Han Ong is a playwright whose play “Grandeur,” was produced at the Magic Theater in San Francisco in June, 2017. He was interviewed by KPFA theater critic Richard Wolinsky. The interview was posted on June 12, 2017,
Han Ong has written several plays since the 1990s, and two novels, including the well-reviewed “Fixer Chao” in 2001. This is his second play following a twelve-year absence. “Grandeur” concerns a meeting between a journalist and the late poet and writer Gil Scott-Heron in 2010 upon the release of the album “I’m New Here,” and a year before the poet’s death.
Han Ong was born to Chinese parents and spent his first sixteen years in the Philippines before moving to Los Angeles and getting involved in the theater world. A high school dropout who received a MacArthur Genius Award, he is well known for his plays about dislocation and alienation.