"Light": A Solo Chinese Play of Family and Hope
Thursday, May 28, 2026, 19:30 -
Thursday, May 28, 2026, 20:30
Event duration 1 hours
Family Ticket (for 4):
USD 106.42
Family Tickets(for 3):
USD 92.55
General Admission:
USD 39.19
General Admission: Early Bird:
USD 28.52
Group for 10:
USD 273.95
Military:
USD 28.52
Senior (55+) / Student (18+):
USD 28.52
About "Light": A Solo Chinese Play of Family and Hope
"Light" is a one-woman play that explores the powerful bond between father and daughter through Chinese shadow puppetry and storytelling.
Light (光) | An Intimate Solo Play with Chinese Shadow Puppetry
A moving theatrical experience about family, memory, and the love that stays with us
After moving audiences in Beijing, Harbin, New York, and Austin, Light (光) comes to the Dougherty Arts Center as an intimate solo performance written, directed, and performed by Snow (Xue Zheng Hwang).
Blending deeply personal storytelling, music, and the visual poetry of traditional Chinese shadow puppetry, Light tells the story of a daughter’s journey to understand her father through memory, distance, loss, and love. It is deeply personal, yet powerfully universal.
Performed in Chinese with English subtitles, Light invites both Chinese-speaking and non-Chinese-speaking audiences into the same emotional world. You do not need to speak Chinese to feel it. The emotions are immediate, human, and unmistakable.
This is not a large commercial production. It is something rarer: a heartfelt, artist-driven piece experienced up close, where small moments carry real weight. Audiences often describe Light as tender, unexpectedly funny, and quietly devastating. Many leave thinking about their own parents, their own family, and the words they wish they had said.
If you are looking for a loud, flashy night out, this may not be that. But if you are looking for a meaningful live performance with emotional depth, beauty, and cultural richness, Light is a night worth having.
Why audiences connect with Light
A one-woman play combining contemporary theatre and Chinese shadow puppetry
Featured in the United Solo Festival in New York
A deeply human story about family, memory, grief, and healing
An intimate live performance that stays with you long after the final moment
This is a piece for anyone who has ever:
tried to understand a parent more fully
carried love through grief or distance
wanted theatre that feels intimate, honest, and real
Some audience members laugh. Some cry. Many leave thinking about their own family.
If you have ever loved a parent, missed someone deeply, or wanted theatre that feels honest and human, Light may stay with you long after the curtain falls.
Performance Details
Duration: 75 minutes, no intermission
Language: Chinese with English subtitles
Venue: Dougherty Arts Center, Austin
Ages: All ages welcome!
Come for the artistry. Leave with warmth.
Events Schedule
Thursday, May 28, 2026, 19:30
Thursday, May 28, 2026, 20:30
Event Categories
Theater Performances
Video Introduction
Community Connections
Kung Fu Cowgirl LLC
https://www.kungfucowgirl.com/
1401 Lavaca St Unit #208
Kung Fu Cowgirl is an Austin-based bilingual arts company dedicated to telling bold, heartfelt stories that ride between worlds. For the past four and a half years, we’ve rooted ourselves in the Austin community, creating original Chinese–English theater that brings families, cultures, and generations together through shared laughter, tears, and imagination. Our work centers on original stage productions and storytelling projects: the solo play Light (光), inspired by a father–daughter bond and infused with traditional Chinese shadow puppetry; the original bilingual musical Kung Fu Cowgirl, blending kung fu rhythm with cowboy swagger; and our upcoming children’s book Impossible Light, which extends that story to young readers in both languages. Around these projects, we regularly curate cultural events that introduce audiences to Chinese performing arts and cross-cultural collaboration in an accessible, joyful way. Alongside our theater and literary work, Kung Fu Cowgirl LLC also offers youth drama programs and select themed yoga events that carry the same spirit: go hard like kung fu, welcome everyone like a cowgirl, and let art be the bridge. Our mission is to help Austin’s diverse communities see themselves onstage, hear each other across languages, and discover that courage, play, and empathy move more powerfully than any border.