Mei Ann Teo Joins Ping Chong and Company's New Artistic Leadership Team

Mei Ann Teo, Director is a queer immigrant from Singapore making theater and film at the intersection of artistic/civic/contemplative practice.

By: Jun. 08, 2023
Mei Ann Teo Joins Ping Chong and Company's New Artistic Leadership Team
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

Ping Chong and Company has named Mei Ann Teo (they/them) as the fifth member of the organization’s new Artistic Leadership Team, alongside Nile Harris, Jane Jung, Talvin Wilks, and Sara Zatz. They will work together to envision and begin to realize the next chapter of the pioneering multidisciplinary company, from which Ping Chong and Bruce Allardice retired from their positions as Artistic Director and Executive Director, respectively, at the end of 2022. 

Harris, Jung, Wilks, and Zatz said of Teo’s appointment, “We are thrilled that Mei Ann Teo is joining us to comprise PCC's Artistic Leadership Team during this period of organizational transition. Mei Ann brings a dynamic and clear-sighted artistic vision and voice, and has been deeply engaged with PCC's enduring artistic values over the years. The Artistic Leadership Team is a multi-generational group of artists and producers who are collaboratively envisioning the next iteration of Ping Chong and Company. The addition of Mei Ann to the Team is an exciting convergence of new leadership and artistic possibilities.”

Of joining Ping Chong and Company, Teo said, “I am thoroughly excited to join the Ping Chong and Company Artistic Leadership Team. Ping Chong is a North Star for me, as a generative and truly expansive experimental force who created new forms through original works and reimagined classics throughout his artistic journey. I see the Company’s next chapter as home for a community of such artistic forces and can’t wait to build with the brilliance of Nile, Jane, Talvin, and Sara.”

Mei Ann Teo, Director (they/them) is a queer immigrant from Singapore making theater and film at the intersection of artistic/civic/contemplative practice. As a director, devisor, and dramaturg, they create across genres, including music theater, intermedial participatory work, reimagining classics, and documentary theater. Teo works internationally, at festivals including Belgium's Festival de Liege (Lyrics from Lockdown by Bryonn Bain), Edinburgh International Fringe, Beijing International Festival, Singapore Theatre Festival. They have directed and/or developed across the country, including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Theatreworks Hartford, the Playwrights Realm, Goodman Theatre, The Public Theater, Berkeley Rep, Crowded Fire, History Theatre, Page 73, Musical Theatre Factory, and the National Black Theatre. Recent work includes Madeline Sayet’s Where We Belong (film and national tour), the U.S. premiere of Amy Berryman’s Walden at Theatreworks Hartford (Best Production and Director - Connecticut Critics Award), and the English U.S. premiere of Stefano Massini’s 7 Minutes at Waterwell. Teo received the League of Professional Theatre Women’s Josephine Abady Award, is the inaugural recipient of the Lily Fan Director Lilly Award, and has formerly served as the Artistic Director of Musical Theatre Factory and the Associate Artistic Director and Director of New Work at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. 

Teo will bring new experience, perspective, and ideas to the PCC Artistic Leadership Team. They join performer and director Nile Harris; playwright, director, and dramaturg Talvin Wilks; PCC Managing Director Jane Jung; and Associate Director Sara Zatz. The formation of the Team represents a pivotal moment in PCC’s multi-year transition from a company identified with a single artist into one that supports a new generation of interdisciplinary artists. The transitional leadership structure is a reflection of this shift, and gives central roles to five individuals with deep connections to the Company. Wilks has been a longtime collaborator of Ping Chong and Company since 1994. He has worked on multiple Undesirable Elements productions and co-wrote and directed the Collidescope series with Ping Chong. Nile Harris is the recipient of a 2022 PCC Creative Fellowship, through which he was in residence with the Company, engaging with the PCC archive and developing new work. Jane Jung is Managing Director of Ping Chong and Company and has been affiliated with the Company since 2010. She launched the Creative Fellowship program and led the generation of the Strategic and Transition Plan for the Organization. Sara Zatz joined Ping Chong and Company in 2002. As Associate Director, she leads the company’s community engagement and training programs, and is the lead creative producer of PCC’s Undesirable Elements series. 

On June 24 from 4-7pm at the newly renovated La MaMa (74A East 4th Street), PCC presents An Extra Ordinary Afternoon with Ping Chong and Company, an afternoon soirée for which the Artistic Leadership Team has convened a new generation of NYC performing arts leaders navigating leadership transitions: Jonathan McCrory (National Black Theatre), Mia Yoo (La MaMa), Carl Hancock Rux (Mabou Mines/Harlem Stage), Mame Diarra Speis and Chanon Judson (Urban Bush Women), and Ain Gordon (Pick Up Performance Co.). They will participate in a generative discussion of the opportunities and challenges of their situations. The event will also feature performances by Johnnie Cruise Mercer, Grace Galu, and Nile Harris and collaborators; and food by DeVonn Francis of Yardy World. Tickets are available here.

About Ping Chong and Company 

Ping Chong and Company (PCC) creates theater and art that reveal beauty, invention, precision, and a commitment to social justice. Founded in New York City in 1975 by leading theatrical innovator and National Medal of Arts recipient Ping Chong, the company engages multigenerational interdisciplinary artists to build and expand upon the legacy of founder Ping Chong. PCC’s work centers innovation, collaboration, community engagement, and amplifies underrepresented voices. Across nearly five decades, the New York City-based company has now created over 110 original theater productions, ranging from intimate interview-based works to large-scale multidisciplinary projects featuring puppets, performers, and full sound and projection scores. Reaching audiences throughout New York, the United States, and the world, PCC transcends boundaries, exploring interconnectedness of cultures and how intersectional identities are addressed in society. 

For more information visit: Pingchong.org




Videos