Philip Kan Gotanda will discuss his new play about Chang and Eng Bunker, the first Siamese twins, on Dec. 6 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Philip Kan Gotanda will discuss his new play about Chang and Eng Bunker, the first Siamese twins, on Dec. 6 at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The free public program, at 5:30 p.m. in the Wilson Special Collections Library, also will feature presentations and readings from the play by UNC undergraduates. The students, members of an English honors course, researched the Bunkers using the North Carolina and Southern Historical collections in Wilson Library.
Materials curated by the students, on view during the event, will include letters, documents, pamphlets and photographs.
The program will begin with a reception and display viewing at 5 p.m. For program information, contact Liza Terll at liza_terll@unc.edu or (919) 548-1203.
Chang and Eng were born in 1811 in Siam (now Thailand). As teenagers, they traveled the Americas and Europe, becoming popular celebrities. The pair eventually settled in North Carolina as gentlemen farmers, marrying sisters Adelaide and Sarah Yates of Wilkes County and ultimately fathering 21 children between them. Eng and Chang died within hours of each other in 1874.
Gotanda’s play, “I Dream of Chang and Eng,” premiered in Berkeley, Calif., in March. Known for sensitive explorations of Asian Americans’ lives in his plays and films, he has been artist in residence at Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. Theaters nationwide, including the New York Shakespeare Festival, have produced his works.
Gotanda comes to UNC at the invitation of Heidi Kim, assistant professor of English and comparative literature. “Philip is unquestionably one of the foundational and most influential figures in Asian American theatre,” she said. “He’s been incredibly generous with my students and added immeasurably to their learning.”
The program is sponsored by the North Carolina and Southern Historical collections and Friends of the Library. Funding for Gotanda’s visit comes from the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost through the Performing Arts Special Activities Fund, the Institute for the Arts and Humanities, the Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs and Honors Carolina.
Library contact: Linda Jacobson, North Carolina Collection Gallery, (919) 962-0104, ljacobso@email.unc.edu