Stage Door News
Stage Door News
fu-GEN Theatre is proud to present Walk the Walk: National Festival of Asian Canadian Women, a week-long celebration of female Asian Canadian theatre creators from across Canada. Four creators present new works in development in the form of public readings and performance installations, all directed by women of colour.
The week also includes masterclasses, lectures, a panel discussion, a performance cabaret, and our annual Potluck Festival which presents work from our KXIII emerging creators unit.
Walk the Walk is the largest (read: only) festival dedicated to the work of Asian Canadian female artists and women of colour in Canada. We are very proud to be presenting these pieces in collaboration with six other companies from across the country who share our vision and desire to showcase the work of these talented artists.
Walk the Walk promises to deliver ground-breaking work, spanning geography and artistic form. The Festival takes place from June 13th-19th, 2016 at Factory Studio Theatre (125 Bathurst Street, Toronto ON), with events every evening at 8pm. All events are free (donations welcome) with the exception of the performance cabaret, but tickets are required.
Tickets will be available online at
www.factorytheatre.ca/tickets/ starting June 2.
BURNING MOM
By Mieko Ouchi (Edmonton)
Direction by Diana Belshaw (Toronto)
Presented in partnership with the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre and Workshop West
JUNE 13th, MONDAY 8PM
A retired suburban Calgary housewife and mother tragically loses her partner after 45 years together. So what does she do? The only thing that makes any sense at all.
She goes to Burning Man.
An irreverent one woman play that tosses us into the passenger seat of an RV and takes us on a journey through the process of grief and the search for meaning, onto the madcap playa of the world’s largest free form creative gathering. A play about unleashing the potential power of art, community, Walmart and MOOP and finding the courage to let it throw us back into the deep end of life.
CHINOISERIE
By Marjorie Chan (Toronto)
Direction by Tara Beagan (Toronto)
Presented in partnership with The Shaw Festival
JUNE 14th, TUESDAY 8PM
In America’s mid-west in the late 19th C., a Chinese painter, Li, arrives at the home of Reverend James and his wife, Adelaide. He has been hired to recreate the chinoiserie wallpaper from the Reverend’s East Coast childhood home in time for the birth of their child. Painter Li begins the mural, but no child seems to be forthcoming. Things are not what they seem, and in the telling of secrets, Adelaide and Painter Li start an affair that threatens to uncover the house’s hidden layers.
PANEL DISCUSSION: NOSTALGIA AND COLONIZATION
Panelists: TBA
Moderated by: Dr. Shanti Ganesh (Netherlands)
JUNE 15th, WEDNESDAY 8PM
From Shakespeare to Stepford Wives, how do notions of nostalgia in the West and lasting colonial impressions contribute to the abjection of the other female body in contemporary narratives? Join Dr. Shanti Ganesh (cognitive psychologist / neuroscientist / artist) for an eye opening discussion about nostalgia, intersectionality, tokenism and the ongoing process of decolonization.
Also, this evening will be the long anticipated launch of our top secret project, The 49. What is The 49? You’ll have to come and find out.
DA JIA (BIG HOUSE/ EVERYONE)
By Sophie Gee (Montreal)
Direction by Nina Lee Aquino (Toronto)
Presented in partnership with Factory Theatre
JUNE 16th, THURSDAY 8PM
A contemporary, Asian Canadian meditation on Arthur Miller’s classic All My Sons. During Chinese New Year, a young Chinese Canadian man tries to reconcile his guilt over the deadly collapse of his father’s garment factory in China with the comfortable life the business has given him. As the family comes together to celebrate the holiday and the father’s recent acquittal over the accident, factory workers in China go through their day, the spaces of the two groups mingling to create a “big house”. Amid the karaoke, food, and video games, questions arise about the accident and its fallout, forcing different generations to confront their divergent ideas of responsibility and family.
(In English, Mandarin and Cantonese with surtitles)
CHINESE VAGINIES
A performance installation by Natalie Gan (Vancouver)
Direction by Clare Yow (Vancouver)
Presented in partnership with Theatre Northwest and Hong Kong Exile
JUNE 17th, FRIDAY 8PM
Soft and fluffy. Moist to the touch. Versatile and unique in shape. Quickly steam, and stuff with a filling of your choice. These tender pockets are now ready to be served! Chinese Vaginies is a playful choreography that considers the interconnected issues of food, labour, race, and violence on the female body.
PERFORMANCE CABARET
JUNE 18th, SATURDAY 8PM
Tickets $15 in advance | $20 at the door
Music, dance and spoken word collide in a cabaret that celebrates Asian Women and their art. Performers include: HATAW, Janice Lee, Sampradaya Dance and more.
POTLUCK FESTIVAL XIII
JUNE19th, SUNDAY 8PM
Since fu-GEN’s inception, the Potluck Festival has been the foremost event to showcase the voices of Canada’s emerging Asian Canadian theatre artists, developed through our creator’s unit. Since 2003, we have seen over 70 artists and their work through this program. Shows like Kim’s Convenience, Prison Dancer and Pu-Erh all had their first public presentations at a Potluck Festival.
This year, facilitated by Mel Hague (company dramaturge at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Obsidian Theatre Company and Director of the Rhubarb Festival), KXIII is presenting works created by four young, emerging Asian Canadian female creators: Lisa Li, Gloria Mok, Diana Reyes and Christina Wong.
The Potluck Festival is a mini-festival of excerpted work from the unit, directed by professional artists and featuring the newest talent in Toronto theatre.
fu-GEN Theatre Company
Walk the Walk: National Festival of Asian Canadian Women
June 13 -19, 2016
Factory Studio Theatre, 125 Bathurst Street
FREE ADMISSION to all events (with the exception of the Cabaret on June 18th)
Tickets at www.factorytheatre.ca/tickets/ available June 2nd
for more information visit www.fu-gen.org
2016-05-31
Toronto: fu-GEN Theatre Company presents Walk the Walk: National Festival of Asian Canadian Women