Zhui Ning Chang
Theatre Maker | 2021 Bursary
The bursary supported an R&D period to create a new podcast musical exploring a queer, hopepunk approach to storytelling.
Since receiving the bursary…
Zhui Ning Chang (she/they) is a Malaysian interdisciplinary artist based in London. They have a keen interest in intercultural performance, speculative futures, and building support and solidarity in marginalized communities through storytelling. As a theatre director and dramaturg, Zhui Ning has presented plays, musicals, devised work, and audio drama; as a librettist and writer, they have written for stage, podcast, nonfiction and fiction. Recently, Zhui Ning presented the romcom musical Seashore Yuanfen—first developed with support from MGCfutures—at BEAM 2023 (MMD, MTN, and Oxford Playhouse). They were a researcher and translator on the VR adventure game The Pirate Queen (Singer Studios), starring Lucy Liu. Zhui Ning serves as Editor-in-Chief of award-winning khōréō magazine, and is a co-editor on the anthology Best of Malaysian Short Fiction in English 2010-2020 (Malaysian Writers Society). Currently, they are a PhD researcher in Southeast Asian speculative fiction at Birkbeck, University of London.
Zhui is currently working on an R&D of Asian Pirate Musical, in collaboration with Papergang Theatre and Pleasance Theatre, and training with Emergency Academy, an international cross-disciplinary artist laboratory run by Emergency Stairs to shape the cultural leaders of tomorrow. They are also offering dramaturgical support on new playwriting, and seeking more opportunities in directing and developing new musical theatre and opera.