#sexandtheabbey

Diana Ly is a multi-talented woman: first a Stanford undergraduate that landed a coveted role in Google’s famous assistant product manager program under the leadership of our dear mutual friend, Marissa Mayer. Diana contributed to the explosive growth of Google (now Alphabet) at the height of the tech boom in Silicon Valley. Thereafter, she was looking for her next challenge, her next frontier. So she pivoted remarkably into a career as a writer, landing her in a master’s program, and now as playwright. Her current work, Sex and the Abbey, would be the FIRST written and produced by a Việt female playwright in New York City.

Thought you would enjoy hearing from Diana directly on her “why” for this pursuit, as outlined in our exclusive Q&A below.

Since Sex and the Abbey will be going up in Brooklyn 8/22-9/7 (well timed with US Open Season!!), you can support Diana in two ways: by attending the show, encouraging a friend to attend, or by directly supporting the production.

Q: What made you decide to leave your life in tech to pursue writing/production?

A: I initially got into screenwriting because I was craving something more creative, but a big turning point came when Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. I decided to apply to graduate school that night, because it suddenly felt wasteful to spend my life waiting for a job in Hollywood. She’s a huge inspiration to me (and so many of us), and reflecting on her life made me want to do more. That decision sent me in a new direction: I moved to New York, recently finished my MFA in Playwriting at Hunter College, and am trying to keep the momentum going!

Q: What inspired you to produce THIS show?

A: After getting through grad school, I realized that the theatre industry is its own waiting game. I’m lucky and grateful that Theresa Buccheister, the Artistic Director of the Brick Theater, and Handan Ozbilgin, the Associate Artistic Director at LaGuardia Performing Arts Center, supported Sex and the Abbey through multiple developmental workshops. Theresa programmed the play at the Brick, and has encouraged and supported me through the self-producing process. It’s absolutely terrifying, but as before, I’m learning so much more from pushing my work out there than waiting for a theatre to produce my plays. It was only months into planning the production that I realized this was going to be the first production of a Việt female playwright’s work in NYC. It’s incredibly exciting and all feels quite fitting for a play honoring Hrotsvit, who was such a pioneer as the first western female playwright, but was forgotten until her work was rediscovered five hundred years after her death.

Q: How can we help?

A: Please help spread the word to anybody who might be interested in this show! We’d love to get more folks out to the show and would be excited to connect with journalists, influencers, and badass women who could help amplify our efforts. We’re also looking for producers who could help us with its next chapter and future productions beyond this one. Lastly, we’d appreciate any contributions to help us bring this boundary-breaking production, with an all femme or non-binary identifying team, to the stage. If you find yourself in NYC, please come to the show!