About This Show
Factory Theatre announces their annual play festival, Cross Currents Festival, which is devoted to showcasing and developing work by writers of colour. This year’s festival includes two writers from Vancouver (Kevin Loring & Anosh Irani), two from Montreal (Marie Barlizo & Vadney S. Haynes), and one from Toronto (David Yee):
Acquiesce by David Yee – March 10
A dying wish brings a young man to Hong Kong to bury the father he never knew. In the days leading up to the funeral, he has to learn about his life, his death, his family … and himself. Directed by Jean Yoon.
Ballad of Floyd by Kevin Loring – March 13
Floyd wakes up in a bar to find nothing is as he remembers, or as it seems. Trapped in a barroom purgatory, reality begins to unravel around him. Haunted by the memory of his daughter and the ghost of his wife, Floyd struggles to regain some control in the tailspin his life has become. Directed by Jovanni Sy.
The Possession of Fernando Rodriguez by Marie Barlizo – March 17
Mara Rodriguez is reunited with her family in Montreal after a six-year separation. It is more than just language and culture that isolate this Filipino teen — Mara has also inherited the gift of visions from her ancestors. To fight forces that threaten her family, she uses rituals and traditions passed on from one generation to another, arousing fears and prejudices that threaten to tear her family apart. Directed by Bill Lane.
Blacks Don’t Bowl by Vadney S. Haynes – March 19
As Executive Director of the Montreal Black Association, Frank Simmons was confident about his vision for his community…until he attended a contemporary black art exhibit. What he sees fills him with deep and troubling questions about art, social responsibility, what it means to be black (and whether or not that includes bowling). Directed by Nigel Shawn-Williams.
The Matka King by Anosh Irani – March 20
In a lyrical story that pits human nature against love and chance, a landscape of betrayal and redemption comes to life in the red-light district of Bombay, India. One very powerful eunuch, Top Rani, operates an illicit lottery through his brothel. A gambler who is deeply in debt makes an unexpected wager and the stakes become life and death. Can a fortune-teller and a ten year-old girl beat Top Rani at his own game? Directed by Ken Gass.
All workshop performances at 8:00 p.m.