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). Jovanni’s artistic mission is 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.