Chang’s first foray into playwrighting delves into what it means to be a daughter and son in a Chinese Canadian family
Inspired by her undergraduate research on son preference and daughter discrimination among Chinese Canadians, Lauren Chang’s first foray into playwriting and directing is an opportunity for attendees to reflect on their experiences in their families and communities.
姐姐,弟弟 Sister, Brother: A Performance & Workshop follows a pair of siblings who have a difficult conversation about what it means to be a daughter and son in a Chinese Canadian family.
“I created this play as a way to disseminate my research findings and start a conversation, through theatre, about gender discrimination in my community,” said Lauren.
As she started writing the play in 2020, there were no concerns about how the work would translate to the small screen—she designed it to be performed on Zoom.
“We’ve had a lot of fun playing with the capabilities of Zoom to play with audience interaction and immersiveness through the performance.”
The performance and accompanying workshop will be held on 20, 27 March and 3, 10 April 2021.
To reserve a spot, please visit https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/sister-brother-a-performance-workshop-tickets-143805789989.
Lauren (she/her) is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Guelph studying anthropology. She is also a writer, performer and peer educator at Sex Education by Theatre and the creator and team lead at Onions Don’t Cure COVID.
The siblings are acted by Jobina Sitoh and Franco Pang. Jobina (she/her) is an up-and-coming actor and first-year student in York University’s Theatre Program. With a love for performance and storytelling across various mediums, she hopes to make strides in the artistic community as a young female creator of colour.
Franco (he/him) is a production and stage manager, designer, creator, and performer. He is a recent recipient of the 2019 Prix Rideau for Emerging Artist in design and creation. Franco also co-created, performed, and designed Light(less), a non-verbal show, which received an outstanding new work nomination from the Prix Rideau Awards.
Following the virtual performance, audience members will be invited to create their own short plays on the topic of gender discrimination that will be performed by the actors during the workshop.
“I look forward to seeing what we all create together,” said Lauren. “Hopefully, this will be a space where we can share our stories and imagine brighter futures.”
The Canada-China Initiatives Fund at York University and the Canada Research Chair in Gender, Justice and Development at the University of Guelph are pleased to support 姐姐,弟弟 Sister, Brother: A Performance & Workshop.
*This story was also published in YFile on 17 March 2021: https://yfile.news.yorku.ca/2021/03/17/ycar-supports-performance-and-workshop-that-explores-chinese-canadian-family-dynamics/