My 20-year journey with Charlotte
It started with an obsession, an idea I could not shake, a meeting with someone whose life seemed to hang in the balance, and for whom I might be a champion.
Where are the playwrights?
In my final critique at the National Theatre School of Canada some 40 years ago, Joel Miller, who at the time was running the English acting program, turned to me and said “we know you have had some success with your little monologues and mask characters here, but do not ever, ever think you can be a playwright.”
Emerging Across Canada: Ontario and Quebec
Whether that was in Montreal or from mentors in Edmonton, I had this image in my mind of this terrible place where people were always mean and dreams went to die.
An Unexplained Injustice
We all have demons inside of us. We all have those monstrous thoughts, but what is it about our circumstances that allows us to act on them?
The Letter Makes It Real
…a standard white envelope with my name written in a hand I don’t recognize and an ominous return address: Washington State Prison.
Beyond the Baby Blues
Speaking about postpartum without judgement is key to continuing the conversation and breaking the taboo.
See Me
As a dark-skinned black woman I experienced this firsthand, particularly during my high school years. At that time it seemed like my skin was always something to talk about.
Revitalizing Japanese Canadian Identity
Internment was a defining collective experience, yet the ways in which we do or do not remember it remain at odds between generations.
My Family’s Story
The piece tells the story of how this played out for us, but it is not a unique event.
The Phoenix and the Fire
As if I’d been sucked through the phone and appeared on the other end of the line, I could see an abstraction of the house against a blue sky with its windows ablaze.
Forgetting the Fear
I used to isolate myself backstage and cry after we performed for our first audiences. The energy they brought into the room utterly rocked me.
Cantonese, Culture, and Being ‘Canadian’
It had been so long since I had heard Cantonese spoken in performance and media. I had forgotten how wonderful it was to hear your own language on stage.
Paving the Way for Change in Our Churches
Systems of oppression and imbalance between men and women have been built, reinforced, and codified through some of our primary foundations of faith.
To the Theatre School Graduates of 2019
Two years ago, a very scared, small, worn down version of myself sobbed in a bathroom stall. This was after I’d performed in, what I was told, one of the biggest opportunities of my young (not yet even started) career.
Dancing between Worlds
Our stories aren’t confined to one stage, one month, or one nation—whether that of our current home, or the lands our roots reach back to.
10 Reasons Why Fame is Different after Sixty
Studio execs aren’t worried about your chemistry with your co-star which is usually a therapy dog named Bootsie anyway.