Derek Chan

Age: 30
Ethnicity: Hong Kong Chinese
Occupation and/or Company: Theatre-maker and translator; co-artistic director, rice & beans theatre.
Years of experience: Graduated from SFU in 2010.

Personal & professional philosophy: Theatre should be honest, personal, accessible, and artistically responsible.

Upcoming performances/ project: 食盡天下/A Taste of Empire in association with Gateway Theatre’s Pacific Festival, September 15th – 17th, 2016.

What is the highlight of your work?
When we first started, with no government funding at all, we decided doing a festival on Vancouver Island with a cast of six was a good idea, financially. Money was tight, but the tour was a blast. It was our first show out of town and I’ll always remember that period fondly as the time when we did it just because.
Then one year we crammed 35 people in a tiny studio. With a cast of seven, all running their butts off, performing complex choreographed movements and text. It was madness. That show was in the middle of Summer. By the end the performance space smelled very much like the inside of a ship.

Future goals: Keep sharing stories that needs to be heard, and bring exciting, original performances to the audience.