Stan Lai

Stan Lai or Lai Sheng-chuan is a highly influential award winning US born Taiwan based playwright and theater director. He is the director of Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land , often touted as the most successful contemporary Chinese play. Lai is recognised as one of the most important theater directors in Asia.

Life

Lai was born on 25 October 1954 in Washington D.C. to a diplomat father. He returned to Taiwan in 1966. In 1978, Lai married Ding Nai-chu . After the marriage, the couple went to US for further studies.

He received his Ph.D. in Dramatic Art from University of California, Berkeley in 1983. He is also Professor and Founding Dean of the College of Theatre at Taipei National University of the Arts. In 1984, Lai and Ding founded Performance Workshop, a contemporary theatre group. Lai became the Artistic Director while Ding is the Managing Director.

Lai had been the recipient of Taiwan’s highest award for the arts, the National Arts Award, twice - 1988 and 2001.

In 2006, Lai taught at Stanford University as Visiting Professor and Resident Artist for the I.D.A. program.

Works

Plays

* That Evening, We Performed Xiangsheng
* Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land
* Circle Story
* Journey to the West
* The Island and the Other Shore
* Strange Tales from Taiwan
* Red Sky
* Angels in America
* I Me He Him
* A Dream Like A Dream
* Millennium Teahouse
* Sand and a Distant Star
* Don Giovanni

Film

* The Red Lotus Society
* Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land