THE CAFÉ A co-production with Aphotic Theatre
Performed at:
Kafka’s Coffee and Bakery
(577 Great Northern Way)
October 11th to October 22nd, 2022
An immersive theatre experience from ITSAZOO Productions and Aphotic Theatre.
Original Concept by Fay Nass.
Created with support from the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival.
Please Note: This production requires close proximity between audience and performers. Masks are highly recommended.
The Café is an invitation to be a voyeur; to eavesdrop on private conversations in public; to witness intimate relationships up close and personal. Seven scenes are being created by nine playwrights of various ethnicities, ages, beliefs, sexual orientations and gender identities. With content performed in various languages, The Café is a day-in-the-life exploration of the cultural mosaic of a Vancouver coffee shop
Intimately sized audiences of 30 people per performance are encouraged to sit at or near one of seven “performance tables” and watch a play unfold mere inches away from them. Audience members are free to stay with one table and watch a scene reach its conclusion or wander around the coffee shop and experience other scenes – a narrative choose-your-own-adventure. The Café seeks to blur the line between art and reality by decreasing the proximity between actors and audience, welcoming them into a story – a conversation, an experience, a life – that may be at once completely familiar and totally foreign.
The Plays
Mango Cake
by Amy Lee Lavoie & Omari Newton
A mixed-race couple suddenly faces the underlying racial tension in their marriage.
Father’s Day
by Sebastien Archibald
An elderly francophone man struggles to reconcile with his anglophone son after a 25-year absence.
50 Cent Lemonade
by Kelsey Kanatan Wavey
An Indigenous woman guides her autistic brother through a tumultuous relationship.
Submission
by Fay Nass & Diana Garcia
In a case of mistaken identity, two women accidentally “interview” each other for the wrong (or right?) reasons.
Space Aliens and Tropical Ducks
by Derek Chan
A single parent attempts to reconnect with their depressive ex-partner.
Anna’s Story
by Manami Hara
Two best friends console each other in the face of a strained marriage and a family crisis.
Przyjaciółki
by Anais West
A Polish woman struggles to appease her Canadian partner after divulging an uncomfortable secret.
Production
Concept: Fay Nass
Direction: Fay Nass & Chelsea Haberlin
Dramaturgy: Fay Nass & Sebastien Archibald
Stage Management: Jenny Kim
Assistant Stage Manager: Liam Kearns
Production Management: Paige Louter
Associate Producer: Claire Love Wilson
Costumes: Donnie Tejani
Props: Ariel Slack
Sound: Piotr Wieczorek
Box Office/Front of House Manager: Charlie Cooper
Cast
Meghan Hemingway (Mango Cake)
Kwasi Thomas (Mango Cake)
Joey Lespérance (Father’s Day)
Ben Elliott (Father’s Day)
Chelsea Rose (50 Cent Lemonade)
Frankie Cottrell (50 Cent Lemonade)
Montserrat Videla Samper (Submission)
Jacqueline Korb (Submission)
Melissa Oei (Space Aliens and Tropical Ducks)
Alison Ward (Space Aliens and Tropical Ducks)
Genevieve Fleming (Anna’s Story)
Yumi Ogawa (Anna’s Story)
Paloma Kwiatkowski (Przyjaciółki)
Claire Love Wilson (Przyjaciółki)
Contact
Donate
ITSAZOO Productions is a non-profit incorporated society and registered charity. Donations accepted through Canada Helps.