"So The Arrow Flies" by Esther K. Chae
Santa Monica, California, United States | SELF
Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
"Emotionally suspenseful like a taut bowstring about to trigger" - Korea Times Newspaper
"Chae skillfully absorbs the audience into a world of espionage and deception...fascinatingly gripping." - Edinburgh ThreeWeeks Festival Magazine
“A well-crafted, gripping piece of theatre. Her performance is truthful and direct, and her characterizations are apt and fully embodied. Esther’s sense of humor, and that of her characters, is present throughout, and lends a unique touch to this powerful spy story.” - Cheryl King
“Transfixing” - Bruce Allardice
“The subject is engaging, the writing is sophisticated, and the acting is impressive” - Paul Thompson
“Simply fantastic” - Daisil Kim-Gibson
“Wonderful- full of insight and feeling and complexity” - Charles Mee
“Amazing and beautiful show” - David Henry Hwang
Discography
Notable Awards and Grants:
2010 Asian American Heritage Month Trail Blazer Award
2010 Emerging Artist Alumni Award
& King/Chavez/Parks Visiting Professorship
from University of Michigan
2009 Tanne Artist Recognition Award
2009 Asian Women Giving Circle Grant
2009 Durfee ARC Grant
2007 Korean Wave Asia Star Award
"So The Arrow Flies" is a solo performance conceived, written and performed by Esther Chae. The story is about double agent Catherine, a North Korean National Actor exiled to South Korea who becomes an intelligence asset for the FBI, while spying for North Korea and FBI Agent Park who discovers and exposes Catherine's espionage scheme. The play also includes Catherine's 12 year old daughter Mina, and Agent Park's elderly mother Mrs. Park, a survivor of the Korean war.
Industry related performances including colleges:
Oct 2010 October Nights Theater Festival, Imola, Italy
Oct 2010 University of Michigan Alumni Weekend Special Events
May 2010 Bennett Media Studio, New York, USA
Jan 2010 Cherrylane Theater, New York, USA
Sept. 2009 Willdish Theater, Oregon, USA
April 2009 CUNY’s Martin Segal Theater, New York, USA
NYU’s Tuesday Night Forum Series, New York, USA
Feb. 2009 TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) Conference, USA
Nov. 2008 Ars Nova Theater Festival, New York, USA
Oct. 2008 World Women’s Forum Seoul, Korea
Aug. 2008 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Scotland
Jan. 2008 David Henry Hwang Theater, Los Angeles, USA
Sept. 2007 Manhattan Theater Source Estrogenius Festival, New York, USA
April 2007 Armory Center, Pasadena , USA
Dec. 2005 Mark Taper Forum Solo Workshop, Los Angeles USA
Photos
Bio
Esther Chae's performances have been lauded as "talented" (Variety), "engaging" (Hollywood Reporter) - and "the willowy actress [with] subtle physicality" (LA Times). Her life in Hollywood has been featured in a Korean Broadcasting Station (KBS) documentary.
As an award-winning actor/writer, her artistic work has been seen and heard in the US, Korea, Ireland, Australia, Canada, Italy and Russia. Her numerous credits as a performer include TV shows NCIS, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, 24, The Shield, Night Stalker; and theatre stages such as Yale Repertory Theater, La Mama, Mark Taper Forum/ Kirk Douglas Theater, P.S. 122 and Harvard/A.R.T.
Chae graduated from the Yale School of Drama with an MFA in Acting, the University of Michigan with an MA in Theater Studies, and Korea University.
Links
