Founded in 2023 by first generation immigrant artists, Cellunova Productions creates socially engaged, interdisciplinary theater that amplifies underrepresented voices and bridges indie performance with broader communities through bold storytelling and technological innovation.
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Changshuo Liu is a New York based interdisciplinary director, lighting designer and producer. His work aims to shed light on the struggles of the commoners in this turbulent era of global changes.
Changshuo's selected directing credits: Teahouse (2019 Alchemical Studios NY, in memory of Lao She, invited by China Institute; 2018 Drapkin Studio), Playhouse (2016; Whitman Theater). His acting credits: Secret Love for the Peach Blossom Spring (2021; Princeton), Charles Francis Chan Jr.’s Exotic Oriental Murder Mystery (2017; Princeton), Elektra (2016; Princeton), Zoyka's Apartment (2015; Berlind Theater). His lighting design credits: The Tale of Errantry to the End of the Night (2023; Chain Theater), Robbery in Progress (2017; Princeton), Amber (2016; Princeton).
As a machine learning practitioner and active researcher in the industry, he is interested in finding the chemistry between theater and cutting-edge technologies.
Changshuo graduated from Princeton University with BA degrees in Theater, Mathematics, and Computer Science.
Qingan Zhang is a multidisciplinary designer, director, deviser and producer based in New York. Her works explore narratives embedded in her designs beyond forms or performance methods. She seeks to empower physicality within the storytelling of the integrated spatial experience. Through layers of materials, objects, multimedia and body movements, she juxtaposes materiality of the built environment and externalization of the intangible mental fantasy rooted in the narratives.
Qingan’s recent scenic design credits: Imported Bridegroom: The Musical (2023, 14th Street Y Theater), Cabin (2023, The Performance Project @US), The Chinese Lady (2022, Central Square Theater). Her co-devising puppetry pieces have been showcased at Rattlestick Theater GFTF, HERE Arts Center SUBLETSERIES: CO-OP! and The Center at West Park Object Movement Festival. Her other scenic design credits: Secret Love for the Peach Blossom Spring (2021, Princeton), Eurydice (2017, Boston College), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2017, Prague Shakespeare Company Summer Shakespeare Intensive).
Qingan received her MFA degree in interior design from Pratt Institute. She graduated from Boston College with dual BA degrees in Theatre and Psychology.
Sophia Su
Sophia Su
Sophia Su is an interdisciplinary actor, director, producer, and digital media professional based in New York. She is interested in exploring marginalized narratives and cross-cultural experiences through theater and other forms of media.
Directing experience (East West Theater): Untold Stories (2016; Princeton). Selected acting credits (Princeton Chinese Theater): Robbery in Progress (2017; Whitman Theater, Princeton), Playhouse (2016; Whitman Theater, Princeton), Timeless Love (2015; Princeton), Thunderstorm (2015; Princeton), I'm Not Li Bai (2015; Princeton).
Sophia graduated from Princeton University with a BA in East Asian Studies. She speaks English, Chinese, and Cantonese.
Jianing Zhao
Jianing Zhao
Jianing Zhao is an interdisciplinary director, designer, performer and producer based in unused, unusual, and undefined spaces. Informed by her backgrounds in theater, dance, archaeology, photography, fashion, fintech, law, comparative literature, and digital humanities, her practice is centered on excavating imagined and archived narratives to create new embodied mythologies through immersive, movement-driven storytelling.
Selected directing credits: Dirty Legal Secrets (2024, Room52), The Match Girl (2023, Chain Theatre), The Tyrannicides (2021, Riverside Theater); This Is On Fire (2020, Hanger Theater); Les Chaises (2020, Princeton, canceled due to covid); Folding Beijing (2019, Princeton). Selected acting credits: Knock Knock (2023, Mitu580), Mine (2023, Ithaca); Pays lointain (2019, Princeton); Roberto Zucco (2019, Princeton); Tous des Oiseaux (2018, Princeton); Motifs: Scenes by Chekhov (2018, dir: Guillaume Gallienne). Costume design credits: Odyssey (2019, Berlind Theater). She facilitated devising/improv in a maximum security prison weekly with Phoenix Players Theatre Groups. Her photo works have been published in Vogue Italia, MODIC, GMARO, Féroce, among other magazines, and exhibited at Cracow Fashion Week (2020), Princeton University Prospect House (2021-present), and Cornell University Big Red Barn (solo exhibition, 2024). She is trained in contact improv, dabke, K-pop, parkour, pole and aerial dances.
Jianing holds a BA degree summa cum laude from Princeton University, and a JD degree magna cum laude from Cornell Law School. She knows Mandarin, English, French, Russian, German, Arabic, Akkadian, and ASL.
Jiaxin Guan is an interdisciplinary director and actor based in New Jersey. With a focus on exploring the complexities of human relationships and emotions, Jiaxin brings depth and nuance to his productions and performances.
Prior to co-founding Cellunova, Jiaxin primarily works with Princeton Chinese Theater. Jiaxin's selected directing / co-directing credits: Journey to the West 2 (2022, Princeton); Secret Love for the Peach Blossom Spring (2021, Princeton); The Late Christopher Bean (2018, Princeton). His selected acting credits: Secret Love for the Peach Blossom Spring (2021, Princeton); Folding Beijing (2019, Princeton); Teahouse (2019, Alchemical Studios NY; 2018, Princeton); The Late Christopher Bean (2018, Princeton); And Then There Were None (2017, Princeton).
Jiaxin graduated from Stanford University with a BS with honors and an MS degree, both in computer science, and later earned his PhD degree from Princeton University studying cryptography.
Amy Namei Wang
Amy Namei Wang
Amy Namei Wang is an interdisciplinary actor, art manager, and director based in New York. Her passion lies in exploring how theater can cultivate a sense of community and resilience in a volatile environment while telling stories that evoke unfamiliar emotions.
Her past theater experience includes Peter and the Starcatcher (2020, unfortunately canceled due to the Covid-19 lockdown), Small Talk (2019), The Secret in the Wings (2019), Elemeno Pea (2018), and Line (2018).
Amy graduated from Oberlin College, where she double majored in Environmental Studies and Theater, and she further pursued her MS in Sustainability from Columbia University. She now works in the sustainability space. She speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, and English.
Sophia Zhu
Sophia Zhu
Sophia Zhu is a set designer, exhibition designer, and architect based in New York City. Her work is focused on experiential performances in physical space through interdisciplinary media innovations in the hybrid age.
She received her Master of Architecture degree from Princeton University and Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Hong Kong. She has previously worked with Princeton Theater Department. Her work has been featured in exhibitions in New York, Boston, London, and Hong Kong.
Kaiwen Zheng
Kaiwen Zheng
Kaiwen Zheng is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher based in New York. With a background in both science and the arts, she holds a B.A. from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in physics from Princeton University, where her work in cosmology took her to the Atacama Desert to build leading microwave telescopes.
A classically trained soprano, Kaiwen has performed in numerous recitals and appeared in the musical film The Hunchback of Notre Dame (2022, Princeton). In the visual arts, she received formal training in academic oil painting and drawing at the Princeton Academy of Art. Currently, Kaiwen works as a quantitative researcher and manages marketing for Cellunova.
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