Cast Announced for "Man of God" at Geffen Playhouse

CAST ANNOUNCED FOR “MAN OF GOD” AT GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE

WRITTEN BY ANNA OUYANG MOENCH AND DIRECTED BY MAGGIE BURROWS

FEATURING SHIRLEY CHEN, EMMA GALBRAITH, ERIN RAE LI, ALBERT PARK AND JI-YOUNG YOO

PREVIEWS BEGIN MAY 10 - OPENING NIGHT IS MAY 20

LOS ANGELES (April 19, 2022) – Geffen Playhouse today announced the full cast for its production of Man of God, written by Anna Ouyang Moench (Mothers, Birds of North America) and directed by Maggie Burrows (TRAYF, Damsels). Man of God was originally scheduled for the Geffen Playhouse 2019/2020 season, but cancelled just prior to opening night in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Man of God had its world premiere in January 2019 as an East West Players production at the David Henry Hwang Theatre at the Union Center of the Arts in Los Angeles.

The cast includes Shirley Chen (Beast Beast, Parenthood) as Samantha, Emma Galbraith (Inbetween Girl, good friday) as Jen, Erin Rae Li (Balloon Animal) as Mimi, Albert Park (Vietgone, The Oldest Boy) as Pastor and Ji-young Yoo (Expats, The Sky is Everywhere) as Kyung-Hwa.

During a mission trip to Bangkok, the four members of a Korean Christian girls’ youth group discover that their revered pastor has hidden a camera in their hotel bathroom. Samantha is personally wounded that Pastor would do this to her. Kyung-Hwa thinks everyone needs to have lower expectations for men. Jen is worried about how this might affect her college applications. And Mimi’s out for blood, as usual. Their communal rage and disillusionment fuel increasingly violent revenge fantasies amidst the no-holds-barred neon bubblegum sex-tourism mecca of Bangkok. Man of God is a funny feminist thriller about that moment when girls realize the male gaze has been watching all along—and decide they’re definitely gonna do something about it.

Previews for Man of God begin Tuesday, May 10, in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at Geffen Playhouse. Opening night is Friday, May 20.

MAN OF GOD
Written by Anna Ouyang Moench
Directed by Maggie Burrows

Previews: Tuesday, May 10 – Thursday, May 19, 2022
Opening Night: Friday, May 20, 2022
Closing Night: Sunday, June 19, 2022

CAST
Shirley Chen as Samantha
Emma Galbraith as Jen
Erin Rae Li as Mimi
Albert Park as Pastor
Ji-young Yoo as Kyung-Hwa

PRODUCTION TEAM
Scenic Designer Se Oh
Costume Designer Denitsa Bliznakova
Lighting Designer Lap Chi Chu
Original Music & Sound Design by Jonathan Snipes
Fight Director Thomas Isao Morinaka
Intimacy Director Mia Schachter
Production Stage Manager Elizabeth A. Brohm
Casting Director Phyllis Schuringa, CSA

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Monday No performance
Tuesday – Friday 8:00 p.m.
Saturday 3:00 and 8:00 p.m.
Sunday 2:00 and 7:00 p.m.

LOCATION
Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at Geffen Playhouse
10886 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets currently priced at $30 - $129.00. Available by phone at 310.208.2028 or online at www.geffenplayhouse.org. Fees may apply.

Currently, children under six years of age will not be admitted. Proof of vaccination and masks are required – additional policy details can be found at https://www.geffenplayhouse.org/plan/reopening/.

Rush tickets for each day’s performance are made available to the general public two hours before showtime at the box office. $35.00 General/$15.00 Student.

COLLEGE AUDIENCES
Through a variety of events and other opportunities, Geffen Playhouse welcomes college students to experience the live storytelling presented on our stages. We are proud of our association with UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television, and open our doors to all college students throughout Los Angeles. More information is available at www.geffenplayhouse.org/college.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Anna Ouyang Moench (Playwright)
Anna Ouyang Moench is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. Her plays include Mothers, Man of God, Birds of North America, and Sin Eaters. Anna has received fellowships and residencies from The Playwrights Realm, New York Foundation of the Arts, the Jerome Foundation, and the Van Lier Foundation, among others. Awards include the Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award from the Kennedy Center, BETC’s Generations Award, and East West Players’ 2042: See Change Award. She is an alum of UCSD’s Playwriting M.F.A. program, the Emerging Writers Group at The Public Theater, Youngblood at Ensemble Studio Theatre, the Jam at New Georges, and writers groups at East West Players and the Echo Theater Company. In television and film, Anna has worked with HBO, Netflix, and Universal, and currently writes for Severance (Apple TV+). This season, her plays can be seen at theaters across the country, including The Public Theater/NAATCO, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and Theater Mu. She lives with her husband and two children in Los Angeles.

Maggie Burrows (Director)
Maggie Burrows is a theater and film director living in New York City. She has worked with Atlantic Theater Company, Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop, WP Theater, Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and the Geffen. She received her B.A. from Yale University, where she was a nominee for the Sudler Prize for Excellence in the Arts. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab, the inaugural 2018-2019 BOLD Resident Director at Northern Stage, and the recipient of the 2018 Boris Sagal Directing Fellowship at Williamstown Theatre Festival. In 2020, in collaboration with the Roald Dahl Story Company, Maggie co-conceived and produced James and the Giant Peach with Taika and Friends to benefit Partners in Health. Select theater credits: TRAYF (Geffen Playhouse), On Your Feet! (The Muny), Indecent (Juilliard), Damsels (Williamstown Theatre Festival), The Sound of Music (Northern Stage), Spacebar (Wild Project). Film work includes her short Condolences and a GOTV video for Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote organization. Upcoming: Legally Blonde (The Muny), Zoe Sarnak and Alexis Scheer’s Shook, and Mark Sonnenblick’s new musical Devotion.

Shirley Chen (Samantha)
Shirley Chen was awarded “Best Acting in a Narrative Short” at SXSW for her work in Krista and made her Sundance debut in 2020 as a lead in the feature Beast Beast (dir: Danny Madden, EP: Alec Baldwin). Select credits: The Resident (Fox), Man of God (Geffen Playhouse), Speechless (ABC), Gamer’s Guide (Disney XD), and Parenthood (NBC). Shirley is currently a student at Harvard University, where she pursues a double major in History & Literature and Theater, Dance & Media, with a focus in Asian American Studies. On campus, she was one of the first six women cast in the Hasty Pudding Theatricals, a nearly 200-year-old musical production by America’s oldest theatrical group. She is an alumnus of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. Shirley is represented by KMR and Echo Lake Entertainment.

Emma Galbraith (Jen)
Emma Galbraith is thrilled to make her debut at Geffen Playhouse in Man of God. Originally from Austin, Texas, she starred in the SXSW award-winning independent film Inbetween Girl (2021) before moving to Los Angeles, where she is completing her first year at Occidental College. She was recently seen in good friday (New Manifest Theatre Company/The VORTEX). When not on the stage or the screen, she works as a community organizer for local and statewide climate justice initiatives in Texas and California. Emma is eternally grateful to her family, friends, faculty, and coach Jolie Jenkins for their tireless support, love, and guidance.

Erin Rae Li (Mimi)
Erin Rae Li is an Asian American actor based in Los Angeles, CA. She graduated from UC San Diego with degrees in Theatre and Communications in 2019. Erin has performed in multiple San Diego regional productions as well as participated in new work development at Cygnet Theater, San Diego Repertory Theatre, and Chance Theater. Most recently, her feature film Balloon Animal premiered internationally at Manchester International Film Festival and will be premiering in the U.S. at Cinequest later this summer. Erin is so excited make her Geffen Playhouse debut in Man of God! More info at erinraeli.com

Albert Park (Pastor)
Albert Park is beside himself for his return to Man of God at Geffen Playhouse. Select regional credits: Bina’s Six Apples (Children’s Theatre Company/Alliance Theatre); The Supreme Leader (Dallas Theater Center); Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (South Coast Repertory); Cambodian Rock Band (City Theatre Company/Merrimack Repertory Theatre); The Winter’s Tale and All’s Well That Ends Well (The Old Globe); Flower Drum Song and BFE (SDAART/La Jolla Playhouse). Select theater credits: Yoga Play and A Man, His Wife, and His Hat (Moxie Theatre); Vietgone (East West Players); The Oldest Boy (San Diego Rep); Extraordinary Chambers and Yellow Face (Mo’olelo Performing Arts Company); The Odd Couple (North Coast Repertory Theatre); Golden Child (Chinese Pirate Productions). Select film credits: Last Summer of Nathan Lee and Borrowed Light. Select VO credits: Starfield (Bethesda Game Studios); Forecasting Love and Weather (Netflix); and Fuel House (Jack in the Box). Up next: Hamlet’s Big Adventure! (a prequel) (Reduced Shakespeare Company) at Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He especially thanks Geffen Playhouse, the cast, and crew. Albert is eternally grateful to Jenny, Felix, Henry, and Coral. This one goes out to Jenapher, Natasha, and Camryn. Mr. Park is represented by CESD. Oft-neglected IG: @heyalbertpark

Ji-young Yoo (Kyung-Hwa)
Ji-young Yoo co-stars in the upcoming Amazon limited series Expats opposite Nicole Kidman for director Lulu Wang. She can be currently seen in Josephine Decker’s feature The Sky is Everywhere for A24 / Apple TV+. Ji-young is also an accomplished dancer and musician who appeared in the Marc Jacobs Daisy fragrance campaign. She starred as “Samantha” in the East West Players world premiere of Man of God and is excited to return to the show as “Kyung-Hwa.” She attended USC and lives in Los Angeles.

25TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON SPONSOR
Jodi & Howard Tenenbaum

OPENING NIGHT SPONSORS
UCLA Health
Skylight Gardens

ABOUT GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE
Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its world-renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and second productions, the not-for-profit organization continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Named in honor of entertainment mogul and philanthropist David Geffen, who made the initial donation to the theater, the company was founded by Gilbert Cates and is currently helmed by Executive Director Gil Cates, Jr., Artistic Director Matt Shakman and Board Chair Adi Greenberg. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen welcomes an audience of more than 130,000 each year, and maintains extensive education and community engagement programs, designed to involve underserved young people and the community at large in the arts. www.geffenplayhouse.org

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