SILK BATH Coming to Toronto Fringe

Silk Bath is a ruthless, satirical, physical exploration of what it means to be accepted by society, after the citizenship paperwork is signed. Set under the lights of a live reality TV show taping, four immigrants battle it out for a place in their new home. Can we ever shed the label of the outsider?

Performed in Mandarin, Cantonese, and English (with Chinese and English surtitles), S ilk Bath i s accessible to a community this is often excluded from Canadian stages. The play explores the existing contradiction in Western Media which deems Asians as "safe" for Western consumption, yet continually whitewashes Asian stories and roles. As one of three Culturally Diverse Artist Projects in the Toronto Fringe this year, Silk Bath Collective is thrilled to be presenting this necessary and relevant story. Who has the power to decide the fate of immigrants in today's society? And who gets to deem someone as "safe"?

Silk Bath Collective is comprised of three Chinese Canadian theatre­makers (Bessie Cheng, Aaron Jan and Gloria Mok) who first met as members of fu­GEN Theatre's K12 Playwriting Unit. They collaboratively wrote Stuck, seven intersecting stories that explored the dynamics of race, power, and politics which was presented as part of fu­GEN's annual Potluck Festival in 2015.

Director Aaron Jan was the youngest person to win "Best of Hamilton Fringe" at 20 years old for his play D rafts presented by Fulcrum Theatre in 2012. Jan was selected as one of Factory Theatre's 2015­2016 Foremen ­ a new training program led by Nina Lee Aquino for mentoring directors of colour in staging new work. Performer En Lai Mah has been praised for his roles in S erved (NNNN) at the 2015 Toronto Fringe, V an Groovy (NNNN) at the 2013 Toronto Fringe, and I Am Very Far (NNNN) at the 2013 Summerworks Festival. Performer Amanda Zhou appeared in M adame Mao (NNNN) at the 2014 Summerworks Festival. Zhou is the granddaughter of Zhou Xuan, the Golden Voice of China's Seven Singing Stars.

Silk Bath

Written by: Bessie Cheng, Aaron Jan, and Gloria Mok Director: Aaron Jan
Producer: Gloria Mok
Cast: Bessie Cheng, Dorcas Chiu, En Lai Mah, Amanda Zhou Stage Manager and Lighting Designer: Logan Cracknell Costume and Set Designer: Aram Heydarian

Projection and Sound Designer: Kevin Feliciano Fight Choreographer: Louisa Zhu
Assistant Fight Coordinator: Julius Cho

Twitter: h ttps://twitter.com/SilkBathTO @SilkBathTO #SilkBathTO #fringe2016 Facebook: h ttps://www.facebook.com/silkbathcollective/ Website: h ttp://silkbathcollective.wix.com/fringe

Wednesday June 29 ­ 8:45­9:45 PM
Saturday July 2 ­ 9:45­10:45 PM
Monday July 4 ­ 4:30­5:30 PM
Tuesday July 5 ­ 1:15­2:15 PM
Thursday July 7 ­ 9:15­10:15 PM
Friday July 8 ­ 4:15­5:15 PM
Saturday July 9 ­ 8:00­9:00 PM
Tarragon Theatre Mainspace
Tickets: h ttp://fringetoronto.com/fringe­festival/shows/silk­bath/ 416­966­1062 (Sales start June 9th) As per the rules of the Fringe, latecomers will not be seated.

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