Jennifer Chang drives the show in theater and dialogue.

An associate professor at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, Chang has done it all as a multihyphenate director, playwright and actor. Chang said her passion for the arts persisted from a tentative pursuit discouraged by her immigrant parents and a professional landscape where few directors looked like her. With the ambition to take up and create space, they won the LADCC Award in Direction for “Vietgone” by Qui Nguyen and continually strive to embrace diverse conversations on the stage.

Chang sat down with the Daily Bruin’s Jessica Li to discuss the ideology and impact of her artistry.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Daily Bruin: At this point in directing, writing and acting, how would you describe the trajectory of your career?

Jennifer Chang: It was in grad school that a teacher pulled me aside after I had volunteered to do a project and to direct the scene, and she was the one who identified, “You could really do this. You have a knack for this.” And I said, “What? I don’t even know what directing is.” I just volunteered because there were no more parts for the actors in the class. There were two other directors my year and three scenes that we were doing. That really sparked my curiosity. I’ve been essentially following my curiosity in terms of the directing career and even the writing. The acting was the gateway – I joke that it’s the gateway drug.

DB: Your website states that you’re interested in the question of what makes someone an American. Which projects do you think represent your identity?

JC: Every single one. I’m working on a show right now, “Primary Trust.” There are no Asian Americans on stage. It’s primarily populated by Black characters, and the fourth character’s ethnicity is open. In this iteration, we cast a half-Mexican American actor. It still feels important to be contributing to the stories of other people who are figuring out what it means to be an American because that can only inform your own (story).

A play exists in four timelines. There’s the timeline that the playwright was writing in their context of understanding the world, there’s a timeline of the period the play is set in, there’s the context that the audience is set in, and then there’s the duration and moment of the play itself meeting the audience. This idea of, “Where are we as a people and as a country?” is ever present on my mind.

DB: Would you describe your work as intersecting advocacy?

JC: I think the personal is political, and the political is personal. Even though the work itself might not be out-and-out political, budgets are moral documents. Anytime where resources are contributed, it feels important to advocate for different voices being in the room because it’s important to the story. DEI is very present in the conversation right now, and this idea of, “What are the voices that are needed in the room?” is important to storytelling, not just what you see in terms of the acting on the stage but also what you see and experience in terms of the design elements.

DB: How would you describe your leadership style as a director?

JC: I always joke that I’m here for the vibes – that I’m the cruise director – because I really want to make sure that everyone is having a good time. Being an artist is not for the money. I don’t believe in people working for free, but you’re not going to get rich working at the theater. In fact, it may cost you money sometimes to work in the theater, and so I feel it’s also important, in terms of advocacy, that joy is revolutionary and that kindness is a choice. It’s important to me that the rooms are led with kindness and joy.

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DB: What kinds of projects do you hope to do more of in the future?

JC: I have this craving to tell big stories. Last year, on “The Far Country” by Lloyd Suh, it was a play, but it felt big, and the storytelling has reverberations. There was an epicness to the scale of the storytelling. I have a desire for that. I love small plays, too: small, quiet, deep acting challenges and deep-acting storytelling. But I also want to go big in the other direction.

DB: How would you define a successful story, big or small?

JC: A successful story has clarity. Not to say that you can’t be complicated, but that the audience understands the story that’s being told. A story can be controversial. A story can rile people up. But you want to be clear about what you’re putting out there that the audience is picking up.