THREE 三
ONE 一
TWO 二
FOUR 四
FIVE BLESSINGS
FIVE BLESSINGS is a collective of five Asian-Canadian artists creating A YEAR OF BLESSINGS, an adorable audio-play series based on Chinese Holidays—for kids!
listen to our final episode!
OPERATION
DOUBLE HAPPINESS
Mandarin duck cousins, Mallory and Jamie, hatch a plan to reunite their moms at the Winter Solstice celebration in Taiwan!
1 2 3 4 FIVE BLESSINGS!
1 2 3 4 FIVE BLESSINGS!
who we are
FIVE BLESSINGS is made up of five Chinese-Canadian artists who create theatre, sound and music, movement, and performance. We are:
Nancy Tam, Derek Chan, Robyn Jacob, Jasmine Chen, and Howard Dai.
We’re five first and second-generation Hong Kong and Taiwanese settlers to Turtle Island. Our work celebrates the complexities found within stories and traditions from the Chinese diaspora through songs, audio plays, film, and stage works.
A YEAR OF BLESSINGS
A YEAR OF BLESSINGS
A YEAR OF BLESSINGS
is a five-episode audio play series
about Chinese holidays, made for young audiences.
Starting with Chinese New Year in January, we welcome each season according to the Lunar Calendar. We follow with a Spring release of the Qingming episode, the Dragon Boat Festival episode in the Summer, Mid-Autumn Festival episode in the Fall, and bringing our year to a close with the Winter Solstice Festival episode.
A Year of Blessings is co-produced by Five Blessings Collective, Gateway Theatre, and Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre.
episodes
episode one 一
BUN FUN NEW YEAR
“Welcome to the Bao Family,
We’re a family of bunnies.”
We kick off this Lunar New Year with tales from our bunny friends at the Bao household. In the midst of preparing for the lunar new year family feast, twin bunnies Bunnifer and Bunnithy learn the true meaning of new year festivities and a couple of…interesting…recipes along the way.
episode two 二
LITTLE SHRIMP
“Saying goodbye is not the end
We will see each other again.”
A brave Little Shrimp with a big heart takes us on a musical adventure through the underwater (and underworld) to connect with friends, family, and ancestors on Qingming, the tomb-sweeping holiday.
episode three 三
BAND OF DRAGONS:
SYNC, OAR, SWIM
“We follow the drum
Our hearts beat together.”
Star athlete Faye, a 5th-generation dragon boat drummer, has a secret passion for playing music in the band, Skyhorns. When the Skyhorn’s biggest gig yet–opening for Manta Del Rey–falls on race day of the Dragon Boat Festival, our hero is faced with an impossible decision: fulfill traditions, or forge a new path. Faye seeks wisdom from the immortalized Chinese poet, 屈原 (Qu Yuan). With so much on the line, how will our young dragon choose? Will they sync, oar, swim?
episode four five 五
LEGEND OF THE WHOOSHHH
“Fins together,
Friends forever.”
We celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with Eunice, RoRo, and Mabel. The three chum salmon swim upstream from the ocean, through the estuary, up the creek, and homeward bound into the forest where they will spawn. With rising temperatures and lowering water levels, The Three Chums will need to rely on their enduring friendships, new connections, the myth of Chang Er, and the legend of The Whooshhh—the salmon cannon—to get them safely home.
episode six 六
OPERATION DOUBLE HAPPINESS
“You sing low, and I sing high
If you don’t know the melody
Just wing it, you can try.”
Operation Double Happiness tracks a family of Taiwanese Mandarin ducks who reside in different parts of Turtle Island. Clara and Cici are identical twins who have been in rivalry since birth and are now estranged, but their daughters Jamie, and Mallory are tightly connected–thanks to the interwebs. The two BFF cousins hatch Operation Double Happiness to unite their family for the Winter Solstice celebration in Taiwan. Jamie and Mallory narrate their mission to us in this heist-style, spy-movie episode—will the wily cousins be able to restore family harmony?
hey grown-ups!
Like what we’re doing here? Then you might enjoy our other project, Double Happiness: Detour This Way.
Sounding two parallel histories, Double Happiness: Detour This Way winds through the complexities of the Chinese diaspora by tracing migration paths of two families, connecting both shores of the Pacific using live music in a multimedia performance.
Double Happiness is led by Nancy Tam & Robyn Jacob.
our friends
A Year of Blessings is co-presented by Gateway Theatre, and Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre.
