Paper Son at the SoHo Playhouse

Paper Son, written and performed by Byron Yee, developed with Amy Freed, will make its New York premiere at the SoHo Playhouse from 11 - 23 Aug 2007, as part of FringeNYC.

Paper Son tells the story of Oklahoma born-and-bred Chinese/American Byron Yee, who moves to California to start a career in stand-up comedy. A disastrous audition for a movie role as a stereotypical, Pidgin-English-speaking Chinese restaurant owner prompts Yee to investigate his own long-ignored heritage.

Along the way he learns about the Chinese Exclusion Act, a law which restricted Chinese immigration to the children of current U.S. residents, and that many people claimed fictive relationships and faked documents to get around the law--hence the term 'paper son.' A trip to the National Archives reveals the startling truth: Yee's own father was one such Paper Son.

Yee has been performing Paper Son since 1997 and has toured the US, Canada and the U.K. with the show. It was awarded the Best Of Fringe Award by the San Francisco Fringe Festival and received a nomination from the Bay Area Theatre Critics for Best Original Script.

Directed by Glen Chin, and featuring voiceovers by Carlos Alazraqu.