Dragoness

Written by Cha Mangan

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In development.

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Two Asian-American painters, visibly Asian RAE and white-passing LEO, both dream of making it big in the art world. But when Leo and her art about the oppression of Asian women start to gain more notoriety than Rae, and with a major fellowship for BIPOC artists on the line, Rae will do anything to take down Leo’s career. Dragoness interrogates the concept of being “Asian enough” alongside the credo that one must suffer and commodify oneself for the sake of art in order to satisfy the white gaze. Who is allowed to create and profit from “Asian” art?

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Dragoness was the recipient of the 2022 Molly Thacher Kazan Memorial Prize at Vassar College, was a 2023 semi-finalist for Chisa Hutchingsons’ Signpost Fellowship, as well as 2024 semi-finalist for the American Blues Theater's 2025 Blue Ink Award. It has undergone development with SEA lit Circle and the Workshop Theater. 

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Painting by Ayane Garrison