The 7th Potluck Festival Works Synopses
Obscura by Camellia Koo
Monday May 3
7:30 pm
A narrative time based installation that explores multiple, simultaneous, concurrent and alternate persons and personalities and the moments where they intersect… or just miss each other.
R.H. Thomson’s: How to Become Chinese (for funding purposes) by David Yee
Tuesday May 4
8:00 pm
A one-man show in the form of an imagined, twisted lecture given by renowned actor R.H. Thomson on the finer points of how to play “Chinese”. In this 40 minute lecture and workshop, the alternate-reality R.H. offers the audience insight on how to transform oneself into a full-fledged “Oriental” actor; from choosing the right shade of yellow foundation and the proper tape to pull one’s eyes, to dialect lessons on speaking “proper” broken English. He recounts first-hand experiences of his own cultural awakening and candidly shares his views on Canada’s rich history of diversity, theatrical transgressions and forays into yellow-face acting.
Wong’s Garden by Donald Woo
Wednesday May 5
8:00pm
Over the span of one weekend, May Wong must decide if she will: follow through with a shotgun wedding; escape to Paris; rekindle a relationship with a former drug-addict boyfriend; stop her father from going bankrupt; or all of the above.
Dangling by Paul Sun-Hyung Lee
Thursday May 6
8:00pm
On the wrong side of 30, Peter Kang has discovered the grand old game of Hockey and has come to two immutable conclusions: a) that he loves the game with a passion and b) he totally sucks at it. For the first time ever he finds himself challenged and when life throws a little surprise his way, he begins to question all that he’s accomplished so far. Will he be able to make the transition from boyhood to manhood without screwing everything up?
Prison Dancer
Music and Lyrics by Romeo Candido, Book by Romeo Candido and Carmen DeJesus
Friday May 7
8:00pm
Ruperto Poblador, also known as LOLA, a flamboyant transvestite, escapes his third world prison life by secretly choreographing dance routines with lofty dreams of fame. When the new Warden catches Lola dancing, he is inspired to bring dance to the prison’s inmates as a means of group rehabilitation. One by one, step by step, Lola embarks on a journey enlisting the good, the bad and the ugly on an impossible mission that yields unimaginable results.
Eating with Lola by Catherine Hernandez
Saturday May 8
2:00pm
Lola was always in charge of feeding everyone, but now she is bedridden and needs to be spoon fed by her granddaughter. Now in the twilight of her life, Lola tells Grace about her past for the first time: poverty in the Philippines, American GI’s and the Japanese occupation. In Eating With Lola, creator/performer Catherine Hernandez uses puppetry to take a poignant look at the modern history of Manila through one woman’s search for food throughout her lifetime.
K7 Showcase
Saturday May 8
8:00 PM
Taste scrumptious samples from the next generation of Asian-Canadian playwrights at this showcase of original works by fu-GEN’s very own playwriting unit, the Kitchen. Catch new works by Rebecca Applebaum, Len Cervantes, Rong Fu, Darrel Gamotin, Chase Lo, Sean Tai, Gein Wong and Norman Lup-Man Yeung.
Brown Balls by Byron Abalos
Sunday May 9
8:00pm
Three young men dressed as Bruce Lee, Charlie Chan and Fu Manchu take the audience hostage and conduct a vibrant theatrical symposium that explodes stereotypes and explores the issues of Asian masculinity in a Western context. Race, gender and sex take centre stage as the Brown Balls Collective (or BBC) challenges the audience to ask ‘Who da’ man?’ Unapologetic, honest and often hilarious, Brown Balls is a ‘balls out’ exposé of the Asian male.