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fu-GEN | ("Future Generation") strives to
empower Asian-Canadian theatre artists to create and work with
material that examines contemporary issues. The demographic of
Asian-Canadians with whom fu-GEN usually works are Canadians who
exist not between cultures, but as part of Canada's culture as
a whole. This means that the plays created by the artists do not
have to be focused solely on "traditional" Asian stories
of ancestry and immigration, but rather they explore contemporary
issues that Asians face in Canada today.
Company History | 2002 to 2008
Founded in January 2002, fu-GEN is determined to carve out a space
in the Canadian cultural landscape for vibrant Asian-Canadian
voices. In five years, fu-GEN has launched six highly successful
major projects. This includes two full-scale productions in association
with Factory Theatre, one of Toronto's first and still existing
alternative theatre companies that continues to produce exclusively
Canadian content on its mainstage and secondary stage.
fu-GEN launched with Love and
RelASIANships, a series of excerpts from work by Asian-North American
playwrights. Development work with theatre professionals of Tale
of a Mask by veteran writer Terry Watada followed in 2003, marking the
first professional workshop of a play by fu-GEN.
Beginning with a workshop of
Leon Aureus' adaptation of Terry Woo's novel of the same name,
fu-GEN began developing Banana Boys the following year. Next,
the company produced David Yee's filial at the SummerWorks festival
in 2003. The following year marked the first Potluck Festival,
following a year-long playwright's lab, dubbed The Kitchen. The
Potluck Festival became an annual event, held during Factory Theatre's
CrossCurrents Festival, the Theatre's new play development festival
dedicated to playwrights of colour.
Also in 2004, fu-GEN produced
the world premiere of Banana Boys, which garnered critical acclaim
and played to sold-out houses. Banana Boys went on to the Magnetic
North Festival in Ottawa in 2005 and was remounted in Toronto
in the fall as a co-production with Factory Theatre. Banana Boys
garnered two Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations. The Dora Mavor
Moore Award is a Canadian award presented annually by the Toronto
Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours Canadian theatre,
opera and dance productions.
In 2006, fu-GEN was nominated
for their outstanding work in the Asian community by the Association
of Chinese Canadian Entrepreneurs. In October of that year, the
company held its first Fire Gala, the highly successful and popular
fundraising event at Toronto's Bright Pearl Restaurant. In January
2007, the company returned to Factory Theatre with the world premiere
of Catherine Hernandez's Singkil. This production garnered much
critical praise and was nominated for seven Dora Mavor Moore awards
that year.
In August 2007, fu-GEN produced a third full-length show, the
world premiere of David Yee's paper series, as part of Toronto's
SummerWorks Festival. This production was a great critical success,
and was remounted at the City of Toronto's inaugural DARK Festival.
In June 2008, fu-GEN expanded
The Potluck Festival to six nights. This showcased seven plays
in various stages of creation, culminating in public readings
at the Factory Theatre over the six days and nights as well as
an off-site reading presented with Cahoots Theatre Projects. The
weeklong festival also showcased 15-minute excerpts of plays written
by fu-GEN's playwriting unit, The Kitchen. The Fifth Annual Potluck
Festival featured new works by some of Canada's emerging Asian-Canadian
playwrights including David Yee, Insurp Choi, Terry Watada, Byron Abalos, Marie-Leofeli
R. Barlizo and Norman Lup-Man Yeung.
In November 2008, in association
with Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts, fu-GEN's remounted
a production of Banana Boys at Hart House Theatre featuring an
all-new cast.
In the company's six years of
existence, fu-GEN has moved from doing workshops to producing
full-scaled productions co-produced by some of Toronto's leading
theatre companies. They have moved from an out-of-home office
(run by Nina Lee Aquino and Richard Lee) to an office with its
own rehearsal space and a staff of six, plus a five-member Board
of Directors. Their rehearsal space is also rented out (for a
highly subsidized fee) to other Asian theatre companies and artists.
The space has become commonly known in the Toronto theatre community
as a space in which Asian-Canadian artists can do their work with
strong support.
Fu-GEN Members
Leon Aureus | Dora Award-nominated
actor; published and produced playwright; founding member of fu-GEN
Marjorie
Chan | Dora Award-winning actor; Governor General-nominated
playwright (produced and published) INSERT LINK TO HER PAGE
Marty Chan | Playwright (produced and published)
Insurp Choi | Noted actor
Richard Lee | Dora Award-nominated actor for Little Dragon and
Banana Boys. Also noted fight director and sound designer
Dale Yim | Noted actor and stage manager
Derek Kwan | Noted actor
David Yee | Playwright (produced and published)
(Five listed above are the original Banana Boys - Dora Award-nominated
ensemble)
Catherine Hernandez | Dora Award-nominated
playwright
Simon Johnston | Artistic Director, Gateway Theatre, Richmond,
B.C.; Playwright (produced)
Camellia Koo | Dora Award-winning set/costume designer
Rose Cortez | Dora Award-nominated actor
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee | Noted film/television/theatre actor
Keira Loughran | Theatre actor and playwright (produced); Artistic
Director of K'Now Theatre Company
Jane Luk | Noted film/television/ theatre actor
John Ng | Noted theatre actor and playwright (published)
David Oiye | Artistic Director, Buddies and Bad Times Theatre,
Toronto
Mieko Ouchi | Actor; Playwright (produced and published)
Betty Quan | Playwright (produced and published)
Nadine Villasin | Artistic Director, Carlos Bulosan Theatre, Toronto;
Playwright (produced and published) and actor
Romeo Candido | Dora Award-nominated sound designer; Award-winning
filmmaker
Jovanni Sy | Artistic Director, Cahoots Theatre Projects, Toronto;
film/television/theatre actor
Diana Tso | Part of Dora Award-winning ensemble
Jean Yoon | Noted film/television/theatre actor; Playwright (produced
and published); Television and radio writer; Founder of Loud Mouthed
Asian Babes Theatre Company, Toronto.
Nicco Lorenzo Garcia | Dora Award-winning actor
Waylen Miki | Dora Award-winning sound designer
Sherry Yoon | Artistic Director of Boca del Lupo Theatre Company,
Vancouver; playwright (produced) and actor
Adrienne Wong | Actor and playwright
Sandra Oh | Emmy and Golden
Globe winning actor; Graduate of the National Theatre School of
Canada
Ginger Ruriko Busch | Film and theatre actor; Graduate of the
National Theatre School of Canada
Ella Chan | Dora Award-nominated actor
Ma-Anne Dionsio | Noted actor; Appeared in the Canadian premiere
of Miss Saigon.
Grace Lynn Kung | Film/television/theatre actor
Bobby Del Rio | Playwright (produced and published)
Russell Yuen | Noted actor
Kyra Harper | Theatre director and actor
Terry
Watada | Playwright (published and produced); poet and novelist
LINK HERE
Siu Ta | noted actor; Award-winning filmmaker
Nina Lee Aquino | Playwright (published and produced); Dora Award-nominated
Director and Artistic Director of fu-GEN Theatre Company
Brenda Kamino | Founding Artistic Director of Emerald City, Chicago
Sean Baek | Noted actor
Denis Akiyama | Noted actor
Joy Kogawa | Novelist and poet; Internment
camp survivor INSERT LINK TO HER PAGE
Rick Shiomi | Playwright (produced and published) and director
Donna Yamamoto | Noted film/television/theatre Actor
Maiko Bae Yamamoto | Noted actor; Playwright (produced and published);
Founding member of Boca del Lupo Theatre Company, Vancouver
Derrick Chua | Noted theatre
producer
Jocelyn Hublau | Noted film producer
Voltaire de Leon | Artistic Director, Diwata Works, Toronto; Playwright
Martha Ocampo | Founding member of Carlos Bulosan Theatre Company,
Toronto
Fely Villasin | Founding member of Carlos Bulosan Theatre Company,
Toronto
Jason Maghanoy | Playwright
(published and produced); Graduate of the National Theatre School
playwriting program
Sally Han | Noted theatre director
Shelly Hong | Noted actor
M.J. Kang | Dora Award-nominated Playwright (produced and published)
Ken Pak | Noted film and theatre actor
William Lau | Chinese Opera
performer and chorographer
Marie Barlizo | First artist of colour graduate of the National
Theatre School Playwriting program (2002)
New Play Development at fu-GEN
Asian-Canadian Theatre Company
fu-GEN is dedicated to the development
of professional Asian-Canadian theatre artists through the production
of new and established works. The company's mission is:
- To produce works of Asian-North
American playwrights, and foster new works by emerging playwrights;
- To explore and address issues
of Asian-North American's societal roles, responsibilities and
identity in the past, present and future through our artistic
endeavours;
- To build a stronger, truly
multicultural Canadian community by breaking down stereotypes
through education and development of a strong cultural artistic
base.
fu-GEN's vision is to "create
a home for Asian-Canadian theatre artists and their work. We want
to be the ones to see the dreams of talented Asian-Canadian theatre
artists through to realization. We want to be the stepping-stone
to their emerging and establishing careers, the place to practice
and hone their craft. We want to be an integral part of their
artistic journey and growth. We exist to make our artists and
our stories visible in the theatre community, the Toronto community,
and the Canadian community at large."
The Kitchen | The Kitchen is fu-GEN's annual playwriting
unit, which entered its fifth year in 2008. A small group of playwrights,
selected by artistic director Nina Lee Aquino, met over a period
of twelve months to create a new work or further develop an existing
piece.
The Kitchen is a supportive
environment where playwrights are given the dramaturgical support
to complete a draft of a play. At the end of twelve months the
development workshops culminate in The Potluck Festival, an annual
showcase event that features staged readings of the new plays.
Each of the playwrights is partnered with a professional Canadian
director/dramaturg who stages the reading for a general public
audience.
In addition to The Kitchen and The Potluck Festival, fu-GEN also
has two artist residencies: one for a playwright and the other
for a designer. This past year, the positions were held, respectively,
by playwright David Yee and designer Camellia Koo. The 2008 playwright
in residence is Marie Beath Badian.
fu-GEN also holds the responsibility
in the theatre community as one of the third party recommenders
for the Ontario Arts Council's Theatre Creators' Reserve (TCR),
a program designed to give artists the financial means to complete
the first draft of a work. In 2007-2008, fu-GEN was able to recommend
support for five artists in the Toronto Asian-Canadian Community.
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The project was made
possible with the support of the
Department
of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Strategy
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