2024 Residency Artists
Yulissa Campos
Playwright of I, Frida
Carolyn Nakagawa
Playwright of Anne’s Cradle
Yulissa Campos is an Ecuadorian-Canadian theatre artist, a mom, and the founding artistic director of Ay, Caramba Theatre, the first Latinx theatre in Saskatchewan. Yulissa works with the Newcomer and Indigenous community, and she is currently the general manager of the Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre (GTNT) in Saskatoon. In 2021, she was invited to the CBC’s Q with Tom Power program to talk about her work and the importance of representation in theatre. Yulissa celebrates her Latinidad in her plays, and her work has been presented across Canada and internationally (Singapore). She is thrilled to be part of the Polyphonic Multilingual Creation Residency and grateful to continue working in her play I, Frida after coming back from maternity leave. It feels so good to be able to create art again!
Carolyn Nakagawa is a fourth-generation Anglo-Japanese Canadian poet and playwright who makes her home in the territory colonized as Vancouver, BC. Her work addresses themes such as the nuances of identity in collective contexts, and history’s continuing impact on the present. Nakagawa’s poems have appeared in publications such as The Malahat Review, CV2, and The New Quarterly, and she has read her work at Powell Street Festival and Heart of the City Festival. Her plays have been presented by Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre and Ruby Slippers Theatre. She holds an honours degree in English Literature and Asian Canadian and Asian Migration Studies from the University of British Columbia.
Come check out Carolyn and Yulissa’s work at our Polyphonic Showcase & Discussion on May 30th, 2024 at Progress Lab 1422 or online via livestream! Tickets are pay-what-you-can.
About the Residency
The Polyphonic Multilingual Creation Residency is an expansion of our existing DBLSPK Program and prioritizes deepening the field of multilingual theatre makers. Next spring, rice & beans will once again welcome two multilingual projects in development, one from a local artist and one from out-of-town. Artists will be hosted in Vancouver, British Columbia at a local house rental for 10 days, and be provided everything they need for focused, uninterrupted time on their work. Over the residency, they will have access to studio and writing space where they can workshop with collaborators, and then, as a culmination of the residency, they will take part in a public presentation where community members can attend and engage in discussion with the artists around language and its dramaturgy.
With the Polyphonic Multilingual Creation Residency, artists will have the space to reclaim their languages unapologetically through the art they create and foster a space where community members can see their languages legitimized onstage.
What the Polyphonic Residency offers:
10-Day Writer and Lead Collaborator Fee
10 days of Housing, Per Diem/Food and Transportation in Vancouver, BC for each writer and lead collaborator (or co-writing duo, if applicable)
Airfare for Out-Of-Town Artists
Artist fees for Dramaturges, Performers, Consultants and/or Designers, as needed for the development
Resources for the workshop and public presentation including:
Studio Space
Equipment & Supplies
Dramaturgical Support
Sign language Interpretation
2023 submissions closed on September 15th, and all applicants have been notified of the result. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified when our 2024 submission window opens!
Photos from the 2023 Residency Showcase
