Today we’d like to introduce you to Kevin Cheng.
Hi Kevin, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My acting journey began when I took a scene study class at Iowa State University, where I first fell in love with the stage. In 2018, I decided to move to New York City and attended the full-time conservatory at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. The school specializes in Meisner technique, and the training there created a solid foundation for me to build my acting muscles and polish my craft. Later I trained at the Herbert Berghof Studio, where I deepened my practice and met countless talented artists, some of whom have become my great friends and collaborators.
For the last two years, I have been a part of professional theater and film productions across the state of New York. I am also on the board of directors for Purple Light Productions, a theatre company founded by Annie Brown and Garrett Langley to empower new voices and foster the theatrical community.
In 2024, I began writing theatrical plays as a way to express my creativity through a different lens. While initially starting my career as an actor, I am now equally invested in playwriting and developing new theater works.
My one-act play “Dear Diary” was selected to premiere at the Chain Theatre Winter One-Act Festival in New York in February, and I had the opportunity to portray one of the lead characters alongside Elizabeth McBryde. It was such a rewarding experience to see my writing manifest on stage at a prestigious theater and seeing the impact my play had on the audience. After four sold-out performances at the Chain Theatre, the play will now transfer to The Players Theatre for its Off-Broadway run in June with the original cast.
My other play “Sunset Diner,” a new one-act that examines romantic relationships and how we approach and preserve love, is set to premiere at The RAT in Brooklyn on May 30th before making its festival run. I will play one of the lead characters opposite Jennifer Analise Roberts. The piece will be directed by Alysia Homminga.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
One of the biggest challenges being an actor is the amount of rejections we face on a daily basis. It is often disheartening to not book a role that you really resonate with and may already have spent a lot of time on during the audition process.
When I first started out, it was fairly hard for me to let go of projects I didn’t get. However, as I learned more about how the industry functions, I have now become much more light-hearted when it comes to rejections.
One of my all-time favorite quotes comes from British actress Jodie Comer when she was giving advice to young actors. “What is meant for you will not pass you by.” This quote has been imprinted on my heart, and it has helped me enjoy auditions more and focus on the joy of performing itself.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am an actor and playwright born and raised in Taiwan. Some of my theatre acting credits include: The Seagull (HB Playwrights), It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play (Fiction Brooklyn), The Cherry Orchard (Under St. Marks), Passover Parody (Script Club NYC), Pedo Punchers (Producers Club), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (A.R.T./New York), A Test of Taste (A.R.T./New York), and Dear Diary (Chain Theatre).
I’ve also been offered a role recently in A Middle Passage, a new play by award-winning playwright Yide Cai. It will be presented as part of the 50th Annual Samuel French Off Off Broadway Short Play Festival this summer in New York City at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater. It is one of the biggest short play festivals in the country; alumni playwrights include Martyna Majok, Theresa Rebeck, Jen Silverman, Gracie Gardner, Korde Arrington Tuttle and Tony-nominated playwright Dominique Morisseau.
Besides theatre, I’ve acted in numerous film productions, such as Light in Shadow (2019), The Unbearable Weight (2024), Hong (2024), and CLARITIES (2024). I recently finished shooting “A Journey of Jack,” an indie feature film written and directed by Taiwanese director Chin-En Gau. I played one of the lead characters in the film. The story is about two Taiwanese high school students who travel to New York City in search of the American dream, but they are instead faced with cultural differences and hardships that force them to reevaluate their friendship and the attainability of their idealized future.
I think what makes my work stand out is my deep passion for telling stories that highlight human connections and explore how people grope their way toward a sense of equanimity in face of unexpected life events. I’m especially interested in how ordinary people with big, sometimes unfulfilled, dreams make sense of their indivudal lives amidst loss and confusion. I love what I do, and I hope my works can serve as a reminder of the beauty of life and our connectedness as a community.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
Immerse yourself in the theatre and film scene. Go see and support other people’s work, and celebrate their geniuses. Surround yourself with like-minded creatives that are as passionate about creating meaningful stories as you. I truly believe that the best art is created by collaborators who love and admire one another.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.backstage.com/ching-tse-cheng/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kevbot_cheng/
