Inciting intersectionality and intercultural theatre in Vancouver and beyond.

L-R: Valerie Sing Turner (librettist), Debi Wong (dramaturg), Kat Gimon (composer)

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

…for experimental theatre and dance lovers, this independent show is not to be missed…Turner’s debut as a playwright [is] an incredible feat considering the complexity of the show’s topic and her atypical approach in dealing with such a controversial theme…brilliantly explored… - 11 Stations Blog

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.” 

Written by Deborah Gkashugi Asiimwe

Visceral Visions was proud to be one of 14 local companies presenting short plays about climate change as part of Climate Change Theatrical Action Vancouver. 

Written by Valerie Sing Turner 

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?

2019 Staged Reading Presentation – Thursday, November 7 at 7pm

Back row standing, L-R: Dennis Joseph, Jessica Schacht, Jessie Liang, Ronin Wong, Sharon Crandall, Jordan Waunch, Grace Le, Ray Thunderchild | Front row L-R: Shayna Virginillo, Valerie Sing Turner, Annabel Kershaw, Chris Lam, Lauren Preissl

Produced by Visceral Visions
Presented by the Heart of the City Festival & Chinese Cultural Centre Museum + Archives
555 Columbia Street, Vancouver, BC

A company of 10 actors brought to life the latest script written by Artistic Producer Valerie Sing Turner, in collaboration with Dennis Joseph, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) Cultural Consultant and composer, dramaturg Jessica Schacht, and producer Shanae Sodhi.

The 2019 development workshop + staged reading were made possible with funding from City of Vancouver and BC Arts Council.

2017 Staged Reading company L-R: Diana Bang, Amanda Sum, Ronin Wong, Laara Ong, Mason Temple, Donna Wong-Juliani, Jay Brazeau, Valerie Sing Turner, Chelsea Rose Tucker, Jessica Heafey, John Cook. 

A big thank-you to everyone who contributed to making our way-too-short development workshop plus the public reading on December 10, 2017, a success! In addition to our fabulous cast, we want to acknowledge dramaturg Lisa C. Ravensbergen; Squamish Nation cultural consultant Latash Nahanee; public reading co-presenter Granville Island Cultural Society; funders BC Arts Council and City of Vancouver; as well as intrepid supporters Sarah Garton Stanley, National Arts Centre (English Theatre), Tompkins Wozny LLP, Starbucks, and SFU Woodward's. Audience members commented on the power of the piece, which exposed disturbing pieces of BC history through the use of poetic language and the personal experiences of one family. The development process has given Valerie lots of ideas and inspiration for the next draft, so stay tuned!

National Arts Centre, English Theatre Collaboration - Visceral Visions

National Arts Centre, English Theatre 2016/17 Artist in Residence - Valerie Sing Turner

John Moffat + Larry Lillo Prize 2017 - Valerie Sing Turner

Visceral Visions gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the Granville Island Cultural Society, National Arts Centre, City of Vancouver, and the BC Arts Council to this project. 

Created and directed by Marie Clements

...three magnificent divas--[Jennifer] Kreisberg, Cheri Maracle, and Michelle St. John...combined fierceness and vocal power [to] quite literally "take [our] words away" (to paraphrase the song...)...a powerful experience... 
Peter Dickinson - Performance, Place and Politics

Written by Laurie Fyffe

"...fascinating little one-act work...a nuanced descent into all kinds of dark corners...simply brilliant..." - Vancouver Sun

"...searing, almost embarrassingly fascinating...unprecedented collaboration with the CBC..."- The Courier

ARTISTS! THE CULTUREBREW.ART ARTIST PORTAL IS OPEN!

The CultureBrew.Art Artist Portal is open! If you are an Indigenous or a racialized artist, join now to set up your artist profile, add your disciplines, marketable skills, portfolio items (audio, video, and images), and other information that will ensure that when the Engager Portal opens, they can easily find you for opportunities, gigs, and other work. You can browse the profiles of other BIPOC artists, and connect with them through our private and secure internal messaging system!

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR BIPOC ARTISTS? THE CULTUREBREW.ART ENGAGER PORTAL IS ANTICIPATED TO OPEN APRIL 2021! WE HEARD YOUR FEEDBACK!

Access to the Engager Portal is temporarily disabled to new registrations until the upgrades and other improvements are completed. We know you're excited to start looking through the incredible group of artists in CultureBrew.Art for your projects, so please sign up to our mailing list, and be among the first to receive news of when we reopen.

ABOUT CULTUREBREW.ART

CultureBrew.Art (CBA) is a digital platform that promotes and fosters intersectional interculturalism throughout the literary, performing, and media arts sector – and beyond! Its central tool is a searchable database of Indigenous and racialized artists – writers, directors, actors, musicians, dancers, singers, filmmakers,  designers, choreographers, composers, stage managers, production and other performing and media arts professionals – to which theatres, dance and opera companies, film/TV casting directors, indie directors/producers, schools and post-secondary training programs, social service agencies, ad agencies, media outlets, and governmental agencies may access as subscribers. Other digital tools and educational enhancements will be added as demand dictates and funding allows; once established, the goal is to expand nationally.

We welcome creators, performers, and any other design/technical/production professionals in the performing and media arts who self-identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour).

CBA will be a powerful tool for building a more inclusive theatre culture that more authentically reflects Canada by promoting Indigenous and racialized artists; increasing hiring opportunities for BIPOC; and fostering intercultural connection, community, and artistic collaboration. CBA would be searchable by gender, racial/ethnic heritage (Indigenous, African, East Asian, Latin American,  South Asian, West Asian (Middle Eastern), mixed ethnic heritage), languages, artistic disciplines, and other fields as determined by research data gathered through community consultations.

Based on input from accessibility testers as well as early-adopter artists and engagers, we are making changes and updates to CultureBrew.Art to increase user-friendliness, and improve ease of navigation.  

In 2017, the support of a leading group of arts organizations was formalized through the establishment of the CBA Working Group Advisory, whose membership includes:

• Brenda Leadlay, Executive Director, BC Alliance for Arts + Culture
• Dawn Brennan, former Managing Director, Urban Ink Productions
• Jay Dodge, Past President, Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT) | Artistic Producer, Boco del Lupo
• Kenji Maeda, Executive Director, Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance (GVPTA)
• Scott Bellis, President, National Council, Canadian Actors' Equity Association (Equity)
• Valerie Sing Turner, Artistic Producer, Visceral Visions

Key members of our team include Creative Director Valerie Sing Turner and Technical Director Anju Singh.

For those with privacy concerns, please note that CBA will not be a public database; artists and potential subscribers will need to register for log-in access. The privacy and safety of our artistic community is a priority; please see our privacy policy here.

It's been said that farmers don't grow crops; they create the essential conditions for crops to grow. CBA will be a vital tool to break systemic divides, disrupt institutionalized structures, and create conditions under which BIPOC artists – and by extension, the wider Canadian arts ecology – can thrive. We are therefore grateful for support from:

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