WOKING PHOENIX by Silk Bath Collective

Pictured here is the family restaurant that my maternal grandparents used to run in Levack Ontario, where they had the experience of being the only Chinese people in the whole town.

After their mother’s death, three estranged siblings are reunited to determine the fate of her legacy - the WOKING PHOENIX - a decaying, family-owned Chinese restaurant in small-town Ontario. A story about generational Chinese love, WOKING PHOENIX weaves together text, movement, and music to explore two decades of a family survival in white suburbia and the food that reminds us of home.

WOKING PHOENIX is the third of Silk Bath Collective (Bessie Cheng, Gloria Mok and Aaron Jan)'s creations, inspired by our own personal upbringings around family businesses and fitting in as Chinese diaspora. The project has been in development at Theatre Passe Muraille since 2020 and premiered in April 2024.

Development of WOKING PHOENIX has been supported by 3 OAC RGTC grants from Tarragon, Nightwood and Obsidian Theatre Company, two Canada Council Explore and Create grants, one OAC artist residency grant, one TAC residency grant and a Phase 2 Development Grant from the Michael Wuchien Than Foundation.

Dev History

2022 December Staging Workshop - Theatre Passe Muraille

2022 March Sound Workshop - Theatre Passe Muraille

2022 February Script Development Workshop - Theatre Passe Muraille

2021 September Choreographic Experimental Workshop - Theatre Passe Muraille

2021 - March Sound Workshop - Theatre Passe Muraille

Artists Engaged in Woking Phoenix workshops have included Hanna Kiel, En Lai Mah, Melanie McNeill, Noah Feaver, Maddie Bautista, Haneul Yi, Phoebe Hu, Richard Lam, Jasmine Huang and Madelaine Hodges.

Photos of December 2022 workshop by Fio Yang