Discover A Chinese Christmas at Sydney’s Seymour Centre, where family history, cultural traditions and a magical journey explore memory, reconciliation and belonging.
Christmas is often a season of familiar rituals. Families gather, meals are prepared, old stories are retold and invitations carry expectations that can be difficult to ignore. But what happens when someone important is missing from the celebrations? And what if making things right means travelling somewhere far beyond the ordinary world?
Those questions sit at the heart of A Chinese Christmas, a new production by playwright Trent Foo, which will come to the Reginald Theatre at Seymour Centre in Chippendale from 1 to 12 December 2026. Blending English and Chinese, traditional music and supernatural adventure, the production follows a young man whose attempt to repair a family relationship takes him into the Chinese underworld.
The story begins on Christmas Eve. Heepa is preparing to host the annual Christmas party for the first time, but there is a problem: his grandmother, Paw Paw, is not coming. She is angry with him, and the prospect of celebrating without her is enough to send him searching for a way to put things right.
With a summoning book and plenty of unresolved feelings, Heepa sets off for yōudū (幽都), a mysterious realm inhabited by spirits and ancient magic. What follows is a journey through myth and memory, where the young man must confront the past and the complicated bond he shares with his grandmother.
Funny, heartfelt and visually imaginative, A Chinese Christmas places a contemporary family story within a world of supernatural possibility. Its focus is not simply on the festive season, but on the ways culture, inheritance and family relationships shape our sense of identity.
A Chinese Christmas Begins With A Family Problem
The premise of A Chinese Christmas is both specific and widely recognisable. Heepa has made a mistake, and the person he most wants to make peace with is his grandmother. With the family Christmas party approaching, there is little time to avoid the situation or hope it will resolve itself.
Paw Paw's absence gives the story its initial urgency. Heepa is not simply trying to organise a successful celebration; he is trying to restore a relationship that matters to him. His journey into the Chinese underworld becomes a way of confronting the feelings and memories he has been avoiding.
That starting point gives the production an emotional foundation beneath its fantasy elements. The supernatural world may be unfamiliar, but the need to make amends is not. Many family relationships contain things left unsaid, misunderstandings that have grown over time and affection that is sometimes difficult to express.
The play uses the Christmas gathering as a point of connection between these experiences. For Heepa, the occasion brings expectations about family and belonging into sharp focus. The party is meant to be a celebration, but it cannot feel complete while Paw Paw remains absent.
Rather than treating the problem as a simple misunderstanding, Foo sends his central character on a journey. Heepa must encounter the past and consider the relationship from a perspective beyond his own. The journey becomes a chance to explore what it means to grow up between cultures while remaining connected to the people and traditions that came before.
Journeying Into The Chinese Underworld
The destination of Heepa's journey is yōudū, a mysterious realm associated with spirits, ancient magic and the supernatural. The setting gives the production room to move beyond the familiar domestic world of Christmas preparations and into a more imaginative landscape.
The Chinese underworld is not merely an unusual backdrop. It forms part of the play's way of exploring memory, ancestry and the connections between generations. Heepa enters this world seeking help, but the spirits will not simply provide an easy solution. Before they assist him, he must face the past and the feelings surrounding his relationship with Paw Paw.
This gives the fantasy adventure a clear emotional purpose. The journey is outwardly a search for help, but it is also an inward examination of responsibility and understanding. Heepa must do more than find the right words to bring his grandmother back to the party. He needs to confront what has happened between them.
The supernatural elements also offer an opportunity to bring Chinese cultural references and mythology into a contemporary theatrical setting. The production describes itself as a meeting of myth and memory, with English and Chinese woven into the storytelling.
For audiences, this combination offers a different kind of Christmas story. Rather than relying on familiar seasonal imagery alone, A Chinese Christmas draws on a wider cultural landscape, placing family relationships within a world shaped by stories, spirits and inherited traditions.
A Story About Identity And Belonging
At its centre, A Chinese Christmas is concerned with the experience of growing up between cultures. Heepa's story touches on the ways family history and cultural inheritance influence how people understand themselves, particularly when different expectations meet within one household.
The relationship between Heepa and Paw Paw provides the emotional centre of that exploration. Grandparents often carry memories, customs and experiences that younger generations may not fully understand. Their ways of seeing the world can differ, but the connection between them remains significant.
The play approaches this relationship through both tenderness and humour. It does not present family as a simple source of comfort. There can be disappointment, regret and the difficulty of communicating across different experiences. Yet those complications are also part of what makes the relationship worth repairing.
The question of belonging extends beyond the family itself. Heepa's journey suggests that understanding where we come from can be part of working out who we are. Cultural identity is not always a straightforward inheritance. It can involve negotiation, questions and a gradual appreciation of the stories that have shaped earlier generations.
By placing this exploration within a Christmas story, Foo brings together two sets of traditions without suggesting that one must replace the other. The production's mixture of English and Chinese, contemporary family life and traditional mythology reflects the layered experience of people whose lives are shaped by more than one cultural influence.
That makes the play relevant beyond its festive setting. Its themes of family, regret and belonging speak to the continuing process of understanding the people who came before us and the relationships we want to carry into the future.
Live Traditional Music And A Visual World
Music is an important part of the production's identity. With live traditional music included in the storytelling, the sound world will help connect the contemporary family narrative with the mythology and atmosphere of Heepa's journey.
Composer Jolin Jiang is part of the creative team, alongside director Monica Sayers and associate director Aileen Huynh. The production also brings together set designer Tobhiyah Stone Feller, props designer Meg Ashforth, lighting designer Cat Mai and sound and AV designer Cameron Smith.
Together, these creative roles shape the movement between the recognisable world of Christmas preparations and the more mysterious landscape of yōudū. Lighting, sound, set and props all contribute to the way the audience encounters the spirits and the supernatural elements of the story.
The production describes itself as visually magical, with its combination of live music, myth and theatrical adventure giving the story a distinctive character. Rather than separating the cultural and fantastical elements from the family narrative, the production brings them together as part of Heepa's experience.
The result is intended to be more than a conventional seasonal comedy or a straightforward fantasy. Its theatrical language supports a story in which memory and imagination are closely connected, and where the search for reconciliation takes the central character somewhere unexpected.
Trent Foo's Personal Theatrical Creation
A Chinese Christmas is written by Trent Foo, who also performs the central role of Heepa. The production is presented by Seymour Centre and FooFrame Productions, with Monica Sayers directing.
The work was first staged in 2025 at KXT on Broadway in association with bAKEHOUSE Theatre Co. Its development was supported through bAKEHOUSE residencies in the KXT Vault. The Seymour Centre season brings the production to a larger venue and gives Sydney audiences another opportunity to encounter Foo's story.
Foo's double role as writer and performer places him close to the character's emotional journey. Heepa is a young man trying to navigate the expectations of family, his own mistakes and the cultural inheritance that surrounds him. The story asks him to take responsibility for a relationship rather than simply wait for the other person to make the first move.
The cast includes Tiang Lim as Paw Paw, Jolin Jiang as Lady Dai and Rick Lau as Lord Yanluo Wang. Victor Xu is listed as understudy and will perform the lead role of Heepa at selected sessions on 9 and 10 December.
The production's creative team brings together artists working across performance, direction, music, design and stage management. Coco Tong is the stage manager, with the overall production presented by FooFrame Productions.
The combination of a contemporary Australian family story and Chinese mythology gives the production a distinctive place in the December theatre calendar. It offers a way to encounter cultural storytelling through a personal relationship, rather than through exposition alone.
A Christmas Season At Seymour Centre
Seymour Centre, located at the corner of City Road and Cleveland Street in Chippendale, is a familiar part of Sydney's theatre landscape. Its Reginald Theatre will host the production throughout the first half of December.
The season begins with a preview performance on Tuesday 1 December at 6.30pm. The main season opens on Wednesday 2 December at 7.30pm, with further performances scheduled through Saturday 12 December.
The calendar includes evening performances and selected afternoon sessions. On Thursday 3 December, for example, performances are scheduled for 2pm and 7.30pm, while Saturday 5 December has sessions at 2pm and 7.30pm. The final performance on Saturday 12 December is also scheduled for 2pm and 7.30pm.
The running time is approximately 80 minutes without an interval. The venue advises that lockouts apply, so arriving before the performance begins is important.
Tickets are listed at $59 for full price, $49 for concession, and $43 for Under 35 and groups of eight or more. Preview tickets are listed at $41. An $8 transaction fee applies, and concession ticket holders may be asked to show relevant identification.
The theatre advises that the production contains haze smoke. Photography and filming are not permitted during the performance. Audience members with access requirements can contact the Seymour Centre box office on 02 7255 1561.
Extend The Evening With Cocktails And Karaoke
There is also an additional event for those attending the Friday 11 December performance. Following the show, Seymour Centre will host Cocktails and Karaoke in the Sound Lounge.
The evening will begin with a live song led by host Kimie Tsukakoshi before opening into karaoke. Audience members will be invited to choose a song in any language and take part, either solo or with others.
The event offers a lively continuation of the evening, with an emphasis on Asian creativity and shared performance. For those attending A Chinese Christmas on 11 December, it provides an opportunity to stay at the venue after the theatrical journey and move into a more informal celebration.
Further information and tickets for Cocktails and Karaoke are available through the Seymour Centre event listing.
A Christmas Story That Looks Beyond The Season
The festive season can bring family relationships into sharper focus. Gatherings create opportunities to reconnect, but they can also remind people of distance, old disagreements and the things that have been left unsaid. A Chinese Christmas takes that familiar tension and gives it an imaginative setting, sending Heepa into a supernatural world in search of a way forward.
Its story is built around a simple emotional wish: to make things right with someone important. The journey that follows gives that wish greater depth, connecting family affection with cultural memory, ancestry and the experience of growing up between worlds.
The production's mix of English and Chinese, live traditional music and Chinese mythology offers audiences a different perspective on the Christmas story. Its fantasy elements create room for spectacle and humour, while the relationship between Heepa and Paw Paw keeps the narrative grounded in recognisable human feelings.
For Sydney audiences, the Seymour Centre season offers a chance to experience a contemporary Australian work that places cultural inheritance and family connection at the centre of its festive storytelling.
Heepa sets out hoping to bring his grandmother back to the Christmas party. What he discovers along the way is that repairing a relationship can require more than a gesture or an apology. It can mean listening, remembering and finding a way to understand the people whose stories are part of our own.
Event Details
Production: A Chinese Christmas by Trent Foo
Dates: 1 to 12 December 2026
Venue: Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre, corner of City Road and Cleveland Street, Chippendale NSW 2008
Preview: Tuesday 1 December, 6.30pm
Main season: 2 to 12 December, with evening and selected afternoon performances
Running time: Approximately 80 minutes, no interval
Ticket prices: Full $59; concession $49; Under 35 and groups of eight or more $43; preview $41. An $8 transaction fee applies.
Access and content information: Contains haze smoke. Contact the box office on 02 7255 1561 for access requirements.
Victor Xu will perform the role of Heepa as understudy at the 7.30pm performance on Wednesday 9 December and the 2pm performance on Thursday 10 December.
A post-show Cocktails and Karaoke event will take place in the Sound Lounge after the Friday 11 December performance.
For the full performance schedule, ticket availability and further information, visit the official Seymour Centre event page.
With its meeting of family storytelling, Chinese mythology and live music, A Chinese Christmas offers a thoughtful and imaginative addition to Sydney's festive theatre season. It is a story about the ties between generations, the weight of things left unsaid and the lengths we might go to when we want to bring someone we love back to the table.