In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Alvin Eng will be performing excerpts from solo acoustic punk raconteur work-in-progress, HERE COMES JOHNNY YEN AGAIN (or How I Kicked Punk) on Thursday, May 18, 2023 at Hudson Park Gallery at Hudson Park Library (66 Leroy Street
New York, NY 10014) at 5:30pm. The presentation will also be live-streamed. This work explores the impact of opium and the Opium Wars on the Chinese Diaspora as well as NYC’s punk/counterculture through the dual prisms of William S. Burroughs’ character, “Johnny Yen”––immortalized in Iggy Pop & David Bowie’s ”Lust For Life”––and Eng’s own Grandfather’s opium overdose on the streets of NYC’s Chinatown. Click here to RSVP.
ALVIN ENG is a native NYC playwright/memoirist, acoustic punk raconteur and educator. His memoir, OUR LAUNDRY, OUR TOWN: My Chinese American Life from Flushing to the Downtown Stage and Beyond, was published in hardcover by Fordham University Press in May 2022. The book will be published in paperback in September 2023. The memoir was covered by The New York Times and NPR/WNYC among others. THREE TREES, the first of Eng’s Portrait Plays series of historical dramas about artists, was recently published by No Passport Press. This work dramatizes the haunting relationship between sculptor Alberto Giacometti and his primary 1950s muse/model, Japanese philosopher, Isaku Yanaihara. He is currently developing a solo acoustic punk raconteur work-in-progress, HERE COMES JOHNNY YEN AGAIN (or How I Kicked Punk). This work explores the impact of opium and the Opium Wars on the Chinese Diaspora as well as NYC’s punk/counterculture through the dual prisms of William S. Burroughs’ character, “Johnny Yen”––immortalized in Iggy Pop & David Bowie’s ”Lust For Life”––and his own Grandfather’s opium overdose on the streets of NYC’s Chinatown. Honors include: two-time appointee to the Fulbright Specialist roster as a U.S. Studies/Theatre scholar; three-time recipient of NYSCA/NYFA Fellowships––most recently in 2020 for Nonfiction Literature; LMCC Creative Engagement and Creative Learning grants. Eng’s plays and performances have been seen Off-Broadway, throughout the U.S., as well as in Paris, Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China. Follow Alvin at IG: alvin.eng8 Twitter: alvineng8 and learn more about his work at: alvineng.com
*Hybrid event (in-person at Hudson Park Gallery and online via Zoom)
Backstage Pass with Lia Chang 