Jovanni Sy
Jovanni Sy is a Montreal-based playwright, director, and actor. He is the former Artistic Director of Gateway Theatre (Vancouver) and Cahoots Theatre (Toronto).
Since his professional career began in 1992, Jovanni’s artistic mission has been to create bridges across cultures with a particular interest in reimagining Western classics through an Asian Canadian lens.
Jovanni’s plays include: Salesman in China (co-written with Leanna Brodie) which premiered at the Stratford Festival in August 2024; The Five Vengeances, a comic kung-fu adaptation of The Revengers Tragedy; Nine Dragons, a detective story set in 1920s Hong Kong; and A Taste of Empire, a solo cooking show which has been translated into Cantonese and Tagalog. His plays have received a Jessie Richardson Award and two Tom Hendry Awards. A Taste of Empire and Nine Dragons have been published by Talonbooks.
Jovanni is currently developing three new works: The Tao of the World, an adaptation of The Way of the World set in modern-day Singapore; Kowloon Bay, a prequel to Nine Dragons; and a new farce titled Fan Tan Alley through a Silver Commission from Arts Club Theatre.