Yvette Lu never had to choose between her love of acting and her talent for science.
The Burnaby woman pursued both interests simultaneously throughout her youth and kept up her theatre training while studying for her medical degree. Today, Lu is a family doctor and a well-known actress and filmmaker with a number of roles under her belt, including Food for the Gods (Vancouver Asian Film Festival), TLC's Untold Stories of the ER and several starring roles in Carousel Theatre productions.
"I love medicine and being a doctor, but I find that my creative pursuits stretch my mind in a different way," she said in an email to the Burnaby NOW. "I can feel myself using different parts of my brain when I'm acting."
This week, Lu is starring in Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre's production of The Theory of Everything, a comedy by Thai-American playwright Prince Gomolvilas, about a group of immigrants who come together to search for UFOs in Las Vegas. The group of characters spans three generations; seven Asian-Americans (Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Thai) who gather atop a wedding chapel to scan the skies and get to know each other as they try to bring meaning into their otherwise empty Vegas lives.
Lu plays Shimmy, a single mother who immigrated to America 20 years ago with her one-year old son.
"One of the challenges about playing Shimmy is that she has a different cultural background from myself," she said. "I was born here and my parents emigrated from Hong Kong."
Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre is a boon for Asian immigrants and Canadians of Asian descent because the production company focuses on issues that are relevant to people of these cultures, as well as offering roles for Asians which are not commonly found in the local theatre scene, said Lu.
The Theory of Everything runs Jan. 9 to 12 at 8 p.m., with a bonus 2 p.m. matinee on Jan. 12, at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre, at 181 Roundhouse Mews, in Vancouver.
Regular tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students and seniors, available from www.vact.ca, or at the door for $20.
