Boston University's College of Fine Arts Alumni Awards 2023
Chay Yew citation | Dean’s Arts & Humanities Award

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"The boundaries between film, playwriting, and theatre are fluid. An award-winning director, playwright, and artistic director, Chay Yew explores and expands these spaces, creating an expanse that gives voice to new work and playwrights, questions interpretation of existing work, and broadens the scope of storytelling in today’s theatre.

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Chay, earlier this summer you directed the Tony Award-winning musical, “The Light in the Piazza” as part of a New York City Center Encores! production. The Encores series thrives on a hyper-abbreviated timeline. The artistic team is signing on to rehearse and stage a musical all within just 10 short days. Not only did you accept the challenge, Chay, you reframed the context of the musical. Without changing a word or lyric, you created a fresh lens for the story. Casting Asian American actresses in two of the main roles you added a new dimension to the story. 

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You’ve explained that “when the leading actor is also from a different cultural background – the world becomes a little different. And the challenge is not to change the work, but to find the subtext and the distance between music, notes, and words, and find a new interpretation of what is existing.”

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Chay, your willingness to stretch what seemed to be the limits of a production—and, in doing so, to realize its true potential—have become a hallmark of your work in New York, internationally, and at major regional theatres across this country. You’ve said, “The best artists are eager to grow.” And Chay, you continue to set that example.

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Whether it’s restaging a story from the American canon or shepherding new works and making them canonical, you understand the dynamic ecosystem that is theatre. It’s a synergy among writer, director, actors, designers that is, as you’ve said, “all ultimately in service of the story.” 

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Chay, not only do you make space for the stories, but for the storytellers as well. You’ve noted, “What’s feeding me now is the new generation of writers who are able to see the world in a different way than I do, and who are continuing to light the flame. I’m fed when I work on these projects and deepen my understanding of humanity.”

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By welcoming new voices, new stories, you have deepened our understanding of humanity. You were one of the very first nonwhite artists of color named to lead a major Tony Award-winning regional theatre. At Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, you led bravely and boldly—making a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion over your decade-long tenure that has served as a model for theatres to emulate. Along the way, you invested in new voices and mentored emerging playwrights, such as Marcus Gardley, Tanya Saracho, Luis Alfaro, Lauren Yee to name just a few, who walk the trail you have blazed.

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You have created platforms and moments in which the artistic experience yields empathy and transcends labels to form community.

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You’ve said, “We look at art, particularly in theater, to tell stories, and I’m empowered to tell stories especially when I feel other communities are not being given visibility and a voice.”

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Chay, as a stage director, playwright, and artistic director, you have not only set the stage for the invisible to be seen, you have given fresh eyes to audiences. You have created spaces that are inclusive, you have re-contextualized stories through your casting, you have inspired artists to tell their stories, and you have invited audiences, all of us, to discover our humanity.

Chay Yew, it is my distinct pleasure to present you with the Dean’s Arts & Humanities Award on behalf of Boston University College of Fine Arts."