L-R: Soprano Eva Tavares as Cecilia, and Canadian-Asian Mezzo-Soprano Emma Parkinson as Gabriella in Did I Just Say That?

 

Since 2006, Visceral Visions has offered workshops and mini-intensives with master voice teacher, David Smukler, for Vancouver-area performers, directors, teachers, business leaders, and other professionals. Participants in our most recent mini-intensives in April 2018 commented on their experiences:

David’s workshop was fantastic. In just five evenings I walked away not only with specific and immediately applicable tools for any actor (film, TV, stage, voice over, radio) but also with a better understanding of how to explore further on my own. I’m particularly excited about the discovery of new ways to figure out the right questions to ask of a text or scene, and my relationship to it through breath. - TN

David's passion for the voice and body is infectious. I value every opportunity to work with him. A master teacher, he is able to meet the actors where they are in their journey, and to personalize his teachings, so that you walk away feeling empowered, curious, and better connected to your voice. Most importantly, he plants the seeds of curiosity, a supportive foundation for an actor to begin exploration of authentic voice, or to come back for fine-tuning and further growth. - QN

Sign up to receive updates about future workshops with David in Vancouver.

Written by Valerie Sing Turner

Christopher Hitchens, the celebrated author and journalist, devoted more than 140 pages of arguments, references and sources in The Trial of Henry Kissinger to support his belief that Kissinger should be prosecuted “for war crimes, for crimes against humanity and for offences against common or customary or international law, including conspiracy to commit murder, kidnap and torture.” 

Update: February 9, 2022

We're thrilled that In the Shadow of the Mountains was curated as part of Ruby Slippers Theatre's 2022 Advance Theatre Festival at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts (Burnaby, BC) on February 8th at 8pm for a Studio Theatre and livestreamed reading!

Back row: June Fukumura, Angela Chu, Lauren Preissl, Sharon Crandall, Odessa Shuquaya
Front row: Donna Soares, Jordan Waunch, Ray Koh, Evan Adams, Raugi Yu

Directed by Valerie Sing Turner, with dramaturgy by Debi Wong, the stage directions were read by Chris Gatchalian, who also moderated the post-show talkback. The audience was complimentary about the performances of the talented cast of 10 Indigenous and East Asian actors, and were even more impressed upon learning that the cast had only started rehearsals that morning!

With pandemic restrictions starting to ease, we are hoping to attract producing partners to support a longer and more robust workshop process that such a large ensemble piece requires, before moving on to a full production.

Synopsis: It’s 1988. A family gathers to discuss what to do with Esther, a Chinese-Canadian WWII veteran, as they can no longer ignore her growing dementia. She keeps talking to Victor, her beloved brother, whose death she blames on the Japanese when he volunteered to serve in the Pacific arena during World War II. Her husband George, an Indigenous WWII veteran, was Victor’s best friend. Their son, Gary, arrives with his Caucasian wife, Joanna, and their 18-year-old daughter Lucy. Things are already tense when estranged elder daughter, Nancy, shows up with husband, Ken, and their two daughters Denise and Andrea, who have never met Esther and George because Ken is Japanese-Canadian and Esther refuses to acknowledge his existence. But the real fireworks begin when Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announces his plan to apologize to the Japanese Canadians who were interned during WWII. Will the weight of Canadian history tear them apart?