fu-GEN Theatre Company

with the generous assistance of The Factory Theatre

presents

The 5th Annual Potluck Festival

June 19th-29th, 2008

The Factory Theatre, 125 Bathurst St.

PWYC per show ($15 Suggested)

The Potluck Festival has been and remains to be the only new-play-development festival dedicated to Asian-Canadian playwrights in Canada. For four years, this festival has nurtured 26 Asian-Canadian playwrights with some plays going on to further development with other theatre companies, and some being successfully entered and produced in festivals.

And now, to celebrate its 5th year running, we are taking this one-night-only event and expanding it to a 6-night festival, focusing on the development of 7 plays in various stages of creation and culminating in public readings over six days/nights.  Come early and enjoy tasty treats and delectable delights compliments of one of our sponsors!

FESTIVAL DESIGNERS:

Set Design by Jackie Chau

Lighting Design by Aaron Kelly

Brown Balls

A Stage Play

By Byron Abalos

Dramaturgy and Direction by Philip Akin

JUNE 20, FRIDAY 8:00 PM

Sponsored by The Sun Barbecue Company

Under the guise of an Import Car/Cellular Phone/Karaoke Conference, three young Asian men dressed as Bruce Lee, Charlie Chan and Fu Manchu take the audience hostage and force them to listen to their grievances that result from their struggle to justify and redefine their maleness. Brown Balls is an unapologetic, honest, touching and often hilarious exploration of Asian masculinity in a Western context.

Stroke

A Stage Play

By Marie-Leofeli R. Barlizo

JUNE 21, SATURDAY 2:00 PM

Sponsored by Tia Celang Catering

Obsessed with forgetting the memories of his ex-wife wife and the pain of losing his daughter, a neurosurgeon struggles to find a scientific cure for his demons. This is a story of blackmail, regret and forgiveness, exploring the limits of the human spirit.

A Taste of Empire

Presented by Cahoots Theatre Projects

A Site-Specific Performance Piece

By Jovanni Sy

JUNE 20, FRIDAY 8:00 PM

JUNE 21, SATURDAY 8:00 PM

JUNE 22, SATURDAY 2:00 PM and 8:00 PM

Location: Nella Cucina - 876 Bathurst Street

Tickets $25 - includes food sampling

*Please note that seating is limited to 30 people. Call 416.920.2828 to book tickets.

Iron Chef meets the Noam Chomsky Lectures. Jovanni Sy examines links between colonialism and cuisine while preparing and cooking Rellenong Bangus in a functioning kitchen.

The Kitchen Showcase

JUNE 22, SUNDAY 2:00 PM

Presenting excerpts from a series of original works-in-progress by fu-GEN’s very own playwriting unit, the Kitchen.

Tale of a Mask

A Stage Play

By Terry Watada

Dramaturgy and Direction by Nina Lee Aquino

JUNE 27, FRIDAY 8:00 PM

Sponsored by New Generation Sushi

Tale of a Mask is a haunting tale of a Wife and Mother who struggles against a new life she did not choose.

Based on actual events of an immigrant Japanese family.

Kim’s Convenience

A Stage Play

By In-Surp Choi

Dramaturgy and Direction by Jovanni Sy

JUNE 28, SATURDAY 2:00 PM

Sponsored by Korea House

The humorous story of a family in Toronto’s Koreatown and the last day of their convenience store

Pu-Erh

A Stage Play

By Norman Yeung

Dramaturgy and Direction by Keira Loughran

JUNE 28, SATURDAY 8:00 PM

Sponsored by Wen Long Tea   

An exploration of the barriers between parent and child, Pu-Erh explores identity, youth, and the responsibility of each new generation.

lady in the red dress

A Stage Play

By David Yee

Dramaturgy and Direction by Guillermo Verdecchia

JUNE 29, SUNDAY 3:00 PM

Sponsored by Bright Pearl Restaurant

Set against the backdrop of the Chinese-Canadian redress lawsuit, lady in the red dress is the story of a lawyer without a conscience, a woman without a past, and vengeance for a cause that had been ignored too long. A darkly comic revenge story about the skeletons in our closets, and the consequences of our (in)actions.

Community Partners:

Media Sponsor:

Funders:

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