Slow Boat by Anna Yen
‘Brotherhood is easy when things run smoothly. But when someone causes hurt, this is where it’s tested.’
From wartime China to Bulimba’s Dockyards, brotherhood and resilience is tested.
The men aim to weave an epic tale of brotherhood and resilience, charting their journey from poverty and war in rural China, through hard work on the tiny phosphate-rich island of Nauru, to a hasty evacuation from the Japanese to Australia, and all the challenges that they overcame on the way. However, differing perspectives of critical events in their story threaten to derail this display of unity to become the one thing that could tear them apart.
Blending vaudeville, musical theatre, Cantonese Opera and martial arts, Slow Boat is a play within a play, inspired by the unexpected arrival in Australia of playwright Anna Yen’s father, along with 580 other Chinese men, during WWII.
无论是在战火连天的中国,还是布林巴忙碌不断的港口,兄弟情谊和坚韧的精神都会受到时代考验。
六位契约华裔工人为了庆祝太平洋战争的胜利,将会在布里斯班的布林巴港口举行一场戏剧表演。
然而,兄弟们在回顾关键事情上产生意见分歧,这不但危及他们的团结精神 ,更可能导致感情破裂而扬长而去。
《缓舟》是一出剧中剧,揉合了杂耍、音乐剧、粤剧和武术。故事启发于编剧甄锦意的父亲及其580名华裔男子于二战时意外抵达澳洲的经历。
编剧: 甄锦意
Warnings: Suitable for 13+. Contains low-level coarse language, depictions of war, suicide and violence, multilingual (English, Cantonese and Mandarin). If you would like more details about the show warnings, please contact the Brisbane Powerhouse Box Office on (07) 3358 8600.
More Information
SEASON DATES
Thu 1 Sep – Sat 10 Sep
VENUE
Brisbane Powerhouse
DURATION
Approx. 2hrs 20min (including interval)
STYLE/GENRE
Non-Linear, Theatre for Social Comment, Epic Theatre
PLAYWRIGHT
Anna Yen
DIRECTOR/DRAMATURG
Ian Lawson
ENSEMBLE DIRECTOR
Therese Collie
MUSICAL DIRECTOR & COMPOSER
Nicholas Ng
MOVEMENT DIRECTOR
Anna Yen
SET DESIGNER
Josh McIntosh
LIGHTING DESIGNER
David Walters
COSTUME DESIGNER
Frances Foo
SWING CHOREOGRAPHER
Neridah Waters
DIALECT COACH
Anna Chong
VOCAL CONSULTANT
Jonathan Chan
MUSICIANS
Yuren (Cara) Chen
Anna Kho
Ziwei Wang
BACKDROP ARTIST
Echo Wu
CANTONESE OPERA CONSULTANT
Amelia Wong
STAGE MANAGER
Nicola Jones
ASST. STAGE MANAGERS
Tiff Lane
Mei Yu See
CAST
Jonathan Chan
Ming Yang Lim
Nicholas Ng
Egan Sun-Bin
Silvan Rus
Julian Wong

Anna Yen
Anna Yen is a performer, writer, movement teacher and theatre maker.
Anna was a finalist in the Queensland Premiere’s Drama Award 2018 with Slow Boat. She was a writer / performer in the acclaimed The Serpent’s Table Griffin Theatre / CAAP, Sydney Festival 2014.
Her award-winning play Chinese Take Away was produced by QPAC, and adapted into an SBS commissioned 52minute film by Looking Glass Pictures. Anna toured Chinese Take Away’s film adaptation with performance excerpts, to Asia, Europe and USA. The script is published by Playlab Theatre.
Performances credits include:
Tower of Babel, Baran Theatre, Metro Arts 2019; Concerto for Harmony and Presto, Debase Productions, Shanghai International Arts Festival 2019; multi-award-winning Monsteria GUSH, Adelaide Fringe Festival 2018 and Wonderland Festival 2017; It All Begins With Love Creative Regions Queensland tour 2015; Electric Dragon Georgie Pinn, FedSq; Waterwheel Installation Igneous JWCoCA; Wicked Bodies La Boite/Zen Zen Zo, Fortune La Boite, After China QUT – Brisbane and Belvoir St; Load-ed Stories QTC-Ed; Rock’n’Roll Circus (now CIRCA) ensemble for 4 years; and The Case of All Things Taiwan. She will be seen as the Tea lady Goblin in Jim Henson Company and Storey Bridge Productions’ The Portable Door on Stan in 2023.
Anna Yen teaches theatre-making, circus-physical-theatre, in communities, universities, companies, festivals and schools, including the Yeronga State High School – Y Connect Drama Project. She is a certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, and teaches Awareness Through Movement at Griffith University Queensland Conservatorium of Music.
Her PlayMoves – Movement Workshops for Performers have been presented in Cairns, Townsville, Magnetic Island, Maleny, Brisbane, Wollongong, Melbourne, Torquay, Hobart and Perth.
Awards include: Creative Partnerships Art and Health Award Qld (Playful Engagement Project), Matilda Awards for Chinese Take Away, and for Best Costume with GUSH’s Monsteria; Bank SA Adelaide Fringe Best Circus-Physical Theatre Weekly Award – Monsteria; and a Churchill Fellowship.
Anna’s training includes with Monika Pagneux, Philippe Gaulier, Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, Nanjing Acrobatic Troupe, Shanghai Circus School.
Acknowledgements
A Playlab Theatre production presented in partnership with Brisbane Festival and Brisbane Powerhouse. Playlab Theatre is supported by the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland. Slow Boat is also supported by the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund – an Australian Government initiative.