left Studio, NYC)
