28 Facts About Stan Lai

Stan Lai or Lai Sheng-chuan is an American-born Taiwanese playwright and theater director who is perhaps best known for his play Secret Love in Peach Blossom Land.

Apart from being a world-renowned theatre artist, Lai is an award-winning filmmaker, and a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism and has translated multiple books on the subject.

Stan Lai was born on 25 October 1954 in Washington DC, where his father was serving in the Republic of China's Embassy.

Stan Lai returned to Taiwan with his mother in 1966.

Stan Lai studied English literature at Fu Jen Catholic University and graduated in 1976.

Stan Lai became the Artistic Director while Ding served as the Managing Director.

In 2009 Stan Lai was Creative Director of the acclaimed Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the International Deaflympics Games in Taipei.

In 2010, Stan Lai worked as Creative Director for the Gala in Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Founding of the Republic of China.

Stan Lai took on the position of General Consultant for the 2011 Taiwan Lantern Festival held in Miaoli County, attracting a whopping 8.02 million visitors.

In May 2013, along with Chen Xianghong, actor Huang Lei, and theatre director Meng Jinghui, Stan Lai co-founded the Wuzhen Theatre Festival, for which he serves as Festival Director.

In December 2015, Stan Lai opened Theatre Above, a 699-seat theatre located in Xujiahui, Shanghai, dedicated to the performance of his works.

In 2016, Stan Lai directed the San Francisco Opera's production of the Chinese classic Dream of the Red Chamber.

In 2007, Lai directed his own English translation of the play at Stanford University and professionally at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 2015.

Stan Lai remains a significant cultural bridge between Taiwan and China, and his influence on contemporary Chinese culture continues to grow.

In 2009 Stan Lai was chief director of the Deaflympics Opening and Closing Ceremonies held in Taipei, which received high acclaim for their aesthetic beauty and representation of the deaf spirit.

In 2023, Stan Lai inaugurated and served as Head of the Artistic Committee of the Nanjing Festival of New Theatre, and in 2024 inaugurated the Huichang Theatre Village in his father's hometown, Huichang, Jiangxi, China, for which he wrote and directed a new work Flower in the Mirror, Moon in the Water.

Stan Lai has written and directed two widely acclaimed feature films, The Peach Blossom Land and The Red Lotus Society.

Stan Lai's improvisational experiment in television, All In the Family are Humans, was a surprising alternative hit on Taiwan TV and ran for 600 episodes.

Stan Lai occasionally directs the works of others, including the Chinese language premiere of Angels in America, Part I, which he translated.

Stan Lai has directed innovative versions of Western classics, including an evening of Samuel Beckett plays in an ancient Chinese garden environment, Mozart's operas Don Giovanni, Cosi fan tutte and The Marriage of Figaro, all set in Chinese backgrounds, in collaboration with Taiwan's National Symphony Orchestra.

Stan Lai's plays have been published in numerous Chinese editions in both Taiwan and China, as well as in English versions from Oxford and Columbia University Press.

Note: Stan Lai's plays are often written in collaboration with his actors over a process of creative rehearsals which he initiates, structures and supervises, and is responsible for the original idea, the outline, and the writing of the final script.

Stan Lai has been the recipient of Taiwan's highest award for the arts, the National Arts Award, twice - 1988 and 2001, among many other awards, including being inducted into the Chinese Theatre Hall of Fame in 2007.

Stan Lai's films have won international awards at the Berlin, Tokyo and Singapore International Festivals.

In 2007, Stan Lai was named Creative Person of the Year by Innovation China Awards, Entrepreneur of the Year by EY, and received the 11th Taipei Cultural Award presented by then Mayor of Taipei Hau Lung-pin.

Also in 2011, Stan Lai won Best Director at the One Drama Awards.

In 2013 Stan Lai won Annual Creativity Grand Prize presented by the Beijing News.

In June 2019, Stan Lai became the first Chinese theatre professional to be inducted into the Sibiu Walk of Fame at the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, Romania's pre-eminent performing arts event.