Shoots X Horizons New Year February 2022

EXISTENTIAL 
By Matthew Koon

Your 20’s are almost over and life looks nothing like you expected it would. Unmarried, no kids, no house or stable job. No responsibility. Daily existential crises and feeling conflicted between working to live or living to work - this is just another day in the life of 28-year-old Matthew. Awkwardly straddling the line of being too young to be a Millennial and too old to be Gen Z.  

A small collection of monologues and skits inspired by real life experiences. Matthew hopes to capture a snapshot of what his life is like right now during this strange transitional period. 

About Matthew Koon

Matthew is a Manchester born actor, dancer and occasional writer who has lived many different lives. Matthew spent most of his childhood in the dance studio and the majority of his 20’s working as a First Soloist in one of the UK’s top ballet companies. He is now based in Manchester working freelance and figuring out what’s next. Matthew is represented by British Talent Agency®. 

Performer credits: 

Matthew made his acting debut at age 12 in the West End Musical Billy Elliot where he was the first actor of Chinese descent to star in the title role. Later he became a First Soloist with Northern Ballet where he performed many lead roles to critical acclaim during his 8-year stretch, such as; Peter in David Nixon OBE’s ‘Peter Pan’, Romeo in Jean Christophe Maillot’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and Merlin in Drew McOnie’s ‘Merlin’.  
Matthew performed the original monologue ‘Choice’, written by Kevin Shen and directed by Jay Oliver Yip, for Exit Pursued By Panda’s 2021 Creating Apart and wrote and performed a spoken word piece called ‘See him’ for Greater Manchester Artist’s Hub as part of the 2021 REBOOT fund.

Matthew recently appeared in commercials for Facebook and Adobe and has just finished filming a role for the upcoming BBC series ‘Everything I Know About Love’.  
  
Twitter & Instagram: @MatthewKoon  
Facebook.com/OfficialMatthewKoon  

SCATTERED FAMILIES

By Lesa Dang

Scattered Families is a collection of monologues and stories by Lexa Dang. The Dang's Family journey from a simple fishing village in Northern Vietnam in the 1940s 1970s fleeing indochina war of Vietnam by boat spanning three generations to the current day. This piece shares the hardship in rural Vietnam and a man’s yearning to carry on his name and legacy. 

About Lesa Dang

Lesa is an East Asian Actor based in Manchester of Chinese Vietnamese background, Fluent in Cantonese and has experience on screen via television films and commercials. Recently received funding to create her first self-initiated piece for the Greater Manchester artist hub. The monologue Scattered Families was shown in the Musuem of the Home at their Belonging Festival in September.

MOTHER AND DAUGHTER Verbatim Theatre working alongside Anna Nguyen and Kristine Landon-Smith to examine the individual responses to the mother and daughter relationship in the Vietnamese Community.  
Alumni of New Earth Performance Academy 2020 and performed in New Earth Theatre’s Signal Fires: Beyond Chinatown – A British East and South East Asian Guide to Manchester’s Past, Present and Future.

https://nw-besea-creatives.uk/performers-theatre-makers/lesa-dang

Instagram: @l88exa 
Facebook: Lesa Dang  

THE ART OF 
By Samuel Rossiter 

Fresh out of a breakup from a long-term relationship, a young mid-twenties trans man sets out to tackle the world of dating apps and casual sex.

About Samuel Rossiter 

Samuel is a trans and mixed-race performer and actor of English/Chinese heritage. Born and raised in Hong Kong, Samuel moved to Manchester after graduating from Hong Kong University to pursue acting and writing. He is an alumnus of the New Earth Manchester Writer's and Performer's Academy 2020, and was also a recipient of the Greater Manchester Artist Hub Reboot Fund in early 2021. He used this fund to write and perform a filmed spoken word piece around the mixed-race identity.  
 
Samuel was commissioned by the Royal Exchange Theatre to write for My White Best Friend North, which he used to explore his experiences as a trans man with his piece performed at the end of October 2021. He is passionate about creating work about uncomfortable subjects that engages audiences and pushes them to see life from a different perspective. After a long few years for the entire industry, he is ready to start making more connections and experiment further with live performance. 

Twitter: @samuel_rossiter 
Instagram: @samuel.rossiter 

GIRL POWER - MILK TEA ALLIANCE 
By Mei Yuk Wong

A monologue – This is a story about three brave women from Asia, fighting for democratic movements, in Thailand, Hong Kong and Myanmar. They have all sacrificed themselves for their homelands in different ways: in jail, self-exile or been killed. They are in the frontline, as are their fellow male protesters; they have fought a good fight, inspired and empowered especially women and girls across the world. 

About Mei Yuk Wong

Mei Yuk is a multi-faceted writer and artist. Born in Hong Kong, she has lived in Manchester for over twenty years. Her writing includes plays, poetry and fiction, published and performed nationally and internationally.  
She likes to write about individuals with personal experiences in critical social and political contexts. She is very keen on drama and documentary, and would like to explore alternative voices for people like herself as a minority ethnic person living in a contemporary diverse Britain.

Over the years, she has also collaborated with New Earth Theatre, Commonword and the Octagon Theatre, Bolton. She is a Creative Consultant for Girlhood and Later Life, a project commissioned by Digital Women’s Archive North and the University of Manchester. She is a columnist for The Hongkonger.

Her latest work, 2047, was commissioned by New Earth Theatre for the Signal Fires Festival in Manchester in October and November 2020. Long Way Down was commissioned by Commonword, 2020.

Previous work includes: Caged Birds, Commonword, 2016. Noodle Bar was performed at Octagon Theatre, Bolton and Sweet Mandarin, Manchester, 2015. A Match Monologue was performed at the People’s History Museum, Manchester, 2014. Arrive, Depart was performed at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, 2010. She was commissioned by Manchester Poetry Festival to deliver a poetry lunch event at Yang Sing in 2003. Her poetry and artwork, Walking in the Clouds was published in the UK in 2002.

www.meiyukwong.co.uk
Instagram: @meiyukwong4286 
Twitter: @meiyukwong