Begets: Fall of a
High School Ronin

This action-packed samurai story, set inside the halls of an all-American high school, tells the tale of Emi Edwards, a high school geekgurl fighting to overthrow the cruel shoguns of her school. But will Emi's own cravings for popularity and power corrupt her quest to save the school? Will she be able to establish a new world order? Or will violence just beget more violence?

Qui Nguyen is a playwright, screenwriter, and co-founder of the Obie Award-winning Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company of NYC.

His plays include Vietgone (2016 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, 2016 LADCC Tim Schmitt Award, 2016 Edward M. Kennedy Prize finalist); War is F**king Awesome (Frederick Loewe Award); She Kills Monsters (2014 AATE Distinguished Play Award, 2012 GLAAD Media Award nom); Soul Samurai (2009 GLAAD Media Award nom); and the critically acclaimed Vampire Cowboys shows: The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G, Alice in Slasherland, Fight Girl Battle World, Men of Steel, Six Rounds of Vengeance and Living Dead in Denmark.

Recent awards include a 2016 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Preschool Animated Program (Peg+Cat) and a 2015 New York Community Trust Helen Merrill Playwriting Award. He is proud member of the WGA, The Dramatists Guild, The Playwrights Center, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and The Ma-Yi Writers Lab. He’s an alumnus of New Dramatists and Youngblood. For television, he's written for PBS’s Peg+Cat and SYFY’s Incorporated. Currently, he’s a screenwriter for Marvel Studios.

THE ALL-VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL SHOW

Begets is our fourth all-valley high school show, combining talents from public, private, and home school students in the Shenandoah Valley. This performance opportunity aims to give kids an alternative to the musical theatre productions that most high schools focus on in the winter months, and to expand the theatre kid network. This will be an annual production of a non-musical that is available free of charge to participants, thanks to the generous support of donors and show sponsors.