Did I Just Say That?
Dare to Dream aria from Did I Just Say That?, featuring mezzo soprano Emma Parkinson, soprano Sodam Lee, and pianist Perri Lo. Music video produced by re:Naissance Opera.
L-R: Soprano Eva Tavares as Cecilia, and Canadian-Asian Mezzo-Soprano Emma Parkinson as Gabriella in
Did I Just Say That?
Breaking Parity (working title)
A political satire written by Valerie Sing Turner
(in development)
Join us for a first sneak-peek staged reading of Valerie's latest work! This one-act political satire about power and politics features the acting talents of Anthony F. Ingram, David Bloom, Donna Yamamoto, and Kameron Louangxay, with dramaturgy by Stephanie Wong, and stage management by Xin Xuan Song.
Monday, March 9, 2026
7:00pm
Free Admission
Moderated audience talkback post-reading
Venue: The Post at 750
750 Hamilton Street, Vancouver
*Accessibility info below
RSVP
Synopsis: December 12, 2002. In a nod to Dickens, a Scrooge-like Henry Kissinger is 16 days into the prestigious chairmanship of the commission to investigate the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States – but with the families of the 9/11 victims demanding Kissinger release a list of his consultancy clients to prove no conflicts of interest, he’s in a quandary. Returning to his office following a meeting with a delegation of 9/11 widows, the 79-year-old Kissinger falls asleep, only to dream of a middle-aged Robert McNamara, former Secretary of Defense under JFK and Lyndon B. Johnson, who warns of the imminent visitation of three spirits of the past, present, and future: an old man whose village in Laos was annihilated by a secret American bombing campaign; a female Chinese-American nuclear physicist who worked with Robert Oppenheimer on the Manhattan Project to build the first atomic bomb; and a Vietnamese girl, one of countless civilian victims of the Vietnam War. Kissinger was National Security Advisor when he assured President Nixon, “The illegal we do immediately; the unconstitutional takes a little longer.”
*For those unable to navigate stairs, the Post at 750 is accessible via the elevator located through the CBC's main entrance at 700 Hamilton Street. We request that you RSVP and select the General Admission (Accessible Entrance) ticket to ensure assistance.
In the Shadow of the Mountains
Synopsis: It’s 1988. Three generations of a family gather to discuss what to do about 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 served in the Pacific arena during World War II. Her husband George, an Indigenous WWII veteran, was Victor’s best friend; they had all joined up full of dreams and adventure. Their son, Gary, arrives with his white wife and their daughter Lucy. Things are already tense when estranged eldest daughter Nancy shows up with husband Ken and their two daughters – 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. In the Shadow of the Mountains ponders the true meaning of reconciliation when the weight of Canadian history threatens to tear us apart.
2024 Development Workshop + Staged Reading
Back row, L-R: Cande Andrade, Donna Yamamoto, Ronin Wong, Sarah Kelley, David Geary, Justin Neal, Ray Koh, Daryl Cloran | Front row, L-R: April Starr Land, Yumi Ogawa, Lissa Neptuno, Valerie Sing Turner, Kim Villagante, Sunny Chen, Chengyan Boon, Anju Singh
Headlined by a fabulous and entirely BIPOC cast – David Geary, Donna Yamamoto*, Justin Neal, Kim Villagante, Lissa Neptuno*, Ray Koh, Ronin Wong*, Sarah Kelley*, Sunny (Daydream) Chen*, Yumi Ogawa* – Visceral Visions presented a staged reading of Valerie's latest draft at Progress Lab on July 28, 2024, following a workshop process that included a series of Design Jam explorations with Anju Singh (composer/sound design), Cande Andrade (projection design), and Chengyan Boon (set/lighting design). We also want to acknowledge Ray Thunderchild* for his contributions as actor to the first few days of our workshop process, as well as:
Valerie Sing Turner* - Playwright/Director
April Starr Land* - Stage Manager
Jessica Schacht - Dramaturg
Paige Louter - Producer
Daryl Cloran - Directing Mentor
Xwechtaal (Dennis Joseph) - Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Elder/Cultural Consultant
Catherine Clement - Community Historian (Chinese Canadians during WWII)
Sherri Kajiwara - Director | Curator, Nikkei National Museum
Maiko Behr - Japanese Cultural Consultant
We are grateful to Jessica Mann Gutteridge and Holly Karpuik, who generously hosted the design work in residency at the Norman & Annette Rothstein Theatre; and to Janice Beley for taking such good care of us during the text workshopping sessions at SFU Woodward's. We also want to thank the Canada Council and BC Arts Council, without whose funding support this workshop would not have been possible, as well as acknowledge Théâtre la Seizième for providing some gear and materials.