Under The Same Moon is a heartfelt comedy about daughters and their wayward mothers, premiering at NZ Fringe 2015 and also as part of Chinese New Year Festival celebrations . Penned by award-winning writer Renee Liang (Lantern, The First Asian AB, The Bone Feeder), the play is especially written to showcase the chameleonic skills of Hweiling Ow (Flat3, Two Fish n a Scoop). Ow will portray three generations of women in the Chan family (and some of their men).Directed by Toi Whakaari graduate Theresa May Adams, the play promises to be a warm and illuminating look at the inside lives of NZ Chinese families.

Liang has drawn on stories of her two lively grandmothers to write the central character of the matriarch, Por Por Grace. “They’re quite different, both pioneers in their own way,” she says. “My ma-ma (paternal grandmother) travelled around China as a young nurse partying with foreign soldiers before escaping the Japanese for Hong Kong. And my por por (maternal grandmother) never listened to anyone her whole life, even getting her disapproving kids to smuggle smokes into her rest home.”

In the play, Porpor Grace, an elderly woman from Hong Kong, embarks on the trip of a lifetime – a visit to New Zealand to attend the wedding of her granddaughter. Unfortunately she hasn’t been invited and no one knows she’s coming until she slips her caregivers and turns up in Wellington. Her arrival forces her daughter and three granddaughters to confront some hard truths about themselves, but ultimately, to learn about themselves as a family.

Liang’s ma-ma did, in fact, visit NZ for the wedding of Liang’s sister Rhea. “She was 85 then – now she’s 101,” says Renee. She recalls taking her grandmother out to sample Auckland’s cafe culture. “She loved the foam on the coffee. When she’d eaten all of it with a spoon she reached across the table and ate mine, too. Then she put the bacon in her handbag for later!”

Liang is fascinated by the cultural habits of the previous generation. “My ma-ma lived through two wars, so she never let anything go to waste – her house is full of sugar packets from restaurants,” she says. “But Ma-ma had servants, so she never learned to cook rice.” Sacred Kiwi cultural icons and cultural norms will also come under fire, as Liang’s Por Por character embarks on a Kiwi Experience backpacker tour. Liang refuses to be drawn on the specifics, but admits ‘the police get involved.’

Using a line from a Tang Dynasty poem as her inspiration - “Though we are a thousand leagues apart, we all look on the same moon,” Liang also explores the dynamics of migrant families, who are often separated for years. “When we come together, the identities we’ve built up about ourselves are challenged,” Liang says. “But ultimately, we have to learn how to live together, and function as a whole.”

For publicity enquiries, contact Renee Liang (writer/producer): docrnz@gmail.com, 021 265 9131. **

Under the Same Moon – world premiere season. A new family comedy from Renee Liang, starring Hweiling Ow and directed by Theresa May Adams, designed by Deb McGuire.

Presented by Omphalos Co, Under The Same Moon plays @ BATS (Wellington) as part of Chinese New Year Festival Wellington and Fringe 6.30 pm, 10-21 Feb 2015

And @Musgrove theatre (Auckland) as part of Lantern Festival and Auckland Fringe, 8 pm + weekend matinees, 24 Feb- 7 Mar 2015

Tickets $16 full/$14 groups&concession/$12 child Corporate, group and family deals available – see website or contact Renee docrnz@gmail.com, 021 265 9131 www.samemoon.nz

Bookings http://bats.co.nz/ (Wellington); http://www.maidment.auckland.ac.nz(Auckland)