Plain Wood Productions Presents the World Premiere of
Ascent
This world premiere of Ascent is made possible with generous support from Carrie Menkel-Meadow and Robert Meadow, the STAR, the Skylight Theatre Artist Residency program, and the following individual donors:
Anonymous (7) • Carrie Menkel-Meadow and Robert Meadow • Rose Ong, Stella Ong, and Noi Giddings • Matthew Black • Charles and Jeanne Domokos • Charlie Gillig • Cory Hinkle • David E. Dassey • Deanne Mencher • Dustin Burseth • Eileen Scallen • Els Collins • Jennifer Davies • Joyce Liu-Countryman • Kathie Barnes • Michael Alexander and Victoria Kirsch • Ray Simmons • Richard Paddor • Richard Thornberry • Rip Rense • Robyn Myers • Ruth Seid • Sandra Zeitzew • Savannah Dooley • Scott Cummings • Seana Shiffrin • The Stones • Tom Jacobson and Ramone Munoz • Troy Blendell
Click here to join them and donate today.
by Henry Ong
directed by Diana Wyenn
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
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.
Featuring Trieu Tran, Iris Liu, Russell Edge, and Jorge-Luis Pallo
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) Shuwen Cao (assistant director), and Jacob Padilla (production stage manager)
Produced by Plain Wood Productions, Carrie Menkel-Meadow, Robert Meadow, Stella Ong, and associate producers Matthew Black and Shuwen Cao
This world premiere of Ascent is made possible with generous support from Carrie Menkel-Meadow and Robert Meadow, as well as individual donors (click here to donate and join them) and STAR, the Skylight Theatre Artist Residency program. Ascent received staged readings and developmental support at EST/LA (2016) and Inkwell Theater Company (2017).
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Graphic design and illustration by Azusa Oda
Show Information
May 9 - June 14
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 pm; Sundays at 3 pm
LOCATION:
Skylight Theatre
1816 1/2 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles