The Golden Spike | Photo: Emily Baldwin
The Golden Spike borrows elements of the Monkey King legend to tell an epic love story of Sun Wu and Jiao Zhou, spanning 13 years, from the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad to the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act. Sun Wu, a Chinese railroad worker pursuing equal rights for his fellow laborers, finds himself caught in the machinations of America's largest infrastructure project. While his head is steadily focused on negotiating fair working conditions for him and his fellow workers, his heart yearns for a young Chinese laundress. Weaving strong emotional narratives of Chinese and Irish immigrants, and driven by a rocking folk-roots score from NY-based theater collective and band The Lobbyists, The Golden Spike explores the pursuit of love, family, truth, and the sparkling light of equality under the otherwise dark shadow of America's history.
Libretto by Don Nguyen
Music & Lyrics by The Lobbyists
Directed by Margaret Lee
Co-Produced by The Lobbyists
ARTIST BIOS:
Don Nguyen: Full-length plays include THE SUPREME LEADER (World Premiere - Dallas Theater Center), HELLO, FROM THE CHILDREN OF PLANET EARTH (The Playwrights Realm), THE MAN FROM SAIGON (A.C.T New Strands Festival, NYSAF Founders Award), RED FLAMBOYANT (Firebone Theatre, Ojai Playwrights Conference), SOUND (Azeotrope/ACT, BAPF), THE COMMENCEMENT OF WILLIAM TAN (Yale Cabaret, NYSAF). Don is the recipient of the 2015 GAP Prize from the Aurora Theatre, a New York Stage & Film Founder’s Award, and was a finalist for The O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, The Princess Grace Award, and The Woodward International Playwriting Prize. Nominations include: the Laurents/Hatcher Award and the L. Arnold Weissberger Award. Don is a current member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab, the Public Theater’s inaugural Emerging Writers Group, The Civilians inaugural R&D Group, the 52nd Street Project, and a co-founder of Mission to (dit)Mars, a Queens-based theatre arts collective. For more information, please visit: thenuge.com.
Margaret Lee is an NYC-based director/choreographer. Upcoming: From A To Double D by Mandy Murphy (IRT Theater), The Golden Spike by Don Nguyen & The Lobbyists (BRIC House Artist Studio). Her work has been seen at The Flea, Access Theater, The Shakespeare Forum, and The Old Globe. While serving as Artistic Director of Chicago troupe 33rd Street Productions, she focused on fostering cross-disciplinary creativity with artists primarily in STEM, in addition to helming productions of Ordinary Days by Adam Gwon, Venus in Fur by David Ives, and Company by Stephen Sondheim. She has been fortunate to assist Kathleen Marshall, Marcia Milgrom Dodge, and David Mendizabal at theatres such as The Old Globe, New York Stage & Film, Long Wharf Theatre, and Olney Theatre Center. Margaret is a Drama League Directors Project Alumna, a Manhattan Theatre Club Directing Fellow, and a proud SDC Associate Member. LeeMargaret.com
The Lobbyists are a NYC/Brooklyn-based band and theater collective that creates and performs original concerts and plays that explore the American mythos driven by a rockin' folk-Americana beat. The group takes its name from the lobby of The Flea Theater, where the founding members met in 2012 while performing in the Drama Desk-nominated These Seven Sicknesses. They have played venues across New York such as Joe’s Pub, Rockwood Music Hall, and Mercury Lounge, and toured to various locations in the northeast. As a theatrical and songwriting collective, the group’s work has been developed with NY Stage & Film, Cape Cod Theater Project, Ars Nova, Rhinebeck Writer’s Retreat, Playwrights Realm, Naked Angels, and Musical Theater Factory. The group’s debut theatrical collaboration, SeaWife, created with Seth Moore and Liz Carlson, was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Musical in 2016. Upcoming: Twelfth Night at Two River Theater, 2019-20 EST/Sloan Commission for Miss Mitchell. Core members: Tommy Crawford, Eloise Eonnet, Alex Grubbs, Will Turner, Tony Aidan Vo, and Douglas Waterbury-Tieman. Stay in touch, listen to music, and learn more at www.wearethelobbyists.com and @thelobbyistsnyc.
Venue Information:
The intimate, flexible studio space within BRIC House is dedicated to emerging and mid-career artists, with an audience capacity of 50-75 for rehearsals and performances in a workshop setting.
Beginning Nov. 1, 2022, attendees of any BRIC House programming will no longer have to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter the building. Masks are encouraged but not required in all BRIC operated spaces. If you have questions regarding this protocol, please email Safety@bricartsmedia.org