Family Fun Lunar New Year Celebration

January 21 2023
Family-friendly event
Tickets $8

22/23 Season
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Did you know that eating fish for Lunar New Year brings prosperity for the year to come? Preparing the fish whole, from head to tail, is meant to ensure a good start and finish to the year! To learn more of these traditions in a fun, playful way, bring your whole family to Gateway Theatre for a joyful experience listening to a live reading of Bun Fun New Year – a humorous tale of Bunnifer and Bunnithy as they prepare a traditional Lunar New Year family feast. Welcome the Year of the Rabbit by practicing some ‘bunny dance moves’ and let your children’s imagination soar with themed craft activities we prepared for you.

Bun Fun New Year is the first episode of our free audio play series, A Year of Blessings, written and performed by the Five Blessings Collective. Episodes in this series will be released throughout the year, each celebrating a traditional Chinese festival. We hope to share the wonders of these cultural traditions by retelling the stories about these Chinese festivals. These audio plays are free to listen and more information can be found here.

Limited spots available – get your tickets today and celebrate the Year of the Rabbit with us!

  • Audience Considerations

    Recommended for ages 4 to 9, though all ages are welcome. Children must be accompanied by a parent/guardian at all times.

  • Ticket Pricing

    All guests aged 3 and up will need to purchase a ticket. Seating is limited. Children aged 2 and under do not need to buy a ticket if they sit on an adult’s lap. If you are bringing children aged 2 and under who do not need their own seats, please let us know by emailing boxoffice@gatewaytheatre.com. If you wish to have a physical seat for them, please purchase a ticket.

    Admission:
    Ages 2 and under – Free
    Ages 3 and up – $8 per person (includes $2.10 ticketing fee)

  • Know Before You Go

    The first part of the celebration will be in Studio B which involves the live reading of Bun Fun New Year and learning bunny dance moves. (Approx 50 minutes)

    Following the reading, guests can make their way into the lobby for some arts and crafts. (Approx 40 minutes)

    There are two timeslots to choose from (10-11:30AM or 1-2:30PM). Please arrive 15 minutes before your scheduled time slot so guests can be seated promptly. Please have your e-ticket printed or on your mobile phone ready to be scanned at the door.

    Our concessions will have a variety of snacks and beverages available for purchase. For the safety of our guests and team members, outside food and beverage will not be permitted. Exceptions will be made for medical or infant needs.

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Artistic Team

Derek Chan

Bio

Derek Chan

Derek Chan (陳嘉昊) grew up in colonial Hong Kong and currently lives and works on the stolen and ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, colonially known as Vancouver. An award-winning multilingual playwright, director, translator, and performer, he is the Managing Artistic Director of Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre. Derek was an artist in residence at the National Arts Centre English Theatre Department in the 2019/20 season, developing yellow objects, an installation-exhibition in support of the ongoing pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. He was the co-recipient of the 2021 Simon Fraser University FCAT Young Alumni Award for his work at rice & beans theatre.

Jasmine Chen

Bio

Jasmine Chen

Jasmine is a second-generation Taiwanese-Singaporean immigrant artist based in the unceded lands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and Səl̓ílwətaɬ Nations and T’karonto.

Jasmine’s work as a director, performer, educator and creator has engaged with communities from coast to coast in repertory festivals, indie theatres, regional and outdoor theatres. She creates multilingual interdisciplinary work that pushes for linguistic and formal diversity.

Jasmine is a recipient of the Gina Wilkinson Award, the Jon Kaplan Canadian Stage Performer Award, and the Stratford Festival Jean Gascon Award. She has been featured in CBC Arts, The Georgia Straight, NOW Magazine, and the Vancouver Sun. msjasminechen.com.

Howard Dai

Bio

Howard Dai

Howard Dai is a Taiwanese actor and theatre artist based in so-called Vancouver whose work has been seen across Canada. His performances and creations have existed in theatre, films, public spaces, Zoom screens, Google Sheets, automated phone calls, interactive websites, and virtual reality.  Howard was the Assistant Director and a swing performer for the world premiere of Forgiveness (Arts Club Theatre & Theatre Calgary). He was the 2022 digital-artist-in-residence with PuSh Festival and Royal Court Theatre with his new play 菠蘿麵包Pineapple Bun. Howard is an Associate Artist with rice & beans theatre, and holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from SFU School for the Contemporary Arts.  www.howarddai.com

Robyn Jacob

Bio

Robyn Jacob

Robyn Jacob is a pianist, singer, composer and educator living in and working from the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm and Səl’il’wətaʔ Nations. She has toured Canada and internationally with her avant-pop project Only A Visitor, who have been recently brought on to the Mint Records label. Her compositions include commissions by Third Coast Percussion, Architek Percussion, So Percussion, and Little Chamber Music, and collaborations with visual artists and instrument makers. In 2020 she celebrated the release of Earth Leaps Up on the label elsewhere music with her duo The Giving Shapes in collaboration with harpist Elisa Thorn. Since 2012 she has been part of the multi-disciplinary collective Publik Secrets, currently artists in residence at the Hadden Park Field House with the City of Vancouver. In 2013 she toured Bali with Gamelan Gita Asmara, and has since been co-leading Gamelan Bike Bike.

Nancy Tam

Bio

Nancy Tam

Sound Artist, 譚亦斯 (Nancy Tam), works and lives on the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Her practice is collaborative, often models after devised theatrical processes. Nancy works transdisciplinarily fusing sound and performance as primary media with a specialization in spatialized multi-channel sound performance for live and fixed media. Her current research triangulates between sound, space, and body to investigate notions of horizontality and peripherality in the context of immersive spatial and sonic designs. Nancy has a penchant toward listening to quiet sounds and observing quotidian performances. Her work is form-bending and dramaturgically rigorous. Nancy is a founding member of the Vancouver-based interdisciplinary performance collective A Wake of Vultures as well as the Toronto-based Toy Piano Composers collective. She is an award-winning composer. Her compositions, audio walks, performances, and collaborations have toured in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Belgium, Norway, Hong Kong, the U.S. and throughout Canada.

About Five Blessings Collective

Five Blessings is composed of five Chinese Canadian artists from disciplines spanning theatre, sound and music, movement and performance. We are Nancy Tam, Derek Chan, Robyn Jacob, Jasmine Chen, and Howard Dai–five first and second-generation Hong Kong and Taiwanese settlers to Turtle Island. Our work celebrates the complexities found within stories and traditions from the Chinese diaspora through songs, audio plays, film, and stageworks. We are the creators of Double Happiness which includes the multimedia song cycle “Detour This Way”, and its companion short film A Little Detour. www.happinesshappiness.ca

Special Thanks

Metro Vancouver
TD Bank Group
Vancouver Writers Fest