by Silk Bath Collective
WORLD PREMIERE | A Theatre Passe Muraille and Silk Bath Collective Co-Production
Collage and poster design by Emily Jung | Pictured Gloria Mok and Family
“Experience the taste of the Woking Phoenix!”
An epic exploration of two decades of a family’s survival. Woking Phoenix tells the story of three siblings, their mother, and their restaurant as they seek to find belonging within small-town Ontario. An intergenerational Chinese love story about creating community and the food that reminds us of home.
Show Dates
April 12th – April 27th, 2024
Running Time:
140 minutes with intermission.
Accessibility
All shows
Relaxed Environment
Blind Friendly
Mandarin is spoken and will be translated using surtitles
Location
Theatre Passe Muraille (16 Ryerson Avenue)
Tickets
Pay-What-You-Can-Afford
$12 | $35 | $65
- Mandarin is spoken and English Translations will be projected.
- Tightly focused lighting states.
- Flashing Lights
- Use of Haze
- Loud and surprising sounds included within the music of the performance and live door slams
- Repeated & immersive sounds
Family grief, family conflict, implied homophobia, implied violence, implied sexual content, the experience of racism & microaggressions, the use of coarse language and heightened emotional states.
Masks are still strongly encouraged inside the TPM building. There will be select “Mask Mandatory” Performances for this production which are listed below:
*Sun April 21st, 2:00PM
*Wed April 24th, 7:30PM
For more information please take a look at our COVID-19 Protocols
If you would like information on the topics or themes in our productions, or to determine the suggested age for attending a performance, please reach out to our Box Office staff at 416.504.7529 or by email at info@passemuraille.on.ca.
Read the Digital Program
Access Guide
To access the visual story, please click the button below. An Access Guide is a package that aims to support people with communication difficulties, learning disabilities, English as a second language and Autistic People. It can be used to help anyone access and understand the play. The package may include spoilers.
Don't Forget Ma's Snack Box!
Experience the Taste of the Woking Phoenix in Ma’s Snack Box!
Silk Bath Collective and Theatre Passe Muraille are thrilled to partner with caterToronto to sell Ma’s Snack Box, filled with appetizing treats inspired by Ma’s cooking in Woking Phoenix! With a menu designed by Vanessa Ling-Yu of caterToronto, this box of goodies allows audiences to experience the taste of the Woking Phoenix!
Ma’s Snack Box contains:
Mini Spring Rolls (2). Not your average frozen factory spring roll. Hand-rolled crispy wrapper around tender seasoned vegetarian filling with Wing’s plum sauce for a little nostalgic nod to a Chinese-Canadian company.
Wing’s Fortune Cookie (1) Do you know how many people in Canada have proposed using fortune cookies to hold the ring and wished for fortunes as wedded couples? We’re willing to bet that you, like most Canadians, keep a fortune cookie saying in your wallet!
Fried dumpling (1) Crimped, filled, and fried with loads of tender loving care. Just like someone’s mother makes (but not that Mother’s Dumplings!).
Mandarin orange (1). Peel and eat. Compost the peel, please.
Haw Flakes (1). You remember these “healthy candies,” eh? Get your daily recommended intake of Hawthorn berries here!
Sweet and Sour Chicken Ball (1). Scratch-made nougat is enrobed in authentic chicken ball batter, then the S&S sauce of our childhood dreams, and then, a crunchy candy-coating before putting a stick in… not chicken. Yes, Sweet and Sour!
Plus! A few special surprise snacks, because every snack pack deserves a surprise!
Boxes are exclusively available for pre-order now until two days before your selected performance and can be purchased at check out for $22 when you purchase your tickets. *Boxes will be distributed during intermission of each show! If you’ve already purchased a ticket and want to add on a Snack Box please contact our box office. Limited number of boxes for each performance, so buy yours before they sell out!
*April 14: Snack Boxes will not be for sale as snacks will be provided at post show Prelude event
*April 21 & 24 Snack Boxes will be handed out after the performance to maintain the Mask Mandatory protocols
Credits
Co-creator, Director, and Producer
Aaron Jan
Co-creator, Director, Producer, and Performer
Bessie Cheng
Co-creator, Director, Producer, and Associate Sound Designer
Gloria Mok (莫嘉詠)
Stage Manager
Victoria Wang (王璇）
Apprentice Stage Manager
Joey Lau (劉祖怡)
Lighting Designer
Noah Feaver
Production Manager & Assistant Lighting Designer
Wei Qing Tan（陈维晴）
Set & Costume Designer
Julia Kim
Assistant Set & Costume Designer
Irene Ly
Sound Designer & Composer
Maddie Bautista
Choreographic Concept & Direction*
Hanna Kiel (길현아)
*Created in collaboration with the performers
Technical Director
Anthony Allan
Nonvisual/Blind Dramaturg
Jessica Watkin
Translation Projections & Technician
Renée Wong (黃靖珊)
Performers
Richard Lam
Phoebe Hu (胡馨勻）
Bessie Cheng
Madelaine Hodges (賀美倫)
SILK BATH COLLECTIVE is Bessie Cheng, Aaron Jan and Gloria Mok. Since 2016, we have produced critically acclaimed work that centres around our lived experiences as first, second and third generation Chinese-Canadians. Bessie immigrated from Urumqi, Xinjiang in 2001, Gloria’s parents immigrated from Kowloon, Hong Kong in the 1980s, and Aaron’s grandparents immigrated from Toisan, Guangdong in the 1950s.
As a collective, we seek to redefine what makes a Chinese-Canadian play through our different experiences of what it means to be “Chinese”. We are fascinated with how Chinese tradition, language, and culture are communicated through music, food, pop culture, stories, and physicality are informed by an intergenerational lens and regional differences.
Silk Bath Collective Team:
Co-creator, Director, and Producer | Aaron Jan
Co-creator, Director, Producer, and Performer | Bessie Cheng
Co-creator, Director, Producer, and Associate Sound Designer | Gloria Mok
To schedule an interview with the artist, or staff members at Theatre Passe Muraille regarding this production, please email Red Eye Media at Suzanne@redeyemedia.ca. We will try out best to accommodate your media requests, however they are not guaranteed.
The TPM Book Club meets online monthly to discuss books – selected in collaboration with our artists – that spark a deeper conversation on the themes of our current season. For Woking Phoenix, we will be reading the award-winning Chop Suey Nation: The Legion Cafe and Other Stories from Canada’s Chinese Restaurants by Ann Hui. Sign-up for our virtual book club here.
The “Prelude” is our annual series of community events inspired by the productions in our current season. For the Prelude of Woking Phoenix, join TPM Community Engagement Coordinator Angela Sun, award-winning writer Ann Hui (Chop Suey Nation), and caterToronto’s founding executive director Vanessa Ling Yu for a delicious post-show conversation on food, family, and connecting (or reconnecting) with your culture through cuisine. This event is FREE and will take place in the TPM Mainspace on Sunday April 14 at 4:15 PM. The conversation will last around 1.5 hours. As always, yummy snacks will be provided! Sign-up for the Prelude here.
If you have any questions about our community programs, please contact our Community Engagement Coordinator Angela by emailing outreach@passemuraille.on.ca or by calling 416-504-8980 (ext. 2140).
Silk Bath Collective: Bessie Cheng, Aaron Jan and Gloria Mok
Thank You
