Cheeyang Ng (left) and Eric Sorrels (right) - both Cycle 28
GMTWP Alums Cheeyang Ng and Eric Sorrels (both Cycle 28) were named the recipients of the Eric H. Weinberger Award for Emerging Librettists by Amas Musical Theatre.
Cheeyang Ng and Eric Sorrels were selected from over 50 blind submissions for their full-length musical MĀYĀ. In addition to a check for $2,000 to help pay cost-of-living expenses, Mr. Ng and Mr. Sorells receive development assistance from the "New Works Development Program" of Amas Musical Theatre, culminating in the work being rehearsed and performed by New York theatre professionals in an Amas Lab production. Amas was the development home for several of Mr. Weinberger's musicals, and which produced the World Premiere of Wanda's World and the New York Premiere of Tea for Three.
The initial source of inspiration for MĀYĀ came from the second act of A Midsummer Night's Dream, where the Fairy King and Queen fight over the Indian changeling child. We took that conflict and its impact on romantic relationships and adapted it for a story set in the the British Raj. Our "changeling child" would be Maya, and her soul would be torn between Britain and India. Our research led us to Sarojini Naidu, the perfect model for Maya. She was a lauded poet who later became an activist for Indian independence. Naidu's poetry, "The Golden Threshold," encapsulated a paradox of the British-Indian relationship: gorgeous language evoking a uniquely Indian experience thanks to a topnotch British education. That this art came out of an imperialist system that oppressed millions of people - that she could be both a British poet and Indian freedom fighter - was a contradiction we wanted to explore.