By Anais Mateusz West

Co-produced by Anais Mateusz West and the frank theatre company

Presented by the Cultch as part of Warrior Festival

Tomboy (Chłopczyca)

March 4-8, 2026

The Cultch’s Vancity Culture Lab, 1895 Venables St, Vancouver, BC

Queer vampires and Slavic folklore converge in Tomboy (Chłopczyca), a kinetic dance-theatre performance exploring gender, memory and cultural belonging. This new 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.

Awards & Press

Winner of the 2023 Wildfire National Playwriting Competition

“Everything about the staging of Tomboy (Chłopczyca) feels intentional...Despite its dark themes, Tomboy presented a heartfelt exploration of gender expression, violence, and grief.”

—Vez Pisko-Dubienski, The Georgia Straight

“The vampirism is a complicated metaphor for masculinity, sex, liberation…West has written a fascinating, sophisticated script…”

—Jerry Wasserman, Vancouver Plays

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Artistic 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

Assistant Costume & Scenic Designer: Reed Jackson

Sound Designer & Composer: Roxanne Nesbitt

Additional Sound Design: Sasha J. Langford

Lighting Designer: Alexandra Caprara

Technical Director: Jamie Sweeney

Stage Manager: Jasmin Sandhu

Assistant Stage Manager: Alexa Fraser

Intimacy Director: Lisa Goebel

Accessibility Coordinator & Consultant: V/Veronique West

Access Zine Graphic Designer: Ashleigh Giffen

Voice Coach: Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg

Voice Actors: Teresa Berdys, Alek Cisak, Julia Kuzka, and Piotr Wieczorek

Audio Engineer: Piotr Wieczorek

Cultural & Linguistic Consultants: Karo Hanula, Chris (Krzysiek) Hanula, Julia Siedlanowska, Jess Lebedynski and Piotr Wieczorek.

Exhibition Artists: Jasper Berehulke & Nike CJ King

Frank Theatre Producer: Karter Masuhara

Promotional Photography: Kimberly Ho

Tomboy (Chłopczyca) was developed through Odd Meridian Dance's CONJURE Residency at MORROW Studio, Sage Theatre’s IGNITE Festival and Rice & Beans Theatre’s DBLSPK Program.

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Funders and Partners

Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, City of Vancouver, Metro Vancouver, The Hamber Foundation, The Vancouver Foundation, The Parachute Fund, Rice & Beans Theatre, Playwrights Theatre Centre, Odd Meridian Arts, Major Matt Mason Collective, and the Federation of Russian Canadians of BC.

Content Warnings

Blood, coarse language, sexual content, misogyny and homophobia (including slurs), references to parental abuse and religious trauma, descriptions of supernatural violence (no literal representations). A trans character recalls the past, before they transitioned, including mentions of their deadname and the gender they were assigned at birth.

Haze and strobe.

Accessibility

• Low sensory Chill Out Space to relax in before the show, during intermission and afterwards

• Access Guide Zine detailing content warnings, how to get to the venue, a plain language synopsis and more.

• Wheelchair & mobility device accessible venue

• All-gender washrooms with wheelchair accessible stalls

• Fragrance reduced space (audiences asked to not wear scented products)

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Artists Who Contributed to Development Workshops

Fay Nass, Joylyn Secunda, Kira Radosevic, Stephanie Wong, Matthew Winters, Camille Legg, Franki Reed-Schuyler, Fil Wiatrak, Tanya Marquardt and Kimberly Ho

Presenter