Design by Boat Drinks Ink.

About the Play:

Two boys who should be at a comic-con convention, in an STD clinic, and a shocking admission that leads to an epic battle;“Street Fighter” style. RUNNING TIME: 10 Minutes.

Chun Li will be presented Tuesday, July 19 at 8 PM.

Chun Li will be presented at the Festival Finals on Sunday, July 24 at 4 pm.

About the Author:

Camilla Maxwell is an Australian-born playwright and actress. She has a bachelor’s degree in Media/Creative writing from Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, and an associate’s degree in Theatre from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. Ms. Maxwell has written various plays that have achieved great success Off Off Broadway. She has also been in various stage and film productions, commercials and print campaigns. Ms. Maxwell is thrilled to be part of this festival and hopes that there are some nerds in the audience who can appreciate the insanity that is CHUN LI. www.camillamaxwell.com

OOB Festival: Where do you come from (home state, state of mind, or both)?

Camilla: I come from Sydney, Australia, in a little suburb called Wahroonga which is Aboriginal for “our home”.

OOB Festival: Give us five words that describe who you are as a playwright.

Camilla: Quirky, dark, unpredictable, & foreign (could only think of 4).

OOB Festival: Talk about your entry to this year’s Festival. How did you come to write this play? Was there a particular inspiration behind its creation?.

Camilla: The truth? Oh dear. Well, a friend of mine was getting tested for STDs at this horrible free clinic, in Manhattan, and she asked me to join her for support. I sat there for three hours staring at this gumball machine, thinking, “Who the hell would eat a gumball from that!?” I started writing CHUN LI right there in the waiting room. The rest of the play is just a combination of painful memories from my childhood gaming days with my brother..

OOB Festival: What is one thing you hope audiences will take away from your Festival piece? Is there any information you would like them to know before they watch your work performed?

Camilla: I guess, that it’s okay to never grow up. And beware of gumballs from STD clinics. As for information that can help the audience understand the play, I hereby assign three hours of homework playing Street Fighter and World of Warcraft prior to viewing.

OOB Festival:  What/ who are your major influences in your writing? What’s the most unconventional thing you have taken inspiration from.

Camilla: I am influenced by the world, and especially this strange city. It’s amazing how much insanity is swirling around us. My family also finds its way into most of my plays, in one character or another. In terms of playwrights, I have been likened to Alan Ayckbourn, which is flattering. I love Noel Coward and Christopher Durang and Don Nigro. I also get a lot of inspiration day to day from my two mentors, Ryan and Vandal.

OOB Festival: What is your “dream play”–that is, if the more restrictive elements of production (budget, space, casting, and technical elements) were not a consideration, what type of theatre piece would you create?

Camilla: I am currently writing my “dream play.” It’s called THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLY GRILLE. It is set at a church fair in South Carolina, and it is perhaps the funniest and strangest story I have ever written. It has a cast of eight, and at one point in the play, a barbeque explodes in one of the character’s face. It may be a small dream, but I want that explosion to be real. I want smoke and fire and exploding charcoal. I want to see that on stage. And I want to see that on stage this year.

OOB Festival: If someone saw you on the street, what’s one fact they would never guess about you?

Camilla: That I skateboard and I know all the words to “La Bamba.”

About the Producer:

Based in New York City, Boat Drinks Ink, LLC is a company that offers legal and agency representation, along with editing services, to up-and-coming and established writers.

Furthermore, the staff at BDI handles the marketing, distribution planning and public relations for our clients – thereby avoiding the need to hire these professional firms separately.

BDI is a lawyer, agent and manager all in one.

The president and managing member of the company, Ryan Thompson, is an attorney in New York City, and has extensive experience in the newspaper and publishing industries, both as a writer and as an editor.

He saw a need in the industry for a more streamlined approach to getting published – making things less complicated and more beneficial to writers.