Keeping up with all the changes that come with being a teenager is hard enough. But it’s also a period where we start to realize things about ourselves that we’ll deal with our entire life — like navigating the complexities of growing up mixed race, or stumbling through Queer relationships in a world that’s often unkind to anyone who differs from the norm.
Debuting at this year’s Vancouver Fringe Festival, Qi-Pao and Totally 80s — two plays combined into one performance — explore the realities of teenagehood and the turbulent process of self-realization.
Qi-Pao opens with a girl holding a bright red qi-pao, a traditional Chinese dress. It’s graduation season and Julie is trying to choose the perfect dress. Throughout the show, her Chinese half and her white half argue about whether Julie qualifies as “Chinese enough” to wear the qi-pao.
Writer Kenneth Tyan, a second-year UBC creative writing student, said the inspiration for Qi-Pao came from a story he heard about a white woman choosing to wear a qi-pao to her graduation.
“I thought about myself, and if I were to wear Asian clothing with how I present … because of how I look, I felt like I would be put under the same scrutiny,” said Tyan.
In the show, Julie’s Chinese reflection argues that Julie is only interested in Chinese culture due to her mother’s sudden death, and that she’s playing with Chinese culture and only wants the “cultural privileges without the burden.” Meanwhile, Julie’s white reflection argues that Julie is just wearing and appreciating the dress — that at least Julie wants to connect to her Chinese half, having not even considered wearing the blue dress.
Despite attending Chinese school and learning the language and culture, Julie recalls how she is still belittled, talked down to in English and labelled derogatory terms. As Julie and her two reflections argue, struggle and tussle, they rip apart the qi-pao — and Julie’s identity as a mixed person.
In the end, with the help of her selves, Julie puts on parts of both outfits, accepting herself as “beautiful and perfect."
Tyan noted that for him, this production is liberating — it’s a practice of self-love and self-reflection as a mixed person.
As the stage lights dim, mxmtoon’s “prom dress” transitions into “Funkytown” by Lipps Inc. Totally 80s opens with a teenage girl asleep in her room littered with dirty clothes and vinyls. Though late for school, Gemma still finds the time to put on background music and pull on the tightest, brightest pink skinny jeans. She rushes to her French class and meets Tina — the new girl from Connecticut.
Donald Belliveau, a third-year UBC creative writing student, came up with the first draft of the show in his playwriting class at Langara. His professor gave the class two prompts: one was “something personal,” the other was “something that scares you.” For Belliveau, this nudge to explore something personal was the perfect opportunity to dive into themes of Queerness through the story of two girls uncovering their feelings for each other, set against an 80s backdrop.
“And that comes from — I remember this vividly — in 1989, me seeing George Michael's 'Faith' video, and seeing him in jeans and going, ‘Oh, I have feelings that I don't understand,’” said Belliveau.
For the “something that scares you,” Belliveau decided on poetry — in this case, a Greek chorus. And, upon combining the two, Belliveau ended up with Totally 80s.
Gemma and Tina (accompanied by the Greek chorus) go to the movies and slowly, but carefully begin to display their affection for each other. From one buying popcorn for the other to the fake yawn and stretch to a kiss, the audience observes the girls taking chances and exploring their newfound emotions.
“It's touching, it’s relatable,” said Belliveau. “Whether you're part of the LGBTQ community or not, everybody you know has [experienced] that ‘[Do I] make a move [or] do I not? Do I try to kiss them?”
“At the same time, it is chock-full of 80s references that hopefully will have the audience laughing their butts off and then cheering on their feet at the end.”
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