The Story of Chi

The Story of Chi is a new work of magic realism that explores intergenerational tension in an Asian-Australian family through the relationship between a young girl and a dragon. The narrative follows 12-year-old Chi who is dealing with the sudden death of her father. As Chi’s mother and grandmother struggle to reconcile contemporary living with traditional practices, Chi is visited by Mizu, an adolescent dragon who has been separated from his parents. Chi and Mizu forge a strong relationship of adventure and risk, but their wish for independence might just separate them from their families forever.

The Story of Chi is a work in development, a new collaboration between Terrapin, CAAP and La Boite. Written by Hoa Pham, Jeremy Nguyen and Hiroki Kobayashi, this work will use puppetry and performance to provide a lens through which all Australians can examine their familial relationships with other generations.

Timeline

Two developments in 2022 and 2023 have taken place, after which we’ll be ready for pre-production. Pre-production will take place in 2024 with a world premiere season slated for 2025 with dates in Adelaide, Sydney and Hobart

Additional Imagery

Additional imagery can be found here

Image: Jeremy Nguyen

Writers: Hiroki Kobayashi, Hoa Pham, Jeremy Nguyen

Director: Courtney Stewart 

Puppetry director: Sam Routledge

Production Dramaturg: Tessa Leong

Designer: James Lew

Composer: Matt Hsu

Development Cast: Stephanie Jack, Meme Thorne, Juanita Navas-Nguyen, Samuel Lau

Puppetry design and construction: Danny Miller

Producer: Terrapin

About Terrapin

Terrapin creates contemporary puppetry experiences for audiences of all ages, touring Tasmania, nationally and internationally. It creates work for theatres and interactive installations for public space. The company’s work has been presented by The Royal Shakespeare Company, The EdinburghInternational Children’s festival, The Vancouver International Children’s Festival, De Betovering Festival (The Netherlands), A.S.K Shanghai, Aichi Arts Centre (Japan), The Taipei Children’s Art Festival,The Lincoln Center (New York), The John F. Kennedy Center, The Sydney Opera House, Sydney Festival and Mona Foma among many others

About CAAP

Contemporary Asian Australian Performance (CAAP) is Australia’s only performing arts company with aremit for producing, developing and enabling Asian Australian works and artists to reach main stagesnationally. Through highly valued productions and initiatives, CAAP is regarded as a crucial catalyst forchange in an ongoing shift to greater cultural diversity and inclusiveness in the arts. We provide the scaffolding for Asian Australian artists to thrive in a more equitable and representative industry. In all that we do, we work to transform the Australian performing arts landscape.

About La Boite

La Boite is Australia’s longest continuously running theatre company, celebrating its 100th year of operation in 2025. Located in Kelvin Grove Brisbane, La Boite is home to the iconic 400 seat Roundhouse Theatre, the country’s only purpose-built theatre in-the-round. La Boite has a proud reputation for developing artists and audiences–with the aim to push the boundaries of theatre and create a pathway for local and national artists to mainstream stages in Brisbane and beyond. La Boite plays a crucial role in the local, state and national arts sector as an incubator and producer of new work, with a dedicated focus on the sustainability of Brisbane-based arts practice from emerging to established practitioners, producers, and arts managers. La Boite’s mission is to create powerful connections between artist and audiences through stories that entertain, move, empower, surprise and transfix