Development Workshop

Fall 2023

T'was the night before Christmas at a strip club in Montreal when Honey is phoned by her long-estranged mother at the start of her shift: how will she get through the rest of her shift while juggling the memories, angst and wacky scenarios that get stirred up?

Never Walk Alone is a solo-live performance piece at the intersections of pole dance and theatre around identification, connection and expectations: it's a strange attempt at a heartwarming Christmas tale in the only way creator Julie Phan knows how.

Development Workshop

Fall 2023

Based on the St. Louis World Fair of 1904 where over 1,000 Filipinos were imported to America to be featured in a human zoo, we follow the story of two Filipina women and one Filipina girl lost to its history who remain buried 13,000 kilometres away from home. 

twice blessed is an oddly absurdist, Beckett-like story. With a stage covered in soil and a god eating dog, these three characters find family and joy in one another among their simulacrum of home.

twice blessed has been in development with fu-GEN since 2022.

Co-Staged Development Workshop with Musical Theatre Company

May 2024

Book & Lyrics by Nick Green
Music & Lyrics by Kevin Wong

Set in a dystopian future, technological prodigy Max is an ideal student with a bright future until, with a single swipe, he sets out on a journey to forbidden corners of the internet, underground societies, and forgotten parts of himself. In a story filled with twists and turns, IN REAL LIFE looks at power, technology, and freedom as Max fights to save his loved ones and himself from an uncertain future that looks bleaker by the minute.

Annual Playwrights Unit & Community Celebration

June 24, 2024

WORKS, PLAYWRIGHTS & ACTORS:

Common: Part III by Marie Beath Badian
Directed by Darrell Gamotin. Starring Jobina Sitoh and John Echano.

Linsanity by Steven Hao
Directed by Aaron Jan. Starring Ericka Leobrera, Richard Lam, Howard Dai, Steven Hao.

twice blessed by Marissa Orjalo
Directed by Kodie Rollan. Starring Nadine Villasin, Christina Orjalo, Ellie Posadas.

Aging Youth Gang by Norman Yeung
Directed by Marjorie Chan. Starring Jane Luk, Kyle Orzech, Madelaine Hodges, Richard Tse, Russell Yuen.

CPC Barbie by Julie Phan
Directed by Ronnie Burkett. Starring April Leung.

International Conference & Festival on innovative Asian works from the last decade.

November 2022

SINGAPORE HUB
Hosted by Nanyang Technological University

NEW YORK HUB
Hosted by Ma-Yi Theater

VANCOUVER HUB
Hosted by Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre Company

TORONTO HUB
Hosted by the University of Toronto

ONLINE HUB:
Hosted by DM Creative

Co-Production with Studio 180 Theatre in association with Crow’s Theatre

May 2023

Written by Lloyd Suh
Directed by Marjorie Chan
Starring Rosie Simon and John Ng

Afong Moy is 14 years old when she is brought to the United States from Guangzhou in 1834. Purportedly the first Chinese woman to set foot on U.S. soil, she has been put on display for the American public as “The Chinese Lady.”

As the decades wear on, her celebrated sideshow comes to define and challenge her very sense of identity. Alternatingly dark, poetic, and whimsical, the play is a searing portrait of Western culture seen through the eyes of a young Chinese woman.

Two Dora Nominations, with an Outstanding Costume Design win for Jung-Hye Kim.

Development Workshop

Spring 2023
Written by Marissa Orjalo

Based on the St. Louis World Fair of 1904 where over 1,000 Filipinos were imported to America to be featured in a human zoo, we follow the story of two Filipina women and one Filipina girl lost to its history who remain buried 13,000 kilometres away from home. 

twice blessed is an oddly absurdist, Beckett-like story. With a stage covered in soil and a god eating dog, these three characters find family and joy in one another among their simulacrum of home.

twice blessed has been in development with fu-GEN since 2022.

Annual Playwrights Unit & Community Celebration

June 24, 2024

WORKS, PLAYWRIGHTS & ACTORS:

Escape from Shanghai by Keara Voo
Directed by Rouvan Silogix. Starring Alexander J. Franks, Alexandra Crenian, Lizzie Song, Renee Wong, Vivian Or

Nick & Ellie by Tony Tran
Directed by Kodie Rollan. Starring Bo Hong Fu, Chase Lo, Jaemoon Lee, Jeff Yung, Timothy Ng

we could be clouds by Gary Mok
Directed by David Yee. Starring Mya Wong, Jenn Tan, Honey Pham, Christina Orjalo, Anthony Perpuse

A Taste of Hong Kong by Jackie Zhang
Directed by Marjorie Chan.

fu-GEN’s Digital Connections Series

July 2021

Digital Connections commissioned four artists during the pandemic to narratively create using a social media platform or a platform that digitally unites us.

Fuck You by C. E. Gatchalian
Platform: YouTube

Baking Through my Lola’s Recipes by Kodie Rollan
Platform: Tik Tok

beyond dawn by Nancy Tam
Platform: Spotify

Hopefully… Maybe. by Christina Orjalo
Platform: YouTube

An augmented reality theatre experience

June 2022

You are now a person of interest by the government. Things are escalating quickly. How do you get out of the country you were born in using just your technology and wits?

Digital Development Workshop

March 2022
By Maddie Bautista

Maddie Bautista is the recipient of fu-GEN Theatre’s inaugural Walk the Walk Commission for femme Asian-Canadian playwrights for her play Kersey Kamayan Gets Woke.

Series of commissioned online works in association with the National Arts Centre

March 2021

Participating companies provided their chosen artists commissions for ultra-short pieces created in video, audio or text. The idea is twofold: to help get some income to at least some of the many arts workers hard-hit by the pandemic; and to enrole the rich artistic imagination of this country as a way to assess where we are and where we could be going.

Creators for fu-GEN: Anita Majumdar, Derek Chan, Diana Bang, Eponine Lee, Philip Nozuka.

An Audio Installation

May 31 - June 15, 2021

Coordinating remotely with over 40 outstanding artists during the pandemic, and comprising over 1100 intricately connected pieces, this audio installation is unlike anything fu-GEN has attempted before. The 7 hour and 40 minute project allows listeners to choose their own audio journey among the 227 passengers on board.  

MH370 is a digital feat that balances theatricality, intimacy and technology, challenging and pushing the boundaries by questioning how theatre persists during a global pandemic. With immersive audio soundscapes and a deceptively simple online apparatus, MH370 examines the experience of loss and erasure as people move between states; whether it be culture, geography, or navigating personal relationships.

Virtual Reality Creation Residency

January to June 2021

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.   

Residency Recipients: April Leung (Toronto), Howard Dai (Vancouver).

Development Workshop

2020-2021 Season Development

Love You Wrong Time is a hilarious, no-holds-barred song cycle featuring two friends looking for love while contending with the fetishization of Asian women. Using music, true stories, bar games, and stand-up, Deanna H. Choi and Maddie Bautista’s inventive, interactive show serves as a battle cry in the wake of mass violence against Asian femmes, creating a space for rage, grief, tenderness, and ruthless comedy.

fu-GEN is proud to have supported Maddie and Deanna with this development workshop.

Co-Production with Hong Kong Exile in association with The Theatre Centre

September 17 - 29, 2019

Weaving together text, miniatures, digital backdrops and live cameras, No Foreigners examines our changing relationships to these social spaces and the histories, characters, experiences, and ephemera that keep inviting us back. 

Created by: Natalie Tin Yin Gan, Milton Lim, Remy Siu, and David Yee 
Performed and co-created by: April Leung and Derek Chan 
Direction: Milton Lim 
Text: David Yee 
Miniature design: Natalie Tin Yin Gan with April Leung and Derek Chan 
Projection and sound design: Milton Lim and Remy Siu 
Media apparatus design: Remy Siu 
Cantonese translation: Derek Chan 
Production manager: Maria Zarrillo 
Tour management and agent: Dani Fecko, Fascinator Management 

Development Workshop

Fall 2019
Written by Aaron Jan

Development workshop period for Aaron Jan’s Knife.

Online Theatre Series

April 2 - 4, 2020

From FaceBook messenger to audio soundscape on Zoom, fu-GEN commissioned 9 artists to create 15-minute pieces that are performed one-on-one and online for anyone who needs a little joy!

Creators include Aaron Jan, Andre Dae Kim, Ming-Bo Lam, Miquelon Rodriguez, Janice Jo Lee, Natalie Tin Yin Gan, Maddie Bautista, Vienna Hehir, Luigi Ceccon.

Digital Presentation

May 19, 2020

Hope is leaving her boyfriend tonight. But first she's got to figure out what to say...

An excerpt from the play "paper SERIES" by David Yee starring Cynthia Jimenez-Hicks