Stir Q&A: My Little Tomato playwright Rick Tae talks food, laughter, and how to spice up a rom com
His new comedy about an organic farmer crosses race, culture, and fruit. Or is that a vegetable?
Playwright Rick Tae
Nelson Wong and Taylor Kare in My Little Tomato. Photo by Tina Krueger
Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre and. Zee Zee Theatre, in association with rice & beans theatre, present My Little Tomato at the Cultch Historic Theatre from March 9 to 19
BORN IN HONG KONG and raised in Singapore, Vancouver’s Rick Tae has a more than three-decade career spanning film, web series, and theatre, as a writer, director, and actor. At the same time, he mentors and trains actors at his own downtown studio Skycorner Academy.
But now, he’s turning his attention to the humble tomato—or, to be more clear, a new play that centres around one. His new surreal rom-com My Little Tomato tells the story of Chinese-Canadian kindergarten teacher Keaton Chu, who inherits a farm, and puts his heart into every organic fruit and vegetable. Romance is not on his mind, until Japanese-Irish-Canadian produce wholesaler and bar star Joe McKinley falls for Keaton.
Meanwhile, Keaton is falling for a tomato. Yes, as Tae puts it in his artist statement for My Little Tomato, “The universality of loving and being loved should aim to transcend race, sex, culture—and species.”
Stir caught up with him in the days before his world premiere, put on by Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre and Zee Zee Theatre, at the Cultch.
We’ve heard you love food. How do you like your tomatoes?
I like my tomatoes to tell a story of where they're from... balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, fresh chiffonade basil and also a lambrusco to pair wouldn't hurt. If a tomato lacks story, I'll just plop it into a soup, no judgment, grew up in Asia, I'll eat almost anything.
How would you describe Keaton Chu, the Chinese-Canadian kindergarten teacher who inherits a farm in your play—and is there any of you in him?
I'd describe Keaton as a hopeful romantic, earnest and empowered by his chosen ignorance, sometimes delusional believing that there are no bad people in this world, just simply a misunderstood perspective of them: he is very much a portion of who I've always been. Every character I write, I'd say, stems from a compartment of myself completed with other components for dramatic effect. I think and I hope that I'm a little bit more pragmatic in real life. Some would describe me as more of a "smile-and-nod" kinda guy at this age, rather than a somewhat naive, more outwardly expressive Keaton.
The story is a surreal rom-com—who are some of your stylistic inspirations for that?
No question: Cirque du Soleil, Broadway musicals, Stephen Chow, Baz Luhrmann, Guillermo del Toro.
You’ve penned short films and a movie, but this is your first time writing for the live stage. What were the challenges of that?
My Little Tomato is my debut as a playwright, yes. The challenges that I've faced—brilliantly thwarted by my angel dramaturg Joanna Garfinkel -- have been recognizing that scenes and locations don't magically cross fade in milliseconds and that characters sometimes have to have expository dialogue because their eyes can't simply show us the full scope of a scene, as is more prevalent for storytelling on camera. There is also no post-production in theatre to help fix any holes inside one's script—so the content better be all in there as we head towards opening night!
How and why is laughter your chosen route into sometimes difficult terrain around familial, cultural and relationship issues?
I find laughter and music to have universal appeal. "Issues" in life are oftentimes buried in shame, steadfastness and silence in the East, whilst in the West we sometimes milk them 'til they're dry. Comedy and satire, in my opinion, allows everyone to evoke their own thoughts on matters without feeling like you're being told how to think. In Asia, we see emotion as weakness and melodrama. In North America we generally see Asian artwork as technically sound, but lacking heart and passion. As is my upbringing, I continue with varied success to strive for a balance both in content and in style. Frankly, I recognize that we're blessed here in Vancouver to have the luxury to explore difficult subject matters whether through comedy or through drama... so I take it with celebration and gratitude when we're given storytelling opportunities to bring diverse voices to an audience, regardless of terrain. Surrealism and cultural issues just allows me to add extra spice to an otherwise "traditional" rom-com.
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