Courtesy Kristina Wong will bring her one-woman show, ‘Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,' to San Antonio on March 28-29.

Kristina Wong couldn't picture anything negative about Wellesley College. The all-female campus, which Wong describes as “idealistic,” was a beacon of higher learning for a rather progressive student body, one that appeared poised to lead its generation into the future.

Then, Wong started hearing the suicide stories.

“People would tell me these crazy stories about suicide attempts at Wellesley and other idealistic campuses,” Wong said. “What I found odd is that a lot of the women were Asian American women. ..... Asian American women were killing themselves at rates that were statistically very high.”

As an Asian American woman herself, Wong was particularly interested in this revelation, so much that she developed a one-woman show dedicated to exploring the “high incidence of anxiety, depression and mental illness among Asian American women.”

Wong will perform the show, “Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,” March 28-29 at Jump-Start Performance Co.

“I'm trying to capture the idea that with Asian American women, there is not a lot of speaking,” Wong said. “We're very good at lying to each other and ourselves.”

“Wong Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” seeks to explore a serious issue with a comedic approach.

Almost a show-within-a-show, “Wong” features Wong “preparing” to put on her one-woman show.

Throughout her 80-minute “preparation,” Wong slowly comes unraveled, much like the Asian American subjects about which she speaks.

Not so surprisingly, it took a while for Wong to fully incorporate comedy into her show.

“It was not very funny when I first started,” said Wong, who has performed “Wong” since December 2006. “What happened in the audience during the part of the show where I was falling apart, they were worried about me.”

Wong contends her show is fictional and simply delves into a real-life subject.

Rather than turn to drugs or alcohol, Wong — when stressed — knits.

In performing her show, Wong has become much more than an expert knitter. She feels she is a spokesperson for a new, emotionally empowered generation of Asian American women.

“I feel like what is available in terms of the average Asian American girl growing up and finding another woman to relate to,” she said. “There aren't too many who realistically reflect in moments of crisis.”

CLINT HALE | 210SA