LOS ANGELES — Part of the world may have moved on from COVID-19, but performance artist Kristina Wong is reliving the worst of the pandemic — specifically the dark days of 2020 through the summer of 2021 — night after night as part of her solo show, "Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord," playing at Kirk Douglas Theatre through March 12.
The show, a co-production between Center Theatre Group and East West Players, was born out of Wong's experience forming a group called the Auntie Sewing Squad — a collective of mostly Asian women who organized through Facebook to sew masks for at-risk individuals, front-line workers and vulnerable communities during a time when masks (and the protection they afforded) were incredibly hard to find.
On Monday night, the comedian and social justice activist received the ultimate honor for her efforts when she became one of six recipients of this year's Doris Duke Artist Awards—a no-strings-attached prize of $550,000.
