POPULARITY
4 episodes with stan lai
In this episode of 5 Minutes of Peace, we welcome Stan Lai, one of the world's most acclaimed playwrights and theatre directors. Born in the U.S. and raised in both America and Taiwan, Stan earned his PhD from UC Berkeley and has since written over 40 groundbreaking plays, including A Dream Like a Dream and Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land. He is also the co-founder of the Wuzhen Theatre Festival and Huichang Theatre Village, and the creative force behind Theatre Above in Shanghai, a venue devoted entirely to his work.Today, Stan reads from Chapter Four of his new book, CreativitRy, released by Anthem Press — a deeply reflective and practical guide to awakening your own creative potential. Drawing on Buddhist philosophy and his own artistic journey, Stan explores the balance of wisdom and method, two essential parts of the creative process.He shares a transformative moment from a teaching trip to India, where a discussion with a Buddhist monk led him to realize that creativity, like spiritual practice, requires both technical skill and inner wisdom. Without this balance, our work—and our lives—remain incomplete.“To be an artist, you need to have skills. At the same time, you must have the wisdom to know what to use those skills for.”— Stan Lai, CreativitRyInstagram: @Stanlai99Book: CreativitRy on Amazon →Five Minutes of Peace is created by The Peace Room, Boise — offering Reiki treatments, crystal healings, and workshops for personal and spiritual growth.Learn more at www.thepeaceroom.love.
Today we're honored to welcome Stan Lai, one of the world's most celebrated playwrights and theatre directors. He has been called by one critic ‘the major contemporary Asian playwright of his time, perhaps of all time' and by the BBC ‘the best Chinese-language playwright and director in the world'. Stan's Website @Stanlai99 on Instagram Stan on YouTube Born in the U.S. and raised in both America and Taiwan, Stan earned his PhD from UC Berkeley before launching a groundbreaking career in Taiwan that now spans over 40 acclaimed plays, including masterpieces like A Dream Like a Dream and Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land. He's also the co-founder of the Wuzhen Theatre Festival and Huichang Theatre Village in China, and his Shanghai venue, Theatre Above, is dedicated entirely to his work.Stan joins us today to discuss his new book, CreativitRy: Asia's Iconic Playwright Reveals the Art of Creativity, coming in November 2025 from Anthem Press — a transformative guide that blends memoir, Buddhist philosophy, and practical methods for unlocking the creative potential that lives within each of us. https://a.co/d/56PRqeG5 QuestionsThe Source of CreativityStan, you've said that CreativitRy explores “where creativity lives — within each and every one of us.” How did your own creative process as a playwright and director lead you to this realization, and what inspired you to put these ideas into book form?From Stage to Page — Translating Art into InsightYour plays are known for their emotional depth and philosophical reach. How was writing about creativity — in prose rather than in performance — a different kind of creative act for you?Buddhist Wisdom and Creative FlowYou describe the book as rooted in Buddhist thought, guiding readers to unlock creativity through introspection rather than productivity hacks. How do mindfulness and spiritual awareness shape your own approach to artistic creation?Creativity as Education — A New FrontierCreativitRy is being adopted as the foundational text for a new Department of Creative Studies at major Chinese universities. How did that initiative come about, and what does it say about the growing importance of creativity in education and society today?The Universality of the Creative JourneyYou've been praised by artists like Ang Lee and Jack Ma for bridging the arts, business, and human growth. What do you hope readers — whether they're artists, entrepreneurs, or students — will take away from CreativitRy about living a truly creative life?Stan, as we close, what's one piece of advice you'd offer to someone who feels disconnected from their creativity — someone who wants to rediscover that creative energy in everyday life?Thanks to our sponsor, White Cloud Coffee — fueling creative conversations everywhere. Listeners, enjoy 10% off your first order at whitecloudcoffee.com.And be sure to download your free e-book of Your World of Creativity when you visit
Today on The Cameron Journal Podcast, we are joined by the ineffably brilliant, Stan Lai. The most famous theater producer in China, he straddles form, characters and borders as he creates theatrical experiences across Asia, North American and Europe. We spent an hour together talking about storytelling, Chinese film, opera and fine art. These episodes are the ones that make me love doing this. Stan Lai is absolutely wonderful and his personal invitation to his dedicated theater in Shanghai was truly an honor. We talk about his new book CreativitRy and how everyone can find their own roadmap to live their most creative life. This is an exciting book from someone who has made a life out of his own mind. You can visit Cameron online at CameronJournal.com Watch The Cameron Journal Newshour every Monday at 7 pm!Part of the SOOPcast Podcast Network
“Creativitry," writes legendary playwright Stan Lai in the preface to his new book of that name, "Doesn't exist as a word. Just as all creative things do not exist -- until they do. "Rhymes with Artistry, and Chemistry, and Sorcery. "The know-how, practice and mastery of creativity." The overlap, undercurrents and interplay of creativity and curiosity come up a lot here, which only heightened my delight at being joined by creativity master Stan Lai, known as “the major contemporary Asian playwright of his time...perhaps of all time." More about Stan Lai: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Lai Theme music by Sean Balick; “A Certain Lightness” by Migration, via Blue Dot Sessions.
"I really think if you want to be a balanced human being, you need to be creative" - Stan Lai A Maestro of Modern Theater A luminary in the world of theater, Stan Lai has long captivated audiences with his groundbreaking and thought-provoking plays. Renowned for his innovative storytelling, Lai seamlessly blends traditional Chinese elements with contemporary themes, crafting narratives that resonate across cultural boundaries. Born in the U.S. and raised in both America and Taiwan, Lai received his doctorate from UC Berkeley before launching an award-winning career spanning decades. His contributions to theater have not only enriched the art form but have also inspired countless artists and audiences alike. With over 40 plays to his name, Lai's work continues to be celebrated for its creativity, depth, and universal appeal, solidifying his legacy as a master storyteller. In his insightful book Creativitry, Lai delves into the essence of the creative process, exploring both method and wisdom. He offers readers a glimpse into the mind of a master playwright, encouraging them to embrace curiosity, challenge conventions, and cultivate a mindset open to inspiration from the world around them. Creativitry is not just a guide for artists, but a profound exploration of how creativity can enrich every aspect of life, making it an essential read for anyone seeking to unlock their creative potential. stan lai creativitry book stan Lai instagram Subscribe: iTunes | Android | Spotify | Email | RSS MORE ART UNKNOWN PODCASTS.fusion-portfolio-wrapper#fusion-portfolio-1 .fusion-portfolio-content{ padding: 25px 25px 25px 25px; text-align: center; }.fusion-portfolio-1 .fusion-portfolio-wrapper .fusion-col-spacing{padding:20px;}Crave Magazine2025-11-15T03:20:31-07:00 Ep77 Stan Lai Ep77 Stan LaiCrave Magazine2025-11-06T07:09:56-07:00 Ep76 Dennis Welch Ep76 Dennis WelchCrave Magazine2025-11-05T12:04:31-07:00 Ep75 Jim Wills – part 3 Ep75 Jim Wills – part 3Crave Magazine2025-10-27T03:42:57-06:00 Ep74 Cameron Smith Ep74 Cameron SmithCrave Magazine2025-10-23T03:37:36-06:00 Ep73 Siquoyia Blue Ep73 Siquoyia BlueJim Wills2025-10-16T11:53:25-06:00 Ep72 Clementine Moss Ep72 Clementine MossJim Wills2025-10-12T09:45:00-06:00 Ep71 Rob Murat & Maya Elizabeth Ep71 Rob Murat & Maya ElizabethCrave Magazine2025-10-09T00:49:47-06:00 Ep70 Meg Raiano Ep70 Meg RaianoCrave Magazine2025-10-06T03:28:22-06:00 Ep69 Kat Sparks Ep69 Kat SparksCrave Magazine2025-10-05T11:49:50-06:00 Ep68 Christopher Quigley Ep68 Christopher QuigleyCrave Magazine2025-09-29T05:44:25-06:00 Ep67 Shanti Hershenson Ep67 Shanti HershensonCrave Magazine2025-09-29T05:44:34-06:00 Ep66 Alan Katz Part 2 Ep66 Alan Katz Part 2Crave Magazine2025-09-29T05:44:59-06:00 Ep65 Alan Katz Part 1 Ep65 Alan Katz Part 1Crave Magazine2025-09-29T05:49:37-06:00 Ep64 Hersh Gutwilik Ep64 Hersh GutwilikCrave Magazine2025-09-29T05:50:24-06:00
Performers Lansy Feng & Eldon Huang discuss the first English language production of I Me She Him by Taiwanese playwright Stan Lai. Set in Hong Kong in the late 1990s, it explores tensions between China and Taiwan. Performed in Melbourne 22 November to 2 December. wit incorporated 3CR broadcasts from the stolen lands of the Kulin Nation
The Selected Plays of Stan Lai (U Michigan Press, 2022) collects a cross-section from the four-decade career of one of the major dramatists of our time. Lai's works, including Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, are famous throughout the Sinophone world, having been performed in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China. Many lines from his plays have become almost proverbial, quoted by academics and cab drivers alike. The plays collected here are translated by Lai himself, and are suitable for performance (in addition to being a playwright and director, Lai is a theatre scholar with a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley). They retain the humor, theatricality, and pathos that have made Lai one of Asia's most popular playwrights. In this interview we discuss Lai's childhood between the US and Taiwan, as well as his semi-improvised method of playwrighting. Andy Boyd is a playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the playwriting MFA at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the Arizona School for the Arts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network
The Selected Plays of Stan Lai (U Michigan Press, 2022) collects a cross-section from the four-decade career of one of the major dramatists of our time. Lai's works, including Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, are famous throughout the Sinophone world, having been performed in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China. Many lines from his plays have become almost proverbial, quoted by academics and cab drivers alike. The plays collected here are translated by Lai himself, and are suitable for performance (in addition to being a playwright and director, Lai is a theatre scholar with a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley). They retain the humor, theatricality, and pathos that have made Lai one of Asia's most popular playwrights. In this interview we discuss Lai's childhood between the US and Taiwan, as well as his semi-improvised method of playwrighting. Andy Boyd is a playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the playwriting MFA at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the Arizona School for the Arts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/asian-american-studies
The Selected Plays of Stan Lai (U Michigan Press, 2022) collects a cross-section from the four-decade career of one of the major dramatists of our time. Lai's works, including Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, are famous throughout the Sinophone world, having been performed in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China. Many lines from his plays have become almost proverbial, quoted by academics and cab drivers alike. The plays collected here are translated by Lai himself, and are suitable for performance (in addition to being a playwright and director, Lai is a theatre scholar with a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley). They retain the humor, theatricality, and pathos that have made Lai one of Asia's most popular playwrights. In this interview we discuss Lai's childhood between the US and Taiwan, as well as his semi-improvised method of playwrighting. Andy Boyd is a playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the playwriting MFA at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the Arizona School for the Arts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literary-studies
The Selected Plays of Stan Lai (U Michigan Press, 2022) collects a cross-section from the four-decade career of one of the major dramatists of our time. Lai's works, including Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, are famous throughout the Sinophone world, having been performed in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China. Many lines from his plays have become almost proverbial, quoted by academics and cab drivers alike. The plays collected here are translated by Lai himself, and are suitable for performance (in addition to being a playwright and director, Lai is a theatre scholar with a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley). They retain the humor, theatricality, and pathos that have made Lai one of Asia's most popular playwrights. In this interview we discuss Lai's childhood between the US and Taiwan, as well as his semi-improvised method of playwrighting. Andy Boyd is a playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the playwriting MFA at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the Arizona School for the Arts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts
The Selected Plays of Stan Lai (U Michigan Press, 2022) collects a cross-section from the four-decade career of one of the major dramatists of our time. Lai's works, including Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land, are famous throughout the Sinophone world, having been performed in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mainland China. Many lines from his plays have become almost proverbial, quoted by academics and cab drivers alike. The plays collected here are translated by Lai himself, and are suitable for performance (in addition to being a playwright and director, Lai is a theatre scholar with a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley). They retain the humor, theatricality, and pathos that have made Lai one of Asia's most popular playwrights. In this interview we discuss Lai's childhood between the US and Taiwan, as well as his semi-improvised method of playwrighting. Andy Boyd is a playwright based in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of the playwriting MFA at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the Arizona School for the Arts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/chinese-studies
The Tony Award-winning composer of Fun Home, Jeanine Tesori, joins us from her Manhattan living room to share her insights into creating great musical theatre.Also, Taiwan-based playwright and theatre director Stan Lai shares what's on his Top Shelf and Humphrey Bower reviews The Met Opera's recent crop of free streaming productions.
The Tony Award-winning composer of Fun Home, Jeanine Tesori, joins us from her Manhattan living room to share her insights into creating great musical theatre. Also, Taiwan-based playwright and theatre director Stan Lai shares what's on his Top Shelf and Humphrey Bower reviews The Met Opera's recent crop of free streaming productions.
The Tony Award-winning composer of Fun Home, Jeanine Tesori, joins us from her Manhattan living room to share her insights into creating great musical theatre. Also, Taiwan-based playwright and theatre director Stan Lai shares what's on his Top Shelf and Humphrey Bower reviews The Met Opera's recent crop of free streaming productions.
In her cabaret show Rendezvous with Marlene, Ute Lemper shares the story of a long phone exchange with an ailing Marlene Dietrich in 1988, The Ripples Before the New Wave documents the lasting impact of the University of Sydney's flourishing drama scene in the late 1950s and early 60s, if the idea of "audience participation" makes many queasy, what drives some theatre makers to invite audiences onto the stage and into the story? And acclaimed Taiwanese playwright and director Stan Lai shares the poem, song, play and film that have inspired his journey as an artist.
In her cabaret show Rendezvous with Marlene, Ute Lemper shares the story of a long phone exchange with an ailing Marlene Dietrich in 1988, The Ripples Before the New Wave documents the lasting impact of the University of Sydney's flourishing drama scene in the late 1950s and early 60s, if the idea of "audience participation" makes many queasy, what drives some theatre makers to invite audiences onto the stage and into the story? And acclaimed Taiwanese playwright and director Stan Lai shares the poem, song, play and film that have inspired his journey as an artist.
Composer Jimmy López, who earned his Ph.D. in music from UC Berkeley in 2012, speaks about Dreamers, an oratorio he was commissioned by Cal Performances to write that is informed by interviews held with undocumented students at UC Berkeley. The piece was written in collaboration with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz, who created the libretto. Esa-Pekka Salonen, the music director designate of the San Francisco Symphony, conducted the world premiere performance of Dreamers in Zellerbach Hall on Sunday, March 17 at 3 p.m. with the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, soprano Ana María Martínez, and a chorus of nearly 80 voices, including those from the UC Berkeley Chamber Choir.López's talk was held in an open session of the academic course Thinking Through Art and Design @ Berkeley: Creativity, Migration, Transformation taught by Peter Glazer and Stan Lai held in Osher Auditorium, UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) on Thursday, March 14 at 12 p.m. It was free and open to the public.Read a Q&A with Jimmy López, "Alumnus's 'Dreamers' oratorio inspired by Berkeley undocumented students" on Berkeley News.See events related to upcoming shows by Cal Performances on calperformances.org.Watch the world premiere of Dreamers and read the transcript on Berkeley News. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
Stan Lai is an award-winning playwright and director. Currently his play Nightwalk in the Chinese Garden is in production at the Huntington Gardens. The play is staged in the Chinese Garden, the "Garden of Flowing Fragrance." The audience travels through the garden, over bridges, through pavilions, walking with the actors as they transition from scene to scene, from one magical location to the next, traveling through a journey of the heart, exploring love in all its forms, whether in dream, death, life or theatre, our hearts are deeply moved. The play inspired a short guided meditation for us to explore all the glorious real estate in our hearts held for all of time, by all that has touched our hearts up to this moment. To read more about Stan Lai's play: http://www.huntington.org/nightwalk/
Chinese theater-maker Stan Lai (Lai Sheng-chuan 賴聲川) discusses the origins and evolution of Nightwalk in the Chinese Garden, his new, site-specific production for The Huntington. The play is the culmination of Lai's residency at The Huntington as the 2018 Cheng Family Visiting Artist and is developed and produced by the CalArts Center for New Performance.
The good, the bad and the ugly. It’s not just the name of an old Clint Eastwood movie. It’s also a fitting way to think about this year’s Oregon Shakespeare Festival, currently running in Ashland on OSF’s three world-class stages. Yesterday I talked about the VERY GOOD "Head Over Heels," a new musical by Jeff Whitty of "Avenue Q" fame. With summer kicking into gear, there are several shows running on those three stages, and that’s one of the good ones. So let me tell you about the BAD and the UGLY, both of which could be used to describe OSF’s unsatisfying staging of Shakespeare’s "Antony and Cleopatra." Tony and Cleo has NEVER been an easy play to produce. Directors have to find clever ways to establish a coherent tone that’s not actually suggested in the script, which - sorry Mr. Shakespeare - is a bit of a mess. OSF’s Artistic Director Bill Rauch helms this production. Usually spot-on, Rauch appears to have decided to just follow Shakespeare’s unfocused lead, the result being a sometimes entertaining, frequently baffling mish-mash of tonal inconsistencies. By pushing the comedic moments to goofy excess, it diminishes, rather than enhances, the whole flow of the show. Consider the arrival of a bumbling snake seller who acts like an extra from T.V.s Hee-Haw show, a bit of outrageousness that comes just seconds before the tragic demise of a major character. And after watching the supposedly middle-aged Antony and Cleopatra act like lovesick puppies for thirty minutes, it’s hard to feel bad for them when their world starts to crumble under the weight of their irresponsible actions. That’s the point, of course, to show how great societies are often destroyed by the acts of selfish rulers, but it’s just inconceivable that the real Tony and Cleo would have run around squealing and clapping like toddlers at a birthday watching the clown tie balloon animals. Such choices leave the entire enterprise foundering in a kind of dramatic uncertainty. This is a tragedy, after all. In this production, that’s true in many ways. Let’s move back to the category of the GOOD, with the clever, emotionally rich "Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land," written and directed by Stan Lai. The American premiere is a translation of a Chinese play originally performed in in 1986, shortly after the 40-year ban on communication between China and Taiwan had been lifted and families long-separated were taking steps at reunion. In its first-ever English version, Lai takes the original script - a kind of site-specific experiment in which two theater companies attempt to rehearse on the same space - and tailors it to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which is referred to often by name, along with numerous suggestions that someone should call Bill Rauch - mentioned earlier - to come straighten out the mess. One of the plays, the deadly serious drama "Secret Love," is being directed by a Stan Lai stand- in known only as Director, putting his race-blind cast through the paces of a story clearly based on the loss of his one great love. When a group of Chinese-American comedians crash the theater, insisting Bill Rauch has given them the space for their rehearsal, a strange back-and-forth ensues. With an outrageously silly send-up of the ancient Chinese fable Peach Blossom Land - about an unhappily married man who finds a magical world where all his dreams come true, but pines for the wife who never really loved him - the newcomers agree to share the space, with some very funny, genuinely touching results. Oregon Shakespeare Festival runs through November 1. www.osfashland.org I’m David Templeton, Second Row Center, for KRCB.
Influential playwright Stan Lai has stretched the boundaries of the theatrical experience in his native Taiwan, in China, and around the world. He has negotiated the fraught landscape between China and Taiwan through drama, and in recent years through active efforts to reshape the theatrical culture of China. In a wide-ranging conversation with Professor of Modern Chinese History Wen-hsin Yeh, Lai explores his work, his ideas, and his unique vision.
© 2020-2025 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
