A DEEP SPACE PERFORMANCE RESIDENCY
Kenneth Keng | Photo by Mia Isabella Photogrphy
“Line Up” A Work-In-Progress by Kenneth Keng
Kenneth and his collaborators will present a staged reading of his new play, Line Up on Saturday, May 9th.
Line Up is a full-length play about immigration, colonialism and empire, and specifically how empires weaponize motherhood to drive the exploitation of women from poor nations.
Synopsis
In the very near future, a troop of Philippine mothers are recruited by an imperial power to serve as frontline soldiers. If they can survive one year of military service, they and their families will be granted full citizenship and allowed to live within the relative safety and prosperity of that imperial power’s territory. As the troop trains and gets to know one another, they realize that each of them has a son of around the same age.
After a disastrous first battle, the surviving troopers find and care for the only surviving enemy combatant – a child soldier, a boy around the same age as each of their sons. Upon re-establishing contact with headquarters, they are ordered to kill the boy. Each member of the troop then grapples with what they are willing to sacrifice in the name of safety for themselves and their children.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Kenneth Keng is a New York-based Filipino-Chinese playwright and performer who makes work about falling in love with a culture devouring his own.
Selected honors include: 2026 Artist-in-Residence at the North American Cultural Laboratory, 2026 New York State Council on the Arts/NYSCA Grantee, 2025/26 Artist-in-Residence at the cell theatre NYC, 2025 Princess Grace Fellowship (Semifinalist), 2024 Carlos Palanca Memorial Award for Literature, 2024 The Civilians/Princeton Next Forever Initiative (Finalist), 2023/24 Artist-in-Residence at the University Settlement/Performance Project. In NYC, Kenneth’s plays have been selected for staging at the Target Margin, A.R.T. Mezzanine, Brick Aux, JACK, Life World, Chain, Tank, Maker’s Space and Speyer Hall theatres.