History and Mandate
rice & beans theatre is a Vancouver-based theatre company founded in 2010 by Pedro Chamale and Derek Chan. The company is dedicated to facilitating original, Canadian work that tells the story of where we came from and where we are going, by way of experimentation with languages and the theatrical form. rice & beans provides a platform for the creation, development and production of boundary-pushing theatre, as well as supports fellow artists by providing dramaturgy, direction, and mentorship. Besides Vancouver, rice & beans theatre has 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 Sik Zeon Tin Haa 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. rice & beans values theatre that is accessible, honest, uncompromising and personal.
We acknowledge that our work takes place on the unceded and traditional territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
Meet the Team
PEDRO CHAMALE
artistic director*,
co-founder
*On parental leave until May 2025
Pedro Chamale (he/him) was born and raised on treaty 8 territory, colonially known as Chetwynd, BC and now creates on the unceded and traditional lands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. He completed the acting program at Douglas College and then received his BFA in Theatre Performance from SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts. He then went on to form rice & beans theatre with Derek Chan for which he is currently the artistic director of. Pedro is a director, playwright, performer & co-founder beans theatre. He was the Artistic Resident at Neworld Theatre in 2014, guest curator of the 2018 rEvolver Festival and one of the playwrights in the 2019 Playwright’s Lab at the Banff Centre. Pedro was part of the second cohort of Banff's Arts and Culture Leadership, is a co-founder of the Canadian Latinx Theatre Artist Coalition, sits on the Latinx Theatre Commons steering committee and was part of Director's Lab North in 2020. He was also awarded the young alumni excellence award in 2021, along with Derek Chan, for their work with rice & beans theatre from Simon Fraser University's FCAT department. In 2023 Pedro was a nominee for the BC multicultural and anti-racist “Breaking Boundaries” award for which he is grateful to be recognized for the work he has done both personally and at rice & beans.
Pedro is a director, playwright, performer and theatre jack-of-all-trades. Select Credits: Selfie, Bull (Rumble Theatre), Broken Tailbone (Nightswimming), Slime (the only animal), Mis Papás (rice & beans), Are We There Yet? (Neworld Theatre), and The Show Must Go On (Push Festival). Pedro has also worked behind the scenes with local Vancouver theatre companies such as: Full Circle First Nations Performance, Leaky Heaven, Boca del Lupo, and Neworld Theatre.
ANJELA MAGPANTAY
interim artistic director
Anjela is a first generation Canadian originating from the Philippines and holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from Simon Fraser University. She has worked internationally as a performer and collaborator in Hong Kong and across the UK. Anjela works freelance as an actor, director, clown, teacher and collaborator with various artists of different disciplines. She is currently living on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
HEATHER BARR
general manager
Heather Barr (she/her) is a queer theatre professional currently working on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, colonially known as Vancouver. She has extensive experience doing producing and stage management work for independent theatre, most notably Break Horizons: A Concert Documentary by Kim Senklip Harvey (Associate Producer/SM), Double Happiness: Detour This Way by Nancy Tam & Robyn Jacob (Production SM), Mx by Lili Robinson (SM) and Farm to Fable by Amiel Gladstone (SM). Since joining rice & beans, she has taken the lead on developing policies and practices that provide safer workplaces for artists. She believes deeply in rice & beans’ commitment to producing work that is relevant and artistically responsible.
Heather was the 2020 recipient of the Jessie Richardson Sam Payne Award for Most Promising Newcomer, and is a graduate of Studio 58.
KARLA COMANDA
communications manager
Karla Comanda (she/they) is a poet, editor, translator, educator, and arts administrator. Born and raised in the Philippines, she is spending her quarantine listening to Tito music, aka middle-of-the-road, soft rock music that should've been left in the 1970s but enjoys an enduring popularity in the Philippines. Her work has appeared in or is forthcoming in Contemporary Verse 2, filling station, Room Magazine, Poetry is Dead, among others. She thinks that wearing dresses and skirts exclusively is a personality trait. In 2019, she hosted the Sinag-Araw Writing Workshop, a poetry workshop series created for Filipino youth in the diaspora. Do not get on her bad side or she will put a hex on you in her poetry.
DEREK CHAN
co-founder
Derek Chan (he/him) grew up in colonial Hong Kong, studied in Norway, and currently lives in Vancouver. He received his BFA in theatre performance from Simon Fraser University. A playwright, director, performer, translator, and producer, Derek has been co-artistic director of rice & beans theatre since 2010. He has also worked with Playwrights Theatre Centre (artistic director apprentice), Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre (associate artistic producer), and the rEvolver Festival (guest curator).
In 2015, Derek was awarded the Vancouver Fringe New Play Prize with Starstuff: per aspera ad astra. At the 2016 Glassco Translation Residency hosted by Playwrights' Workshop Montréal, Derek translated Jovanni Sy’s A Taste of Empire (Cantonese title: 食盡天下/Sik Zeon Tin Haa). The play was subsequently nominated for a Dora Award (Best Touring Production) in 2018. His Chicken Girl (2019/20) was nominated for a Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Original Script, and won the Sydney Risk Award for Outstanding Original Play by an Emerging Playwright. Derek was part of the 2020 Banff Playwrights Lab, and is a National Arts Centre English Theatre Artist in Residence (19/20) with yellow objects, a show about the ongoing pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong.
Select creative credits: 蝦仔 Little Shrimp (co-creator, Carousel Theatre for Young People); Carried Away on the Crest of a Wave (assistant director, Arts Club); No Foreigners (performer/translator, Hong Kong Exile/fu-GEN); Pick a Number (co-writer/performer, Boca del Lupo/FUSE). With rice & beans: Loomings; or The Whale (playwright/director), Mis Papás (performer), Last Train In (director); and Sik Zeon Tin Haa/A Taste of Empire (translator/performer, with Gateway Theatre’s Pacific Festival (2016) and Cahoots Theatre (2018)).
If you wanna see what Derek is up to these days head on over to VACT’s website https://vact.ca/
HOWARD DAI
associate artist
Howard Dai is a Taiwanese actor and theatre artist based in so-called Vancouver whose work has been seen across Canada. His performances and creations have existed in theatre, films, public spaces, Zoom screens, Google Sheets, automated phone calls, interactive websites, and virtual reality. Howard was the Assistant Director and a swing performer for the world premiere of Forgiveness (Arts Club Theatre & Theatre Calgary, 2023). In 2022, he was the digital-artist-in-residence with PuSh Festival (Vancouver, Canada) and Royal Court Theatre (London, UK) with his play 菠蘿麵包Pineapple Bun, supported by rice & beans theatre. Other co-creation/performance credits include: The Five Vengeances (Affair of Honor), Passenger Seat (Library Performance Co.); Collider (Single Thread Theatre); and New Societies (re:current theatre). Howard was mentored by Charles Douglas in movement and performance capture, and is a member of the Five Blessings Collective. Howard started as an associate artistic producer with rice & beans in 2021, and is thrilled to continue with the company as an associate artist. He holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from SFU School for the Contemporary Arts . www.howarddai.com
Past Team Members
CINDY KAO
associate artistic producer
Cindy is a Taiwanese actor / sound artist, (Ketegalan and Siraya Nations) based in Vancouver (Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations). She received a BFA in Theatre Performance at Simon Fraser University, with a classical violin background. During her time studying theatre, Cindy re-acquainted with music, performing as an actor while given the opportunity to sound design. Since then, much of her work with SFU has allowed her to explore her background as a musician and execute her training as an actor. Most recently, she starred in the 2021 award winning short film “A Family Act”, and performed for Music on Main 2022, as part of violin/electronic duo Sapphire Haze with duo partner, Aysha Dulong. Cindy also sound-designed for a brand new play “Peace Country'', and is excited to perform in the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival 2022 with Sapphire Haze. With this new role as an Associate Artistic Producer, Cindy is looking forward to being immersed fully in the inner workings of this company, and to become well rounded behind the scenes with the capability of producing her own works in the near future.
MARÍA ESCOLÁN
community engagement producer
María Escolán (she/her) is a queer theatre artist from El Salvador living on the unceded traditional Coast Salish Territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Recent work includes workshop showings of her work in development La Mujer Fragmentada with Aluna Theatre’s CAMINOS Festival and DBLSPK with rice & beans theatre. Previous work includes Leaky Heaven Performance Society’s community engaged project Dream Machine, Playwrights Theatre Centre’s Dramaturg Launch Pad program, Dusty Foot Productions’ Attachments excerpt for Rumble Theatre’s Tremors Festival, Rumble Theatre’s online production of B, and a translation excerpt of Corazón del Espantapájaros by Hugo Carrillo in the online journal Asymptote. María holds a BFA Degree in Theatre Performance from the School for Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University and a BA Degree in Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Social Justice from the University of British Columbia.