The Event
We are thrilled to be showcasing two new works from our 2026 Polyphonic Multilingual Creation Program: Human Acts by Irene (Fan) Yi and Mel & Ari’s Immigration Fund by Mel Zaini and Ariane Anindita! Following 10 days of workshopping and project development, the artists will share excerpts of their pieces on Saturday, March 21st at 7:00pm PDT, followed by a discussion between the artists and the attendees. Join us in-person at Progress Lab 1422, or online via livestream!
Tickets are pay-what-you-can, with a suggested price of $15. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds.
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The Projects
Human Acts
by Irene (Fan) YI // Languages: Mandarin & English
Human Acts is a bilingual, multimedia theatre work set during a citywide lockdown. Through the fragmented stories of an elderly foreign couple, a mysterious woman trapped in a red telephone booth, a middle-aged woman banging a gong for medicine for her dying father, a ghostly young man, a starving dog, and a spokesman of “positive energy”, the play explores how collective violence infiltrates daily life, and how silence, repetition, and disappearance become the grammar of survival. Built from text, projection, sound, and movement, Human Acts unfolds as a landscape where time loops endlessly, and human gestures turn mechanical. The play asks: What remains after history is erased? Who remembers those who could not leave?
Mel & Ari’s Immigration Fund
by Mel Zaini and Ariane Anindita // Languages: Bahasa Indonesian & English
Watch Mel and Ari wade through the tangled web of the Canadian immigration system with a whole lotta grit and jayus jokes about how bad the Indonesian passport is (#69 worldwide, baby)! Do you have a Canadian passport simply by being born here? Laugh, cry, scream, and maybe learn an Indonesian curse word or two as you find out what immigrants have to go through to find hope and home even in the bleakest moments.
Read about the program artists here.
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The Program
In partnership with the Vancouver Public Library, Polyphonic prioritizes the translation and creation process of multilingual theatre makers. In it, rice & beans will welcome two multilingual projects in development, one from a local artist and one from out-of-town. Artists are hosted in Vancouver, British Columbia for 12 days, and are provided everything they need for focused, uninterrupted time on their work. Over the two weeks, they have access to writing space at the Vancouver Public Library, where they can workshop with collaborators, participate in a public VPL mid-process table read and feedback session, and then, as a culmination of the program, present a stage reading of an excerpt of their work complete with video design, in a theatre studio. Through the Polyphonic Multilingual Creation Program, artists have the space to reclaim their languages unapologetically through the art they create and foster a space where community members can see their languages legitimized onstage.
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The Company
rice & beans theatre is a Vancouver-based theatre company founded in 2010 by Pedro Chamale and Derek Chan. We provide a platform for the creation, development and production of boundary-pushing theatre by artists of colour or otherwise marginalized theatre-makers, as well as support to fellow artists by providing dramaturgy, direction, and mentorship. We are dedicated to facilitating original Canadian work that is accessible, honest, uncompromising and personal. In addition to Vancouver, we have also produced original work for audiences in Toronto, Richmond, Nanaimo and Victoria. In 2018, rice & beans was nominated for a Dora Award for its production of 食盡天下/A Taste of Empire with Cahoots Theatre in Toronto. In 2019, its production of Chicken Girl was nominated for 3 Jessies in Vancouver and in 2022, its production of Yellow Objects won a Jessie Innovation Award. Learn more at www.riceandbeanstheatre.com.
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The Supporters
The Polyphonic Multilingual Creation Program would not be possible without the support of the Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre, as well as our amazing private donors and our funders: The BC Arts Council, Canadian Heritage, The Canada Council for the Arts, The Province of BC and The City of Vancouver.
Also check out other Arts events in Vancouver, Theatre events in Vancouver, Workshops in Vancouver.
