Kris, a young diasporic Chinese woman, attempts to reconcile her upbringing between Canada and Singapore. In doing so, she comes face to face with herself as she pulls apart the tactics she uses in an attempt to fit into two wildly different cultures. Weaving in and out of English, Mandarin, and Singlish, Kris uses storytelling to navigate beauty standards, body image, family, food, and an unexpected friendship with a Chicken Rice Uncle.

Deftly unravelling stereotypes and addressing the universal through Kris’s determined persistence and heartwarming sense of humour, 我的名是张欣恩 (Gimme chance leh) is about celebrating difference and existing in the in-between.

Kris Vanessa Teo Xin-En (张欣恩) is a Singaporean Chinese settler based in Moh’kins’tsis, Treaty 7 territory // Calgary, Alberta. She moves between many roles, such as playwright, performer, director, producer, and co-artistic Director at Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre. Kris’s artistic curiosities come alive at the intersections of food, self-inquiry, and in-betweenness while working with a slow-cooked blend of care, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive values, inviting mutual presence and exploration. She moves, thinks, and writes slowly.

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Jenna Rodgers (she/her) is a mixed-race, Treaty 7–based director and dramaturg. She is Artistic Director of Concrete Theatre, Founding Artistic Director of Chromatic Theatre, and served as Dramaturg for the Playwrights Lab at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity for over ten years. Jenna is Board Co-Chair of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas and Director of Theatre Alberta’s Artstrek Program. She is a passionate advocate for equity in the arts, a fierce supporter of new play development, and is learning to raise small responsible humans while maintaining a career in the arts.

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