Sailing between the coasts of two generations and two parallel time periods, Karen Li’s Canton Waterfront is a new play that follows two members of the Shek family and two of their descendants. The older generation is among the first immigrants to arrive in Baltimore from China while their descendants are visiting for business. And though a few hundred years apart and under different circumstances, the land, blood, and waters that connect them are all the same. Though fighting a different fight than their ancestors who came to America to change their lives, the younger generation comes to  these same shores and are reminded of who they have been  as they discover who they can be. Developed in Lab410, Baltimore Center Stage’s local playwright’s residency, Canton Waterfront tells a tale about the city we call home.

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KAREN LI
PLAYWRIGHT

KAREN LI, (she/her) is a Baltimore-based performer with a Theatre and Dance double degree from UC San Diego. She appeared onstage at Baltimore Center Stage in the ensemble of the Young Playwrights Festival ’24. Recent DMV-area work includes Exclusion (Arena Stage), Babel (Contemporary American Theater Festival), AAPI Voices (Kennedy Center), Boundary (Submersive Productions), Black Super Hero Magic Mama (Strand Theater), and alight, sweet hearted (Strand Theater). Other favorite credits include The Great Leap (Perseverance Theatre), The Rice Eaters (KaniniFest), Sunset Park (Theaterlab), Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (La Jolla Playhouse), and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (Chinese Pirate Productions). TV credits include Dancing with the Stars (Season 10). Karen is a collective member of Submersive Productions, and was a playwright in the Horticulture Playwrights Workshop ’23-’24 cohort with Sisters Freehold.

PETER J. KUO
DIRECTOR

PETER J. KUO is a theatre director, producer, writer, and educator focusing on raising the visibility of marginalized communities. Currently, he is the Director of the Conservatory at American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.). Named as one of TCG’s Rising Leaders of Color in the Round 3 cohort, he is also a co-founder of Artists at Play, an Asian American theatre collective that produces Los Angeles premieres. For Artists at Play, he directed their inaugural production of Lauren Yee’s Ching Chong Chinaman (Backstage Critic’s Pick), and Michael Golamco’s Cowboy Versus Samurai. Favorite directing credits: Christopher Chen’s MUTT: Let’s All Talk About Race!, Adam Gwon’s Ordinary Days, Jackie Sibblies-Drury’s We Are Proud to Present…, and Jason Robert Brown’s Songs for a New World. As a director he has worked nationally; in multiple states on both coasts and through the Midwest. He holds an M.F.A. in directing from The New School, College of Performing Arts, School of Drama.