Outreach Initiatives
“fu-GEN helped me make connections and meet different theatre artist in the industry. They’ve provided endless support as a young artist wanting to polish my skills.”
-Thaddeus Pun
Emerging HK-Canadian theatre artist
Our Outreach goal:
fu-GEN was founded on the basis of fostering the future generation, so our goal is to connect with as many emerging Asian Canadian artists in meaningful ways, help them connect with each other, and further their craft together.
Who is fu-GEN’s Outreach Initiatives for?
Emerging Asian Canadian artists of all ages. Emerging can mean either in a specific discipline or skillset. For example, an established actor who wants to begin a career in Virtual Reality theatre directing can be considered an emerging director.
Learn about our past Outreach Initiatives
Emerging Artist Day Trips
The Shaw Festival and the Stratford Festival
In September and October of 2024, we took a total of 20 emerging artists to see Salesman in China at the Stratford Festival and Snow in Midsummer and The Orphan of Chao at the Shaw Festival. Many of the writers, directors, and actors have had extensive relationships with fu-GEN Theatre over the last twenty-years.
These events allowed young artists to connect with one another and with working professionals. They additionally spent the day with Artistic Director David Yee and Outreach Coordinator Marissa Orjalo. With the generous help of donors and sponsors, we were also able to provide low costs for the trip and full financial assistance to those who needed it.
For the Stratford Festival:
Thank you to Marissa Orjalo and Keith Barker for their help organizing the day! Thank you to David Yee and Tristian Chung for driving the “Kuya Express” to Stratford and Back. Special thank you to Jovanni Sy, Leanna Brodie, Adrian Pang, Jo Chim, Phoebe Hu, Derek Kwan, Steven Hao, Fang Zhang, Nick Fangzheng Wang, Tom McCamus, Agnes Tong, Howard Dai, Ziya Hu, Angus Yam, Harmony Yen, and Beka Morrison for their welcoming presence and wonderful insight!
Emerging Artist Participants:
Nadine Maranan
Hemali Sankalya Ratnaweera
Tristan Chung
Vania Feng
Kenneth Seto Tynan
Sarini Kumarasinghe
Kay Wong
Antong Xu
Joey Lau
Melissa Avalos
For the Shaw Festival:
Huge thank you to the fantastic artist Michael Man who arranged this day trip with a shuttle bus, food and tickets all included! Special thank you to Richard Lee, Eponine Lee, Lindsay Wu, Manami Hara, Donna Soares, Jonathan Tan, Pragna Desai, Warren Bain, Jessica Gorman, Nina Taylor, Kimberley Rampersad, Jude Jones, and the Green Room staff for making our emerging artists feel so welcome and cared for!
Emerging Artist Participants:
Antong Xu
Vania Feng
Daisy Jia
Kelly Seo
Tristan Chung
Damon Bradley Jang
Kyra Tang
Suki Cheung Brian Le
Gibum Dante Lin
Thank you to the many additional professionals and theatre creators who helped make this emerging artists event possible.
Photo 1: The Shaw Festival artist trip cohort with Shaw artists
Photo 2: The Stratford Festival artist trip cohort with Stratford artists
Photo 3: The Stratford Festival artist trip cohort having a meal before the showtime
Interactive & Immersive Creation Residency
Toronto & Vancouver (in partnership with Sunset Visitor Studios)
fu-GEN Theatre Company in partnership with Sunset Visitor Studios sought candidates for a paid residency working and creating with both companies in Toronto and Vancouver. This was an entry-level residency in interactive and immersive creation, ideal for a creator who is pursuing non-traditional, non-linear, experimental narratives in their work and is keenly interested and versed in digital platforms.
With Sunset Visitor, the candidate helped build a branching narrative creation tool, working with a small team of content creators and creative genius CEO Remy Siu. The candidate had access to Sunset Visitor’s Vancouver studio and all the toys inside it: motion capture, VR suite, recording tools, etc.
With fu-GEN Theatre, the candidate worked with Artistic Director David Yee to create an interactive and immersive performance experience using 3D modelling and virtual architecture, with access to fu-GEN’s own set of fun toys: a team of creators, coders and developers all working with emerging technology.
Residency Recipients: April Leung (Toronto), Howard Dai (Vancouver).
Future Generation Scholarship:
Volcano Conservatory
In partnership with Volcano Theatre
Sponsoring a set amount of conservatory students, fu-GEN Theatre sent emerging artists to learn from Masterclasses coordinated through Volcano Theatre. From playwriting, movement, devised theatre, to using Indigenous methodologies in theatre, the Conservatory’s aim was to enrich emerging artists in practices they perhaps wouldn’t have been exposed to in a training institution and take their craft forward.
2020 Cohort:
Macy Siu, Rinchen Dolma, Katie German, Ganesh Thavarajah, Kodie Rollan.
2019 Cohort:
April Leung, Lizzie Song, Marissa Orjalo, Amanda Lin.
2018 Cohort:
Christine Nguyen, Kevin Matthew Wong, April Leung, Isabella Kondrat, Angela Sun, Anthony Tran, Cynthia Jimenez-Hicks.
Photo: The Theatre Centre movement Masterclass with Andrea Nann. Pictured is Marissa Orjalo.
