tomboy
(chłopczyca)
Premiering March 4-8, 2026 at the Cultch Lab
Co-produced by the frank theatre company
Presented by The Cultch as part of Warrior Festival
Winner of the 2023 Wildfire national Playwriting Competition
Queer vampires and Slavic folklore converge in Tomboy (Chłopczyca), a kinetic dance-theatre performance exploring gender, memory and cultural belonging. This new interdisciplinary work is a trans coming-of-age story with a dark, supernatural twist.
After learning that as a teen, their best friend was attacked by a boy from their Polish immigrant community, a non-binary historian remembers their shared adolescence. But with each recollection, the sequence of events becomes more ambiguous, the choreography of memory more complex. Through repetition, they unravel the narrative they’ve constructed of themself, the boy, and their predatory bond. Were his actions his own, or was he cursed by a monstrous and mythic inheritance? By exploding cultural dance and genre conventions, Tomboy redefines horror, eroticism and masculinity.
Creative Team
Playwright/Collaborator: Anais Mateusz West
Choreographer/Collaborator: Oh Augustine
Dramaturg/Collaborator: Joanna Garfinkel
Performers: Rae Takei, Calder White, and Emily Jane King
Costume & Scenic Designer: Jaewoo Kang
Lighting Designer: Alexandra Caprara
Sound Designers: Roxanne Nesbitt & Sasha J. Langford
Stage Managers: Jasmin Sandhu & Alexa Fraser
Cultural & Linguistic Consultants: Piotr Wieczorek, Karo Hanula and Julia Siedlanowska.
Intimacy Director: Lisa Goebel
Photography: Kimberly Ho
development
SUPPORTERS
Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, City of Vancouver, Rice & Beans Theatre, Playwrights Theatre Centre, the frank theatre company, Odd Meridian Dance, Major Matt Mason Collective, and the Federation of Russian Canadians of BC.
Tomboy (Chłopczyca) was developed through Odd Meridian Dance's CONJURE Residency at MORROW Studio, Sage Theatre’s IGNITE Festival and Rice & Beans’ DBLSPK Program.
workshop
contributors
Workshop Theatrical Director: Fay Nass
Workshop Performers: Joylyn Secunda, Kira Radosevic, Franki Reed-Schuyler
Workshop Technical Director: Fil Wiatrak
Accessibility Consultant: Veronique West
Intimacy Director: Lisa Goebel
Workshop Co-Choreographer: Tanya Marquardt
Workshop Producer: Kimberly Ho