First Born Theatre

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🎉 Come celebrate our playwrights at this year&#39;s Playwriting Roundtable Showcase!&nbsp;🎉 Witness Helen Ho&#39;s 馬騮 (MALLO),&nbsp;Antong Xu&#39;s Business Trip of the Servants from Hell&nbsp;or&nbsp;地府公务员儿出差记, and Laura Grigorakis&#39;&nbsp;Chimera. This will be each play&#39;s first public showing. The day will be complete with raffles, snacks, and great conversation. A perfect Sunday getting to know Canada&#39;s brightest new theatre talent.&nbsp; ABOUT THE ROUNDTABLEThe Playwriting Roundtable is a 5-month long program where emerging playwrights work to develop new pieces of theatre with the support of emerging dramaturgs and facilitators. Each session, the roundtable focuses on creative and career building skills through a series of workshops led by different emerging artists in the Toronto theatre community, who we believe are the future leaders of our industry. This year, we have chosen to focus on plays featuring or focusing on bilingual or multilingual elements. ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS (written by Facilitators)&nbsp; Helen Ho&nbsp;has written plays, like Bus Stop (Toronto Fringe 2024), Maggie Chun&#39;s First Love &amp; Last Wedding (2023 TO Fringe New Play Contest Winner), was a runner-up for Tarragon Theatre&#39;s 2024 Ellen Ross Stuart Award, and a playwright for Driftwood Theatre&#39;s 2022 Beyond the Bard program. Helen&#39;s work is funny, honest, and thoughtful. She&#39;s a playwright that thinks outside of the box, seamlessly hopping between worlds and allowing us to connect profoundly with each character she writes about. Helen&#39;s writing will make you laugh and cry, oftentimes simultaneously.&nbsp; Antong Xu is a playwright and actor born and raised in Qinhuangdao, China, now based in Tkaronto. He was part of Tarragon Theatre&rsquo;s Young Playwrights Unit in 2024 where he developed his play Table!. Antong is sweet, passionate, curious, and deeply caring. A perfectionist with a clear vision of the worlds he wants to create, Antong is always open to peer feedback and conversation. His writing is reflective, mystical, and beautiful. A truly unique voice in today&#39;s theatre landscape. &nbsp; Laura Grigorakis&nbsp;or Dizzy is a queer, Mad, Greek-Canadian playwright and poet with an extensive plant collection. Their work has been featured in Hair Care by Reclamation Media, and they&#39;re the 2024 recipient of the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse scholarship for Theatre at the University of Toronto. Dizzy is edgy, cool, and highly intelligent with a laugh that fills up the room. Their work breaks moulds and takes risks, expanding our understanding of what&#39;s possible on stage. They are deeply committed to community building and accessibility and their work is introspective, poetic, and full of heart.&nbsp; ABOUT THE PLAYS: 馬騮 (Mallo)&nbsp;by&nbsp;Helen Ho&nbsp;Mallo is a monkey, a girl, a Chinese-Canadian storyteller dressed as a monkey-- and she is telling us two different Journey to the Wests: the fantastical Chinese folktale about the monkey king, and the story of her family&rsquo;s arrival in Canada. Dressed for the tale, Mallo takes us along the westward journeys of monkey king Sun Wukong and her dad; crossing different lands, times, and climates. This play is about oral storytelling in different languages, immigration, the legacies we leave, and the stories we tell. How much of yourself do you have to give to tell a good story? How much does the truth matter if the story is good? Business Trip of the Servants from Hell or 地府公务员儿出差记,&nbsp;by Antong XuTraveling through the River of Time, 牛头马面, Cow Head and Horse Face are here to do their job: to bring the souls of three deceased Chinese immigrant back to where they are meant to be. The comrade, the painter and the martyr, none of them are ready. So yeah, where are they meant to be? We&rsquo;ll see...牛头马面在时光之河中浮出水面，向你招手。别怕，他们不是来找你的。他们此行的任务，是引领三位华人移民的灵魂返回他们该去的地方。什么是&ldquo;该去的地方&rdquo;？你知道吗？其实我也不知道。咋整，你说。唉。 Chimera&nbsp;by&nbsp;Laura &quot;Dizzy&quot; GrigorakisSerpent, goat or lion?&nbsp;Chimera, follows Greek immigrant Areti (a.k.a Artie) in a confrontation of Madness, sexual trauma, and identity in the midst of their first queer breakup. Three &#39;fruits&#39; that make up the facets of Artie&#39;s mind help resurrect she-god Chimera in attempts to bring Artie solace, but will it work? Chimera pulls us through memories of Greece and Toronto queerfully, poetically, and brutally. This new work is as wild as life is painful, and asks all the tough questions. How can we accept inevitable death? How do we forgive the unforgivable? and How can we move through life when we don&#39;t fit in anywhere?&nbsp; The Playwriting Roundtable is graciously supported by Native Earth Performing Arts and Touchwood PR.&nbsp;

Hi <span contenteditable="false" data-custom-variable="{{firstname}}" fr-original-class="fr-deletable styled-tag-chip" fr-original-style="" style="background-color: rgb(248, 248, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(191, 191, 255); border-radius: 4px; color: rgb(42, 42, 196); padding: 1px 8px; font-size: 11px; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: anywhere; user-select: none; box-sizing: inherit;">First name, Thank you for your ticket purchase! Can&#39;t wait to see you at the showcase 💖 To keep updated on all things First Born Theatre, follow us on Instagram at <a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.instagram.com/firstborntheatre/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: initial; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">@firstborntheatre</a>, or visit our website at <a fr-original-style="" href="https://www.firstborntheatre.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-color: initial; user-select: auto; box-sizing: inherit;" target="_blank">firstborntheatre.com</a>.&nbsp; Warmly,&nbsp;The First Born Theatre Teamfirstborntheatreco@gmail.com

🎉 Come celebrate our playwrights at this year's Playwriting Roundtable Showcase! 🎉 Witness Helen Ho's 馬騮 (MALLO), Antong Xu's Business Trip of the Servants from Hell or 地府公务员儿出差记, and Laura Grigorakis' Chimera. This will be each play's first public showing. The day will be complete with raffles, snacks, and great conversation. A perfect Sunday getting to know Canada's brightest new theatre talent.  ABOUT THE ROUNDTABLEThe Playwriting Roundtable is a 5-month long program where emerging playwrights work to develop new pieces of theatre with the support of emerging dramaturgs and facilitators. Each session, the roundtable focuses on creative and career building skills through a series of workshops led by different emerging artists in the Toronto theatre community, who we believe are the future leaders of our industry. This year, we have chosen to focus on plays featuring or focusing on bilingual or multilingual elements. ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS (written by Facilitators)  Helen Ho has written plays, like Bus Stop (Toronto Fringe 2024), Maggie Chun's First Love &amp; Last Wedding (2023 TO Fringe New Play Contest Winner), was a runner-up for Tarragon Theatre's 2024 Ellen Ross Stuart Award, and a playwright for Driftwood Theatre's 2022 Beyond the Bard program. Helen's work is funny, honest, and thoughtful. She's a playwright that thinks outside of the box, seamlessly hopping between worlds and allowing us to connect profoundly with each character she writes about. Helen's writing will make you laugh and cry, oftentimes simultaneously.  Antong Xu is a playwright and actor born and raised in Qinhuangdao, China, now based in Tkaronto. He was part of Tarragon Theatre’s Young Playwrights Unit in 2024 where he developed his play Table!. Antong is sweet, passionate, curious, and deeply caring. A perfectionist with a clear vision of the worlds he wants to create, Antong is always open to peer feedback and conversation. His writing is reflective, mystical, and beautiful. A truly unique voice in today's theatre landscape.   Laura Grigorakis or Dizzy is a queer, Mad, Greek-Canadian playwright and poet with an extensive plant collection. Their work has been featured in Hair Care by Reclamation Media, and they're the 2024 recipient of the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse scholarship for Theatre at the University of Toronto. Dizzy is edgy, cool, and highly intelligent with a laugh that fills up the room. Their work breaks moulds and takes risks, expanding our understanding of what's possible on stage. They are deeply committed to community building and accessibility and their work is introspective, poetic, and full of heart.  ABOUT THE PLAYS: 馬騮 (Mallo) by Helen Ho Mallo is a monkey, a girl, a Chinese-Canadian storyteller dressed as a monkey-- and she is telling us two different Journey to the Wests: the fantastical Chinese folktale about the monkey king, and the story of her family’s arrival in Canada. Dressed for the tale, Mallo takes us along the westward journeys of monkey king Sun Wukong and her dad; crossing different lands, times, and climates. This play is about oral storytelling in different languages, immigration, the legacies we leave, and the stories we tell. How much of yourself do you have to give to tell a good story? How much does the truth matter if the story is good? Business Trip of the Servants from Hell or 地府公务员儿出差记, by Antong XuTraveling through the River of Time, 牛头马面, Cow Head and Horse Face are here to do their job: to bring the souls of three deceased Chinese immigrant back to where they are meant to be. The comrade, the painter and the martyr, none of them are ready. So yeah, where are they meant to be? We’ll see...牛头马面在时光之河中浮出水面，向你招手。别怕，他们不是来找你的。他们此行的任务，是引领三位华人移民的灵魂返回他们该去的地方。什么是“该去的地方”？你知道吗？其实我也不知道。咋整，你说。唉。 Chimera by Laura "Dizzy" GrigorakisSerpent, goat or lion? Chimera, follows Greek immigrant Areti (a.k.a Artie) in a confrontation of Madness, sexual trauma, and identity in the midst of their first queer breakup. Three 'fruits' that make up the facets of Artie's mind help resurrect she-god Chimera in attempts to bring Artie solace, but will it work? Chimera pulls us through memories of Greece and Toronto queerfully, poetically, and brutally. This new work is as wild as life is painful, and asks all the tough questions. How can we accept inevitable death? How do we forgive the unforgivable? and How can we move through life when we don't fit in anywhere?  The Playwriting Roundtable is graciously supported by Native Earth Performing Arts and Touchwood PR.

First Born Theatre

Playwriting Roundtable Showcase

250

Sprout Price 🌱

$15

Leaf Price 🍃

$25

House Plant Price 🪴

$35

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