As the year wraps up, Gateway Theatre and Five Blessings Collective launch their final installment of the A Year of Blessings audio play series – Operation Double Happiness. This final episode of the popular audio play series is a celebration of the Winter Solstice or Dongzhi Festival.
Traditionally observed on the winter solstice, typically falling between December 21 to 23, the Chinese festival symbolizes the longest night and shortest day of the year. As the days begin to lengthen, families gather for a heartwarming reunion dinner featuring delicacies such as dumplings, hotpot, and the sweet treat known as tangyuan—glutinous rice balls served in a delectable soup.
Operation Double Happiness is a heartwarming, entertaining tale about identical twin Taiwanese mandarin ducks, Clara and Cici. They have had a rivalry since birth and are now estranged, but thanks to the internet, their daughters Jamie and Mallory have kept in touch. This engaging tale unfolds as the inseparable cousins, Jamie and Mallory, ingeniously conceive “Operation Double Happiness” with the sole mission of reuniting their family for the upcoming Winter Solstice celebration in Taiwan. The narrative is skillfully presented in a heist-style, spy-movie episode that draws inspiration from cinematic gems such as The Incredibles and 007.
Will the cunning cousins succeed in bringing joy and togetherness to their families? Audiences can tune in to Gateway Theatre’s website to experience Operation Double Happiness, co-presented with Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre and performed by local artists Nhi Do, Debi Wong, Tiana Jung, Angela Chu, Elaine Tsang, and Derek Chan.
Operation Double Happiness is available online now, completing the entire A Year of Blessings audio series including the earlier episodes of the series; ???? Bun Fun New Year,?? Little Shrimp, Band of Dragons: Sync, Oar, Swim and Legend of the Whooshhh. Each episode in the series celebrates a traditional Chinese festival, all of the audio play episodes are available free of charge at gatewaytheatre.com
A Year of Blessings audio series is created by Five Blessings Collective, a talented team of Asian-Canadian artists that includes Derek Chan, Jasmine Chen, Howard Dai, Nancy Tam, and Robyn Jacob with Associate Producer, Charlie Cooper.