A sneak preview of WORTH, a new play by Joanne Lau.

This event takes place at the British Library.

Hours before their mother’s funeral, the Yeung siblings gather in the family home for the first time in years, only to discover their inheritance isn’t what they’d expected.

With only £44 cash to her name and the house due to be repossessed, where has all Mum’s money gone? Tensions escalate as they race to find it, uncovering ugly truths and shocking family secrets along the way.

Inspired by true events, WORTH takes a darkly comic look at family loss and sibling rivalry. Straddling two cultures, this explosive new play asks the question – what are you really worth?

Join director Mingyu Lin and Kumiko Mendl of New Earth Theatre is in conversation with exhibition curator, Dr Lucienne Loh about their new production that will be performed at the Arcola Theatre in London (7–29 April), followed by a run at Storyhouse in Chester (5–19 May).

Actors will be presenting a short script-in-hand extract from the play. The production is by New Earth Theatre and Storyhouse, in association with Arcola Theatre and was developed under New Earth Theatre’s Professional Writers Programme.

Mingyu Lin is a director for stage and screen, and a dramaturg. She was a Creative Associate at Headlong and is currently a Resident Artist with York Theatre Royal. She has directed numerous theatre productions and short films and is a regular director on Hollyoaks (Channel 4). She’s a recipient of Living Pictures’ Directors' bursary 2021 and a founding member of BESEA advocacy group BEATS.

Kumiko Mendl is an actor, director, producer and teacher. She is a founder member and Artistic Director of New Earth Theatre (formerly Yellow Earth Theatre) the UK’s foremost British East and South East Asian (BESEA) Theatre company. She established a two year Professional Writers’ Programme to make a step-change in British East and Southeast Asian writing and set up New Earth Academy, offering free courses in performance, writing and backstage.

Dr Lucienne Loh (chair) is Reader in English Literature at the University of Liverpool. She is co-curator, with Dr Alex Tickell, of the exhibition, Chinese & British. With Alex, she is co-founder and co-director of the British Chinese Studies Network. She works closely with the Liverpool Chinese community and is particularly interested in oral history projects by Chinese community groups from across the country.

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