Comfort, 2016          

                  

Comfort – Performance Excerpt

Award Nominations

MyTheatre Awards (by My Entertainment World) Nominations:
Director William Yong was nominated for ’Outstanding Direction’.
Actor Timothy Ng was nominated for ‘Outstanding Supporting Actor’.
Actress Phoebe Hu was nominated for ‘Outstanding Supporting Actress’.

Dora Mavor Moore Awards Nomination:
Composer Constantine Caravassilis was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Awards ‘Outstanding Composition’

Theatre critics hailed Comfort as:

“…a lyrical, creatively staged, and outright heartbreaking drama about love and resilience in a time of horror and atrocity. I was spellbound by the complex storytelling and moving performances; this was a play that I will never forget.” ~Chris Klippenstein – Mooney On Theatre

“Every movement feels deliberate and precise…there are moments of true awe and beauty…If you want to be moved or to have something to think about, then this is the show for you. It is dark and tragic, but beautiful and haunting all the same.” ~Jonathan Zagrodnik – The Theatre Reader

“Tso and her director William Yong tell this difficult story with great artistry and sensitivity, employing dance, live music and Chinese opera to support the well-researched text…The play is not only an homage to the survivors of the comfort women’s horrifying ordeal, it’s a powerful plea for an end to war.” ~Celeste Sansregret – Sprockets and Greasepaint

“Yong’s production also creates some beautiful images with his own set design and choreography… Some of the most arresting moments in Comfort occur when there’s no speaking…” ~Carly Maga – Toronto Star

“William Yong provides an unflinching look at the laundry-list of barbaric acts these women endured…It’s heavy and difficult viewing, for sure, but it’s also a historical reality that needs to be seen…Comfort is an harsh but educational look at this devastating war crime.” ~Jordan Bimm – Now Toronto Magazine

Photos by Dahlia Katz

Comfort, a new play by Diana Tso, in honour of the comfort women in Asia during WWII & the resilience women in war (supported by the Canada Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council & the Ontario Arts Council) will have its world premiere November 26 – December 10, 2016

Click here to see a brief excerpt about our production.

Performances:

Tuesdays to Saturday @ 8pm
Saturday matinees @ 2pm
Gala performance November 25 @ 8pm
Preview November 24 @ 8pm

Theatre:

Aki Studio (Native Earth Performing Arts), Daniels Spectrum
585 Dundas Street East (east of Parliament Street) (Google Map)

Tickets:
General admission $28
Artsworkers $20
Students $15
Gala Performance $48 (includes post-performance reception with artists)
Tuesdays pay-what-you-can
Box Office: TO BUY TICKETS Click here: www.nativeearth.ca/comfort
Phone: 416-531-1402

For school shows and students workshops please contact Diana Tso @ redsnowcollective@gmail.com

Download Comfort Educator’s Study Guide.

Direction-William Yong, Music-Constantine Caravassilis, Lighting Design-Rebecca Picherack, Costume Design-Erika Chong
Set Construction-James Kendal, Stage Management-Elizabeth McDermott, Production Management-A.J. Morra,
Videographer-Darren Bryant, Photographer-Dahlia Katz
Cast: Vania Chan, Phoebe Hu, Jen Hum, Vicki Kim, Oliver Koomsatira, Timothy Ng, Jeff Yung
Musicians: Patty Chan, Cathy Nosaty, Brandon Miguel Valdivia

COMFORT was part of the 70th anniversary commemorating the end of World War Two August 2015 Remembering Resilience part of the “History + Art = Peace” series of events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII. Find out more at www.alphaeducation.org   

Poster photo by Dahlia Katz

Vicki Kim, Jen Hum                               Jeff Yung, Vicki Kim                                Vicki Kim
Photos by Dahlia Katz

Comfort Production’s Special Events:

Red Snow Collective’s “Sharing the Stage on the Same Road” series features post-show talks with the three women artists sharing their work connected to our play’s themes celebrating women’s stories:

November 26, 2016, after matinee show -Lilia Leon, dancer/theatre artist

Local dancer, choreographer will share a short monologue from her full-length dance-theatre piece titled Perdida, that speaks about a woman carrying the history of her Indigenous ancestors, the complexities of a colonized civilization, and the resilience of her people.

November 30, 2016, after evening show -Tiffany Hsiung, filmmaker

Local filmmaker Tiffany Hsiung made waves with her debut feature at this year’s Hot Docs with The Apology, chronicling the inspirational story of “comfort women” and will share some of her stories meeting the comfort women to create her film to honour their stories.

December 3, 2016, after matinee show -Joy Kogawa, writer

Joy Kogawa, one of North America’s most celebrated literary elders and award-winning author, shares her journey and her new book, Gently to Nagasaki.  Kogawa knows what it means to be classified as the enemy, and she seeks urgently to get beyond false and dangerous distinctions of “us” and “them.” Interweaving the events of her own life with catastrophes like the bombing of Nagasaki and the massacre by the Japanese imperial army at Nanking, she wrestles with essential questions like good and evil, love and hate, rage and forgiveness, determined above all to arrive at her own truths.

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“Food and Stories meet in Celebration”:

December 7, 2016, after evening show -Sang Kim, writer & chef

Sang Kim is behind some of the most iconic modern Asian restaurants in the city of Toronto, and runs Canada’s most popular sushi making class, Sushi Making For The Soul. His play, A Dream Called Laundry, published in 2007, is about a comfort woman living in Toronto. He has two books coming out in 2017: Woody Allen Ate My Kimchi, a food and restaurant memoir, and Eating Dogs, a collection of literary short stories. Sang will be offering temaki rolls to the audience, using Chinese and Korean ingredients (with a variety of seafood and vegetarian options) to celebrate this great play about the strength and courage of women from these countries.

Photos by Vince Ha

A love story about two youth in Nanjing whose journey leads them into the horrors of a comfort house in Shanghai 1937.

Director: William Yong (www.zataomm.org) Playwright: Diana Tso  Music Composer: Constantine Caravassilis