Choy-Ping Ní Chléirigh-Ng 吳彩萍 (°1997, they/she) is a Hong Kong-Irish writer, director and designer. They were born and raised in Enniskerry, Wicklow. Ping works across theatre, film, dance, music and opera. After graduating with an MA in Performance Design from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, they won both a Linbury Prize and John Elvery Prize for their set, costume and video designs. They have worked at venues including Ireland’s National Theatre, the Abbey, Bristol Old Vic, Singapore Repertory Theatre and on the West End. Their most recent personal piece WINDOW A WORLD (2022) was co-produced by Dublin Theatre Festival and BUDA Belgium as part of the EU’s Be SpectACTive! project. Ping received the Arts Council of Ireland’s Next Generation Award (2022) and is currently part of Irish Theatre Institute’s Six in the Attic Programme. They are also supported by the three-year Propel Programme Award (2023) with Strollers Network, a partnership made up of ten arts centres across Ireland.

In their personal work, Ping is primarily inspired by their heritage while examining language, colonialism and queerness. They combine this with humour, surrealism and innovative design. Studying Sociology and English Literature at Trinity College Dublin shaped their practice in that they usually begin with informal interviews and research. Their projects involve both people with and without experience in the arts, reflecting their belief that art should be more accessible to everyone. Ping was selected for Rough Magic’s inaugural Rough Ideas programme, presenting a work-in-progress of WANDER WANDER WILD WILD 遊遊野野 (2022). It was based on a news story to relocate 50,000 Hong Kongers to a city in Ireland. WHERE ARE YOU FROM? (2019) was inspired by interviews with their father Chi Wai 子威. This was staged at the Abbey and Electric Picnic. MY LITTLE CHINA GIRL (2017) was a nine-hour long piece on the representations of East Asian women in Western media.

Ping sees design as an element that can feel as live as performers onstage. They are particularly interested in design-led work. They have worked as an associate / assistant to Vicki Mortimer, Sabine Dargent and Nina Dunn. Ping is beginning to incorporate meaningful sustainability into their design process where possible, inspired by the Theatre Green Book.

Ping was also a member of Dublin Youth Theatre. In their spare time, they enjoy drawing and writing beyond theatre. Their poems have been published by Rookie Magazine.

Choy-Ping Ní Chléirigh-Ng is pronounced: choy ping nee clair-ree ng, like the end of “ring” or “sing.” Credits prior to 2024 were noted with the surname Clarke-Ng.

Photograph: Owen Clarke

Calligraphy (on mobile): Chi Wai Ng 吳子威