Sundance Fellow Johnny Ma’s Reading of “TEN THOUSAND HAPPINESS”

Lacy Darryl Phillips

The Art of Monteque had the privilege of being invited to attend one of the Sundance Institute Screenplay reading Series of Works In Progress on May 20, 2014. The Reading was held at The Actors Gang Theater at The Ivy substation; the theater was packed to the rafters with enthusiastic on-lookers for the Screenplay reading.

From the simple setting, “TEN THOUSAND HAPPINESS” written by the 2014 Directors and Screenwriters Fellow Johnny Ma was simply read to satisfaction by 9 actors and 1 Narrator.

This was the re-telling of the old classic scenario, set in China. The Wheel of Life was in full display. The Actors took us through Fear, Hate, Greed, Sex, Lust, Deceit, Jealousy, Revelation, Disappointment, Anxiety, Confusion, well….You get the picture.

All the Actors were appropriately cast, however, there was one standout, Charles Chu who read the role of Fong and a few others, His comedic timing and line reading was on point, very natural and full of vision.

I would be interested to see how the final production pans out!

During the wine reception, I spoke with the maintenance manager, Pierre Deli and he filled me in on the Actors Gang history, upcoming production of “Midsummer Night’s Dream” directed by Tim Robbins, as well as, The Prison Project which is run by Sabre Williams.

They also offer an Education Program and Free “Shakespeare-In-The-Park” Series for Family Entertainment.

The Actors Gang is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization which solely runs on donations from the community and theatergoers.