Back to Funny Business

After a long, restful break when all of us did some travelling (some still are), the Fishies are back in action, busily working on new material for a couple of upcoming shows.

First up is our annual performance for the Chinese Canadian Historical Society’s AGM on Saturday, March 3. This year, the society is honouring Joe Wai, the architect behind the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden and Chinatown Millennium Gate, and long-time advocate for senior and social housing and Chinatown community issues. If you’re interested in becoming a CCHS member or attending the AGM dinner, visit the CCHS-BC website for all the details.

The following week will see the Fishies performing at a special conference hosted by CUPE Metro Vancouver District Council. It’s our third time entertaining members of this always appreciative group and we can’t wait to debut some new sketches for the occasion.

Stay tuned for more info about upcoming shows (ours and others). In the meantime, check out our latest video, “Crosswalk.” How many of you have had trouble saying goodbye?

Nelson Wong Stars in Falling in Time

The Fishies are on a mini-hiatus until the New Year, but on Sunday, three of us caught the matinee performance of Falling in Time, C.E Gatchalian’s new play starring fellow Fishie Nelson Wong. The play is a powerful portrayal of the hidden traumas of the “forgotten war.” Top-notch performances from the entire cast and in case you think we’re just a little bit biased, The Vancouver Sun‘s Peter Birnie calls Nelson “a gifted Chinese-Canadian actor whose strengths are so considerable that they give Falling in Time its true heart.” Catch Falling in Time before it’s too late!

Warning: Nudity, sexuality and mature themes. Minimum age: 16 years.

FALLING IN TIME
The world premiere of a new play by C.E. Gatchalian, featuring Allan Morgan, Manami Hara, Kevin Kraussler and Nelson Wong

Epic in its scope, raw in its emotionalism and bold in its theatricality, Falling in Time is set in Vancouver in 1994 and 1950s Korea, and tells the story of four individuals, across two continents and over a span of more than forty years. The lives of these characters miraculously intertwine in Vancouver playwright C.E. Gatchalian’s uncompromising meditation on war, masculinity, sexuality, personal boundaries, and love. Falling in Time asks the question, how do we let go?

Only 5 More Performances!
Date: Tuesday-Saturday, November 8-12
Time: 8:00 pm
Place: Performance Works, Granville Island
Cost: $20 each. Purchase tickets online at Brown Paper Tickets or by email.
Info: www.screamingweenie.com

Directed by Seán Cummings
Set & Lighting Design by Itai Erdal
Sound Design: Michael Rinaldi
Costume Design: Christopher David Gauthier
Stage Management: Jethelo Cabilete
Production Management: Dani Fecko and Kenji Maeda
Technical Director: Tim Furness
Set and Lighting Assistant: Mandi Lau
Media Relations: Kimberly Plumley
Production Researcher/Cultural Consultant: Jenny Ye Kyung Sung

Congratulations Nellie on a tour de force performance!

Summer Update

Thanks to everyone for coming out to our Powell Street Festival show on July 31. You were an amazing audience! We hope to entertain you again in the very near future. Btw, anyone interested in a slightly bruised watermelon?

Special thanks to  the wonderful Powell Street Festival organizers/volunteers, especially Julie Aoki and Kazuho Yamamoto; Jamie Burns and the Firehall Arts Centre; Ann Chow; Andrea Bang; and Laura McLean.

Please check back for upcoming show details, as well as new videos and blog posts. In the meantime, check out these two great shows from our talented friends.

PARTY THIS WEEKEND
Directed by Laura McLean (she’s our awesome director!)

Date: Every Friday and Saturday, July 15 to August 27
Time: 8pm
Place: Jen’s Place, 518 Kaslo Street, Vancouver
Cost: Single show tickets – $15 / Four-show passes – $40
Tickets: partythisweekend2011@gmail.com
Info: http://www.partythisweekend.opustalis.com

About the Show:
One party. Four perspectives. Do you know the whole story? Experience a house party you will never forget, through the eyes of four pivotal party guests. Mingle, eat and drink, following one of these characters through the house each night. Come for one show or all four to get the whole story.

Party This Weekend is an original, interactive theatre experience presented by The House Party Collective, in association with Scarlet Satin Productions.

YELLOW FACE
Produced by The Pork Filled Players and Repertory Actors Theatre (they’re our Seattle friends!)
Directed by David Hsieh
Written by David Henry Hwang

Date: August 5 to September 3
Time: Fridays at 8pm / Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm
Place: Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Avenue, Capital Hill, Seattle, WA
Cost: At door – $15 / In advance – $12
Advance Tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/181433
Info: http://www.porkfilled.com and http://www.reacttheatre.org

About the Show:
ReAct Theatre and the Pork Filled Players (with sponsorship by the Furuta Lee Foundation) proudly present the Northwest premiere of Yellow Face, the Pulitzer-finalist and Obie-award winning comic “mockumentary” about mistaken racial identity by David Henry Hwang. Casting himself as the protagonist, Hwang recounts his (maybe true, maybe not) hard-hitting attempts to protest yellow face casting in Miss Saigon on Broadway — and his own accidental casting of a white man as Asian. Mixing real events, real headlines and real people with fictional characters and dramatic license, Yellow Face explores and pokes fun at the role of race in modern American society, media, politics and theatre.

Next Performance: Sunday, July 31

We’re thrilled to be returning to the Powell Street Festival for the eighth year in a row! Join us for a FREE, 30-minute show of our newest material. Find out what happens when Facebook gets racy and a haunting doesn’t go as planned. Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Haruki Murakami, a queen and a ukulele also make appearances.

Note: General admission seating.

Date: Sunday, July 31
Time: 1:30pm
Place: Firehall Arts Centre, 280 East Cordova Street (@ Gore Avenue), Vancouver
Cost: Free
Rated: PG
Parking: Metered street parking available. We recommend carpooling, taking transit or biking.

Can’t make our upcoming show, but need a Fishy fix? Visit our YouTube channel to see some of our past performances. We’ll be rolling out new clips over the next several months so check back often.