Yide (John) Cai
I came to Emory as a insecure, unsettled, yet ambitious freshman who liked writing but not sure what I could do with it. And I found playwriting to be a very speical and attractive major, so I decided to give it a try. The first year went really well. I enjoyed all my classes, and I was in a theater production that was going to Edingburgh, but then the pandemic came. It was a tough time, but it also made me certian that I wanted to do theater and playwriting. So, I started writing better and doing zoom theater. Then, finally things started to be back to normal, and a breakthrough point for me was the Macbeth production which inspired me to write even better and more committed to theater. Now, I'm ready to do theater full-time.
What's next? I'm applying and waiting to hear back from many internships and apprenticeships. Some are related to playwriting, and some are theater in general. I know that I'm going to do an internship with the German national theater in Weimar this November, and I have the interests of producers in China to produce my plays.
Favorite accomplishment? I brought a lot of my Chinese classmates and classmates who study German into the world of theater. Most of them had no experience with it, but they ended up loving it.
John! I have enjoyed getting to know you and seeing you push yourself to explore new paths. Congratulations on all your accomplishments and I hope someday I will have the honor to design a set for one of your plays.
all the best,
Sara Culpepper
Hey John,
Congratulations on graduation! I feel fortunate that I've had the chance to meet you in your time here at Emory! Your contributions as TA in Creating New Works: Politics and Identity made the class a more successful, more thoughtful space for discovery for your peers, and your writing and love of the art of theater is absolutely infectious! As both a playwright and an actor, your work is ambitious, energetic, and sincere, and I've loved seeing various iterations of both your thesis and other plays and projects that you've developed in your time at Emory. "Men Write Men Write Men Right" was hilarious, challenging, and inventive! I know that your curiosity and passion will carry you forward to…
Congratulations on all of your achievements, John! Through ups and downs, you still keep a positive attitude and an undying passion for playwriting. That's so admirable! Congrats on your graduation. You did it!
-Lizzy Clements, Theater Studies Staff