Talk w/the ASCENT cast! tix @ skylighttheatre.org, last show is June 14, ck out this real story!

Plain Wood Productions Presents the World Premiere of ASCENT by HENRY ONG, directed by DIANA WYENN, Featuring TRIEU TRAN, IRIS LIU RUSSELL EDGE, and JORGE-LUIS PALLO, produced by STELLA ONG.

Hosted by Skylight Theatre Company through the STAR (Skylight Theatre Artist Residency) Program May 9 - June 14, 2026 Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 pm; Sundays at 3 pm

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A new play based on the true story of Qian Xuesen, the brilliant aerospace engineer from China who helped launch America’s space age—until Cold War paranoia forever changed the course of his life...and ours. Qian Xuesen, a promising young engineer from China, travels to America in 1935 on a Boxer Indemnity Scholarship. Advancing quickly through the ranks at MIT and Caltech, he becomes a pioneer of the American space age, co-founding JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) and helping the United States of America win World War II. Then, as extreme nationalism swells at the beginning of the Cold War, Xuesen finds himself accused of being a Communist, and what happens next shapes the future of both his new and native homelands.

Developed by Ong and director and dramaturg Diana Wyenn from 2016 until the playwright's passing in 2018, this production marks the long-awaited world premiere of the beloved playwright and LA Theater champion's prescient and timely final play. Inspired by true events and filled with Ong’s signature blend of heart and humor, Ascent reveals how fear, extreme nationalism, and xenophobia affects individual lives, shapes political decisions, and overshadows truth—often with lasting global consequences. With Randy Wong-Westbrooke (scenic design),Yuki Izumihara (projections design), Mylette Nora (costume design), Joey Guthman (lighting design), John Zalewski (sound design), Brittany White (prop design), Diana Wyenn (dramaturgy), Shyree Mezick (casting), Azusa Oda (graphic design), Shuwen Cao (assistant director), and Jacob Padilla (production stage manager) Executive Produced by Carrie Menkel-Meadow and Robert Meadow, with producers Plain Wood Productions and Stella Ong, and associate producers Matthew Black and Shuwen Cao.

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