By Rick Tae

A Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre (vAct) and Zee Zee Theatre co-production, in association with rice & beans theatre

My Little Tomato was developed as part of Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre’s (vAct) 2019-20 MSG Theatre Lab 1 with the assistance of PTC. The play received further development support with the participation of vAct.

CAST

Shay Dior, MLT/MLP
Taylor Kare, Joe McKinley
Nelson Wong, Keaton Chu

CREATIVE TEAM

Playwright: Rick Tae
Director: Cameron Mackenzie
Assistant Director: Jack Bumbala
Dramaturg: Joanna Garfinkel
Producer: Derek Chan 陳嘉昊
Associate Producer: Shanae Sodhi
Set & Props Designer: Sophie Tang
Costume Designer: Melicia Zaini
Lighting Designer: Jonathan Kim
Sound Designer & Composition: Mary Jane Coomber
Assistant Sound Designer: Mishelle Cuttler*
Production Manager: Jamie Sweeney
Associate Production Manager: Brianna Bernard
Technical Director: Christian Ching
Props Coordinator: Monica Emme
Stage Manager: Yvonne Yip 葉澔暉
Apprentice Stage Manager: Yuting Yue
Movement Coordinator: Ted Littlemore
Intimacy Director: Karyn Mott

vAct is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatre and engages under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement, professional artists who are members of the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association.

*The services of Mishelle Cuttler were made possible through the Associated Designers of Canada Assistant Designer Program funded by the Government of Canada

Donna Yamamoto, Anjela Magpantay, Kathleen Flaherty, June Fukumura, Derek Chan, Joanna Garfinkel, Cameron Mackenzie, my parents Gloria and Oliver, my best friend Ryan, my partner of 20 years (!) Ty, Heath, Erik, Darren, that piece of crap from high school, some ravaged tomatoes and other sentient beings are all who have made this seed of an idea into a playscript, and then into a production that I’m grateful to be sharing with all of you today, myself having weathered through enough of a life labyrinth to finally welcome its themes.

Food, Surrealism and East-meets-West have always driven my creative endeavours. As the world continues to shift towards wedging us all apart with our differences, I chose to highlight idealistic characters that insist we are all the same. The universality of loving and being loved should aim to transcend race, sex, culture and species. Cirque du Soleil, Stephen Chow’s Mo Lei Tau nonsensical comedies as well as filmmaker Baz Luhrmann’s caffeinated storytelling had weaved together in my mind also as a mosaic of stylistic inspiration.

As I found myself escaping into this fantastical creative process, being told throughout life that I’m too Asian, too Western, too straight, too gay, too fat, too skinny, too serious or too sensitive, it is my first foray into playwrighting that has finally summoned this: no one else gets to define you, cause maybe you’re ALL those things and then some, so just make sure who and what you love will always keep loving you back! Now, that, to me, is romance! Unless, of course, you like it a little rough instead, then… perfect! This is ALSO the show for you! Please enjoy.

—Rick Tae

When Joanna Garfinkel brought this to me I thought “A Gay, Asian, rom-com? YES please!”

What I found so charming was that two men meet, challenge each other, get day-drunk on a date and then a Non-Binary Tomato enters…astounding!

These two men have baggage. They have lives filled with hurt and disappointment, death and abuse. They struggle to find meaning and purpose and a way to contribute to society and yet none of this trauma, none of this struggle is tied to their Queerness. *GASP*

There is such a sense of humour and play and whimsy while at the same time grappling with the questions “what do we need to move beyond lived and ancestral trauma?” and “What do we want from our lives now?”

I find the exploration of embracing fetish as a means to heal very exciting, especially as it begins to pick at the way sexuality can be influenced by racism and colonialism.

When Derek approached me to do a vAct/ Zee Zee co-production I jumped at the opportunity to collaborate and what a joy to produce in association with rice & beans theatre.

The thing that grounds this piece for me, that is the underlying thread is the connection these two men have. There is something about the other person that is so profound that it forces them to change and grow. Derek and I agreed that the bed would be the central focus, that the act of sex as a catalyst for change was so powerful that the show needed to revolve around it.

We wanted the set all white to be able to impose various moods and locations but it also tied into the traditional Chinese colour for funerals. This play starts with the death of parents but becomes the death of expectations, of societal notions of how we should be and how relationships should look. The frame represents the past, the family behind us that we must choose to walk away from or at the very least evolve from.

Our brilliant set designer wanted to capture the essence of the kindergarten teacher and introduced the ball pit as well as the work of Yayoi Kusama and all of a sudden, as so often is the case in these collaborative processes, it all began to make sense.

​​Kusama’s installation and sculptural works are inspired and informed by her memories of childhood abuse, repression, and trauma, and her ongoing experiences with mental disorder and sexual anxiety. Covering sheets of paper with miniscule, repetitive marks not only fed her love of art, but also helped her cope with the stress-induced hallucinations she’d experienced from a young age. Using her work to inspire this incredibly surreal, abstract installation allowed us to house the story of these two men outside of realism but still stay connected to the heart of it.

On behalf of The Cultch, rice & beans, vAct and all of us at Zee Zee, thank you for joining us.

We hope you enjoy the show!

—Cameron Mackenzie

Founded in 2001 by Joyce Lam, Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre (vAct) first began as a community theatre. Over the next 12 years, vAct collaborated with over 500 Asian Canadian theatre artists, and produced over 40 shows. In 2013, Donna Yamamoto was appointed as the Producing Artistic Director. Thus began vAct’s rapid transformation from a community theatre to one of the most exciting diversity-mandated professional theatre companies in Canada. In the Western Canadian theatre community, vAct plays a unique role. We are the only professional theatre company in Western Canada to consistently premiere new works by Asian Canadians. Following Donna’s retirement in 2022, Derek Chan took over as Managing Artistic Director, bringing with him over a decade’s experience in creating, developing, and producing original intercultural, multilingual works within BC, across Canada, and internationally.

vAct Team

Derek Chan 陳嘉昊 (he/him) – Managing Artistic Director
Christian Ching (he/they) – Associate Artistic Producer
Karla Comanda (she/they) – Marketing Coordinator
Annie Jang (she/her) – General Manager
Anjela Magpantay (she/her) – Programming & Outreach Associate
Laara Ong (she/her) – Hospitality Associate
Karen Tsui (she/they) – Development Coordinator

Zee Zee Theatre believes in individual stories that provoke and inspire us, and that foster common understanding and empathy across our diverse human experiences. We are devoted to telling diverse stories and amplifying the voices of those on the margins with a focus on LGBTQ2SI+ communities. Zee Zee explores intimate moments through which the infinite complexity of human character can be revealed.

Zee Zee Theatre Team

Cameron Mackenzie – Artistic & Executive Director
Dave Deveau – Associate Artistic Director
Sabah Haque – Development & Operations Manager
Angela Vannatter – Digital Communications Coordinator
Maria Zarrillo – Associate Producer
Jordy Matheson – Collection Project Producer
 Meredith Burney – Bookkeeper

rice & beans theatre is a Vancouver-based theatre company founded in 2010 by Pedro Chamale and Derek Chan. We provide a platform for the creation, development and production of boundary-pushing theatre by artists of colour or otherwise marginalized theatre-makers, as well as support to fellow artists by providing dramaturgy, direction, and mentorship. We are dedicated to facilitating original Canadian work that is accessible, honest, uncompromising and personal. In addition to Vancouver, we have also produced original work for audiences in Toronto, Richmond, Nanaimo and Victoria. In 2018, rice & beans was nominated for a Dora Award for its production of 食盡天下/A Taste of Empire with Cahoots Theatre in Toronto. In 2019, its production of Chicken Girl was nominated for 3 Jessies in Vancouver and in 2022, its production of Yellow Objects won a Jessie Innovation Award.

vAct would like to acknowledge the generous support of Bonnie Mah, Jack Gin Family Foundation, held at Vancouver Foundation, Elsie and Audrey Jang Fund, held at Vancouver Foundation, Anndraya Luui, Bruce and Susan Stout, Ken Gracie & Philip Waddell of The McGrane-Pearson Endowment Fund, held at Vancouver Foundation, and all of our donors listed on our website.

Special thanks to Allen Baylosis, Lisz Kaellen, Tina Krueger Kulic, Michael MacLennan, Sarah Race, Amber Smith, Principal Intimacy Professionals