fu-GEN Asian Canadian Theatre Company is proud to present two productions by Saigon Lotus and Hotake Theatre Company.

These are works by Vietnamese Canadian youth, both creators are under 22 years old. As part of fu-GEN’s sweet sixteenth season, we honour the authentic voices of our next generation of theatre artists at the very start of their bright careers.

A PERFECT BOWL OF PHO
Playwright: Nam Nguyen
Director: Gianni Sallese
Cast: Meghan Aguirre, Kenley Ferris-Ku, Max Gu, Sai Lian Macikunas, Victoria Ngai, Nam Nguyen, Justin Park, Jacob Peng, Lucinda Qu, Brendan Rush, Kenzie Tsang
Musicians: Randy Chang, Brendan Rogers, Rena Seeger, Keshav Sharma-Jaitly, Charlotte Wong-Labow, Joey Zhuang
Music Director - Kevin Vuong
Composers: Wilfred Moeschter & Nam Nguyen
Additional Music: Sam Clark
Lighting Designer: Abby Palmer
Costume Designer: Bailey Hoy

The year is 2019. An open-minded Toronto theatre audience (read: unsuspecting victims) sits down in Factory Theatre Studio to watch a play about the history of pho, the Vietnamese rice noodle soup (read: a thinly-veiled metaphor for Viet culture and identity). They came to see theatre that's diverse (read: a lot of Asians plus one white guy), thought-provoking (read: pandering to educated liberals), and fun (read: it's a musical), all from the mind of one talented young Vietnamese-Canadian playwright (read: a narcissist). A hush falls over the crowd as a flute plays, and lights rise on a poor Vietnamese farmer...

FINE CHINA
Playwright and Director: Julie Phan
Cast: Nam Nguyen, Nightingale Nguyen, Julie Phan
Sound Designer: Colwyn Alletson
Lighting Designer: Abby Palmer

What do the phrases: ‘you should eat,’ ‘don’t stay out too late’ and ‘put on a jacket’ have in common? They’re the first-generation immigrant way of saying ‘I love you.’ Love is embedded so deeply in our words and actions that we forget it’s there. It becomes as much the source of conflict as it is for healing. As estranged sisters Kim and Audrey reconnect after the death of their father old tensions arise, repressed feelings come to a head, and appliances are broken as the fate of the family is left in question.

“Phan is a promising writer whose work shines … funny, tough and insightful about guilt and regret.” – Glenn Sumi, NOW Magazine