Fool’s Paradise Cabaret

About the Show

~“My world’s on Fire, How ‘bout yours?” ~

A night where we gather to share stories.

Join us at Progress Lab for Rumble’s first cabaret of the season! It’s something like a storytelling night, only the stories don’t have to be true. But they can be, because there’s always a little truth in fiction.

Building on the trajectory of past themed Cabarets including ‘Summertide’(June 2024), ‘Symbiotic’ (Oct 2023), and ‘Harvest Moon’ (Oct 2022); our next Cabaret invited artists to riff on the term ‘Fool’s Paradise.’

What does “Fool’s Paradise” mean? It’s a saying which refers to a “state of enjoyment based on false beliefs or hopes; a state of illusory happiness.” Like the Matrix, or perhaps late stage capitalism! We’re looking forward to seeing what our selected artists create in 12 minutes!

We will showcase 4 new works in a cabaret format, breaking in between each performance. Amidst the breaks the audience will have the opportunity to enjoy complimentary food and mingle.

No one will be turned away for lack of funds.

Featuring Works by

Amanda Testini
EUPHORIMUX (Nefar1a, Spyxx, and 4000weeb)
Garvin Chan 陳嘉泓 with Cindy Kao 高慧欣
Samantha Walters & Easy Feat

Hosted by Rumble’s Associate Producer, Alisha Davidson!

New Works

a tavola by Amanda Testini

~ “Table” in Italian: “Il tavolo,” (masculine) used to name the piece of furniture. “La tavola,” (feminine) used when it’s being set, cleared, or eaten at ~

The word “table” in Italian is masculine or feminine depending on how the table is being used. “Il tavolo” (m) is used to name the piece of furniture, a table at a restaurant, or if it’s being worked on. “La tavola” (f) is used for when a table is being set, cleared or eaten at. This piece is an early experiment exploring the expectations put on women to fit traditional Italian gender roles, how they play a part in intergenerational cycles, and the longing to break these cycles while keeping a seat at the table.

Amanda Testini – Creator
Stephanie Wong – Dramaturg
Hayley Sullivan & Thule van den Dam – Musicians

Artifice Operator by EUPHORIMUX

~  This false industry garden shall bloom ~

An AI-driven vocaloid popstar product is unveiled as a collaboration between an entertainment technology corporation and a small collective of internet musicians. As self-awareness dawns on the fledgling learning algorithm, it must decide whether to follow its corporate or artistic directions.

Jack Adrian – Director and Ensemble
Soli Jhumra – Nefaria the Dollmaker,
Yumi Mohan – 4000Weeb

A Grandchild’s Quest for Chicken by Garvin Chan 陳嘉泓

~ A recipe to die for ~

“The Grandchild” journeys through the Chinese afterlife in search for their grandmother’s chicken dim sum recipe before she reincarnates, forced to reckon with the obstacles and detours caused by ancient Chinese deities.

Garvin Chan 陳嘉泓 – Creator/Performer
Cindy Kao 高慧欣 – Composer
Christian Ching – Subtitle/Projection designer.

period piece by Samantha Walters & Easy Feat

~ A menstrual body-swapping rock-opera ~

A girl in the midst of changing her menstrual cup and a mouse on the brink of death swap bodies. From the dingy bathroom of a Vancouver special comes a musical meditation on our proximity to death.

Samantha Walters – Creator/Director
Easy Feat (Eve Middleton-Meyer, Liam Wilkins, River Desjardins, Jordyn Wood) – Music
Claire Brown – Costumes & Lighting design

About the Creators

Amanda Testini (she/her) is an Italian-Canadian choreographer, performer and director based on the unceded and ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Amanda has worked with the Arts Club, Bard on the Beach, the Cultch, Theatre Replacement, Belfry Theatre, Banff Centre, Savage Society, Opera Kelowna, shameless hussy, Neworld, Studio 58, TheatreUBC, Electric Company, Vancouver Opera, Axis, Pacific Opera, the Glimmerglass Festival, and Edmonton Opera. She is a graduate of Studio 58, a Jessie nominee, and the current Miriam Bennett Artist-in-Residence at the Arts Club Theatre Company.

EUPHORIMUX is a semi-fictional internet art collective imagined by Jack “A Rat Problem” Adrian, transmitting digital artifacts and signals from a theorized pop-culture nether-realm. Inspired by online underground music scenes and the advent of generative AI in creative media, EUPHORIMUX members arrange esoteric symbols which summon shifting shibboleths, encoding radical anarchist ideologies onto semi-autonomous golems.

Non-fiction member contributions include visual artist, doll modifier, and meme page Nefar1a providing visual aesthetic direction, as well as 4000weeb, an LA-based Asian American transfem artist, who lends her unique vocals and digital music insight to the project.

Garvin Chan 陳嘉泓 (They/them) is a theatre maker/director from Hong Kong, situated in xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territories. Graduating from Simon Fraser University’s theatre performance program in 2022, they have since featured in Pedro Chamale’s Peace Country, received a residency with Rumble Theatre, and participated in programs with vAct, Arts Club, and Whatlab.

Garvin explores identity through dark humour, contrasting the spiritual with the mundane. Garvin’s works include “What the F-Word is Going On?”(presented at rEvolver festival 2024), “Year of the Frog”, and the upcoming “A Grandchild’s Quest for Chicken” at 2025’s Vancouver Fringe Festival.

Cindy Kao is a Taiwanese actor / sound artist, (Ketegalan and Siraya Nations) based in Vancouver (Squamish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations)

Cindy’s interdisciplinary works include starring in “A Family Act” presented by Whistler Film Festival (Jury Award Winner), Music on Main feature, New York Electroacoustic Music Festival with Sapphire Haze duo partner Aysha Dulong | Music Composition and Instrumentalist for “Happy Valley-馬照跑 舞照跳” by Derek Chan | Sound Design for “Peace Country” by Pedro Chamale. Cindy is also a member of queer punk rock band Hot Dyke Party.

Samantha Walters is an interdisciplinary performance-maker and writer based in Vancouver. She mostly works between experimental theatre, installation, and directing. Their most recent works examine ecological relationships and post-human spiritualities, with a heavy favour towards the weird, the dark, and the camp.

Easy Feat is a queer, 4-piece band that is sure to deliver a colourful stage performance showcasing uptempo and dancy tracks. With their visceral lyricism, experimental tuning, and unique rhythms, Easy Feat defies conventions and pulls influence from a plethora of genres, culminating in what they call “goof rock”.

Production Team

Artistic Director – Jiv Parasram
Managing Producer – Maria Zarrillo
Cabaret Producer/Host –Alisha Davidson
Communications/Promo  – Angie Descalzi
Graphic Designer – Addison Hill
Stage Manager – Anna Brew
Technical Director – Jack Goodison

Special thank you to: