Recent Projects
photo of athena kaitlin trinh by Tanja Tiziana
49th Day at Next Stage Theatre Festival 2020…
Theatre ARTaud presents a proudly immigrant story of love, war, and familial reconciliation: 49TH DAY at the 2020 Next Stage Theatre Festival. 49th Day, created by Dora-nominated performer athena kaitlin trinh (Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Roseneath Theatre), takes us to a cemetery in Việt Nam where a young woman makes offerings and performs rituals for her deceased grandmother. A poetic investigation of intergenerational trauma and displacement, and inspired by the real life experiences of the playwright's grandparents, this piece is a love-letter to elders everywhere. The show will be performed in English and 廣東話. 49th Day is created by an exciting team of established and emerging Asian artists: The show is dramaturged by critically-acclaimed playwright and performer Jeff Ho (Trace, Factory Theatre) and stars athena kaitlin trinh alongside Stratford Festival alum Diana Tso (Bakkhai, Stratford Festival) under the direction of Theatre ARTaud Artistic Director Rouvan Silogix (Blood + Soil, Theatre ARTaud). 49th Day is stage managed by Lily Chan (Yellow Rabbit, Soulpepper Theatre), and features scenography by Waleed Ansari (The Brothers Gentle, Toronto Fringe), as well as sound design by Gloria Mok (Silk Bath, Next Stage). The production is produced by Angela Sun (Above & Beyond, Toronto Fringe) with Theatre ARTaud.
49th Day was developed under the mentorship of Nina Lee Aquino and Factory Theatre's The Foundry creation group. The development of this show was made possible with funding from Factory Theatre, Nightwood Theatre, and Nightswimming Theatre under the Ontario Arts Council's Recommender Grants program. We are also grateful to support from Why Not Theatre's Space Project (with the generous support of the City of Toronto & Kingfisher Foundation); Roseneath Theatre; and Tarragon Theatre's Workspace Program.
Wed Jan 8th - 8:30 PM
Fri Jan 10th - 9:00 PM
Sun Jan 12th - 2:00 PM
Wed Jan 15th - 6:30 PM*R
Fri Jan 17th - 6:45 PM*T
Sun Jan 19th - 2:00 PM*AD
(R = relaxed performance, T = talk back, AD = audio description provided)
Factory Theatre Studio 125 Bathurst Street, Toronto
Created by athena kaitlin trinh
Directed by Rouvan Silogix
Produced by Angela Sun with Theatre ARTaud
Starring athena kaitlin trinh and Diana Tso
Stage Managed by Lily Chan
Scenography by Waleed Ansari
Sound Design by Gloria Mok
Dramaturgy by Jeff Ho
This is a Canadian Actors' Equity Association Production under the Festival Policy.
Tickets are $18 and can be purchased online at fringetoronto.com, by phone at 416- 966- 1062,
or at the door of the venue starting one hour prior to the first performance of the day.
Passes are also available. The show will be performed in English and Cantonese with no subtitles.
Follow us on Facebook/ Twitter/ Instagram: @theatreartaud Hashtag: #49thdayTO
Announcing the 2020 Next Stage Theatre Festival…
The 2020 Next Stage Theatre Festival runs January 8 – 19, 2020 at Factory Theatre.
The 2020 Next Stage Theatre Festival features internationally famous Iranian playwright Mohammed Yaghoubi (Winter of ‘88); a musical romp through queer/disabled artist Ophira Calof’s mind/body divide (Literally Titanium); sociopolitical drag (Pearle Harbour’s Agit Pop!); Fringe faves Morro & Jasp (Save the Date); a queer/trans South Asian response to those in our society taken away unjustly, from Bilal Baig (Kitne Saare Laloo Yahan Pey Hain); feminist burlesque from touring Fringe veteran Lindsay Mullan (Tease); the return of 2019 Fringe Fest hits Tita Jokes and Every Silver Lining; a poetic investigation of intergenerational trauma from athena kaitlin trinh (49th Day); the return to Next Stage of acclaimed playwright Kevin Shea (Consumption Patterns); and Toronto-fave Julia Lederer with a staged reading of her new work (U-R-U).
"This poetic and lyrical show is a love-letter to the playwright’s elders. The piece investigates themes of intergenerational trauma and migration/displacement through the lens of a young woman’s journey to a cemetery in Hanoi, Viet Nam, to enact death rituals and offerings for her recently deceased and estranged grandmother. This play was written by athena kaitlin trinh out of a profound need to tell her family’s story and the realization that these stories could have died with their original storytellers.
Developed with support from Factory Theatre, Nightwood Theatre, Nightswimming Theatre, and after many dinner table conversations with her own elders, athena says “I want the audience to leave feeling like they need to go home and call their grandparents.”
MORE INFO TO COME…
“The Acrylic” A New Short Horror Coming 2019
Directed by Daniel J. Pike
Cinematography by Matt Doyscher
Athena Kaitlin Trinh as Rosie
Jarrett Siddall as “The Creature”
Wendy German as “The Curator”
Athena has been announced as County House Pictures’ lead, Rosie, for their upcoming new short horror film, The Acrylic.
“County House Pictures has announced a new short horror film The Acrylic, to be filmed and released by 2019. This marks the first film to be created by our production team. Stay tuned for more announcements regarding our new project. Please share and subscribe! Your support will be needed in the upcoming weeks!”
Announcing Factory theatre’s
2019 FOUNDRY unit...
The Foundry is a new work creation group for early career writers. Working closely with Artistic Director Nina Lee Aquino, participants will be guided through the process of generating new work, leading to a completed script.
Rage Against: the trilogy (toronto fringe)
RAGE AGAINST The Trilogy is a one of a kind, three of a kind Trilogy making its debut at the 2018 Toronto Fringe Festival. The shows takes place in a shared universe (of sorts), revolving around one-incident involving our amalgamated metaphor for the forgotten and marginalized - an unnamed homeless person. The ideas revolve around "Good vs. Right", "Finding Home" and "Seeking Paradise", and the madness and indifference in between. The structure is loosely inspired by Dante's "Divine Comedy" - with each of the three shows drawing from "Inferno", "Purgatorio", and "Paradiso" respectively.
RAGE AGAINST THE INFERNO (JERUSALEM)
A surrealist comedy that explores love after love, love in between love, and love before love. What is love after all? Is it the rush of excitement from beauty and charm? Or is it the safety and comfort of being home? Is it true that we can only love one person at a time? The show loosely follows Dante's Inferno, and what we really care about. If we care about the environment, do we donate money to a show about the environment, or do we directly donate to environment causes? Or do we chain ourselves to a tree? And what constitutes "care? Feel pain? Cause action?
Toronto Fringe Festival, 2018 - July 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14
Robert Gill Theatre
214 College St, Toronto, ON M5T 2Z9
60 minutes
Standard ticket price: $11
(Discounts and passes available through Toronto Fringe Festival)
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls
DORA NOMINATED 2018
Fresh off of an all-across-Ontario tour with Roseneath Theatre, Athena just closed the world premier of Dave Deveau's, Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls follows the story of 9-year-old Fiona who comes out as a boy and wants to be called Fin. Fin has always had this feeling – knowing something is different but not knowing what it was or how to say it. As Fin cuts his hair short and changes his name, his family works to understand and adjust to Fin’s gender identity. Dad is accepting of the change right away, but Mom doesn’t quite get it at first. Always from a place of good intentions, we see Fin’s family struggle with this change and through the course of the play ultimately begin to accept and embrace Fin for who he is.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls is written by Dave Mackenzie Deveau, featuring Samson Brown, Matthew Finlan and Athena Kaitlin Trinh, stage managed by Alice Ferreyra, directed by Andrew Lamb, sound designed by Verne Good, costume and set designed by Anna Treusch, design assistant Sim Suzer.
Fempocalypse 2018
Athena will be performing at this year's Nightwood Theatre's 2017/2018 Young Innovators Unit's FEMPOCALYPSE 2018:
A cabaret night that is jam-packed with performances from an array of female-identifying or gender non-conforming artists, covering a range of different viewpoints and experiences that respond to the following prompt: “Courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own” – Michelle Obama.
After an incredibly successful event last year, with over one thousand dollars in proceeds being raised for Native Women’s Association of Canada, Fempocalypse will return this year under the leadership of the this year’s Young Innovators.
Admission will be a Pay-What-You-Can donation in support of SISTERING: a local, multi-service agency for at-risk, socially isolated women in Toronto who are homeless or precariously housed. A representative from the organization will be present at the event to tell you more about the amazing work that they do and how we can get involved. You can read more about their work here: http://sistering.org/about-us. All proceeds from the night will be given to this fantastic organization that is changing the game for women across Toronto.
There will be a cash bar. And after the performances, audience members and artists are invited to stay for a drink, to socialize and discuss the performances. And dance! And sing! And pretty much engage with this celebration however one sees fit! Bottom line, we just want you there.
This year’s event will be held on Friday, March 9th starting at 8:00 p.m. at the Ernest Balmer Studio in the Distillery District. Doors open at 7:30pm.
Poster art by the incredibly talented Mirka Loiselle, 2017/2018 Young Innovators. Check out more of her amazing illustration work at Mirkaillustrates
Shen Development festival: Shen cabaret
Join us starting at 1pm on November 19 for a free festival of new theatre, dance and musical works by performers and creators of Asian Heritage, a culmination of a year’s worth of development support from Soulpepper. The Shen Development Festival is programmed by Shen Fellow Courtney Ch’ng Lancaster with associate programmers Rong Fu and Miquelon Rodriguez.
All events are FREE. Please book your complimentary tickets below to avoid disappointment as space may be limited for some events.
The Shen Cabaret at 8:30pm, curated by Festival co-programmer Miquelon Rodriguez, showcases local musicians and artists in an intimate setting. Conf irmed cabaret artists include Deanna Choi, Athena Kaitlin Trinh, Bo Lam, Victoria Marie, and Arlene Paculan.
Announcing this year's Factory Mechanicals...
Athena is ecstatic to be joining an incredible team this year at Factory Theatre -- Led by Nina Lee Aquino, the Factory Mechanicals unit consists of:
"This program is designed to contribute to the long-term career of the actor, as well as foster a creative spirit and encourage expressions of cultural diversity in a professional theatre setting. For the 10 month duration of this program, the participants will not only gain a strong understanding of how new Canadian theatre is created and produced, but they will join the Factory Theatre family of artists and staff , and be provided with in house work space to launch their own projects (when space is available). We believe this program could serve as a vital bridge between graduating theatre school and launching a professional career. The Mechanicals will end the program confident that they will always have Factory Theatre as a resource and cultural home. Our unwavering belief in the long term commitment to our artist begins with the emerging ones."
Potluck Festival XIV | presented by fu-GEN
The Potluck Festival is an evening of new work by the emerging creators from the fu-GEN Theatre's Kitchen creation lab. Asian Canadian stories, cooked in house, using local ingredients. Join the Kitchen Creators as they serve up dishes for the soul and the stomach - a community potluck meal will be served following the performance.
We're proud to present the 2017 Kitchen creators,
and their new works at Potluck XIV:
Apple by Cynthia Hicks
Buy+Hold by Milton Lim
please don't tell my Dad by Vivian Or
Banana Girlz by Nathalie Younglai
Rosedale by Ran Zhu
Athena read for the part of Jade in Nathalie Younglai's Banana Girlz.
Language
Directed by Elizabeth Lazebnik
Cinematography by Mikhail Petrenko
Set Design by Christine Urquhart
Alexey Serebryakyov as King Lear
Athena Kaitlin Trinh as Cordelia
A bold new enactment of Shakespeare’s King Lear, reinterpreted as a tragedy of the failure of the most essential human gift.
This new adaptation of King Lear will not only showcase Canadian talent but each actor will speak a different language, reflecting Canada’s unity despite the diverse communities and explore this concept of language as a socio-political currency.
Director’s statement: “It doesn't matter what tools we use to express ourselves — we speak the same human language. When we learn to speak this language without being personal, about racism, equality, inequality… It changes how we approach multiculturalism, and it changes how we approach each other.”
"Chopsticks"
Athena kicked off the lunar new year with a spoken word piece that she has been working on since her visit to Vietnam over the summer of 2016.
This piece touches on the culture, heritage, and roots, that Athena was (re)exposed to while visiting her parents in the 'motherland'.
The latter half of the video (@5:45) is a self-tape for the #CrazyRichAsiansCasting call put out by director Jon M. Chu.
jrmojo (Watchmojo videos)
JrMojo an exciting and diverse channel with lovable characters as well as creative kids utilizing the internet as a space for self-expression. Dynamic entertainment inspired by our exciting technological world: videophone tutorials, texting short stories, educational listicals, VR360 games, Vlogging, Videogame Live-play, as well as classic and contemporary DIY/craft activities.
We aim to build programming with a conscious and careful understanding of how media can powerfully affect social, emotional, cognitive and physical development in children. We strongly encourage caregivers and teachers to provide us with feedback and suggestions to help us grow. Please send all comments and concerns to jrmojo@watchmojo.com
Miranda & Dave Begin Again © Laurence Philomene
Miranda & Dave Begin Again
A PLAY IN ONE ACT BY RHIANNON COLLETT
DIRECTION AND DRAMATURGY BY JESSE STONG
Miranda is curating a used underwear archive. Her boyfriend Dave is stalking women - experimentally. Her sister Eden is tired of giving blowjobs. Is this the end or just the beginning?
June 2016 St. Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival
Featuring Doug Ennenberg, Alexandra Laferriere & Athena Trinh
