Official Trailer by RX Wang
PLAYWRIGHT'S NOTES
some plays are written to breathe.
when the chest is too full, when the words have nowhere else to go, they turn into a play.
this is one of those.
it comes from confusion, from frustration, from anger, from the quiet weight of being a first gen immigrant girl, moving forward with no rearview mirror.
i hesitated for a long time. writing so close to myself felt almost shameful, as if speaking my own life were an act of ego.
i’m ordinary, i told myself. my feelings are small. my experiences barely register.
but friends read the first draft and said: i see myself here.
they recognized those tiny, awkward, unnamed discomforts — the ones we swallow every day.
and suddenly, i felt lighter. less alone. relieved in a way that‘s hard to explain.
so i’m sharing this moment.
Yu Theatre Toronto is proud to present this work by Irene Yi at the 2026 Ottawa Fringe Festival.
This production will be rehearsed in Toronto and world-premiered in Ottawa.
Venue:
La Nouvelle Scène Studio B
333 King Edward Avenue
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 7M5
SYNOPSIS
I Have a Dream in Chinese is a solo play moving through migration, racialization, and the unstable border between memory and survival.
I hear a scream.
I’m back in the windowless workplace.
I’m in the chair.
Who are you.
One interrogation after another.
Then I’m standing on the chair, waving a piece of paper, until the chair disappears beneath me.
I’m falling, falling, falling, and then — the sound of the sea.
It is a dream.
Or it is not.
DIRECTOR'S NOTES
There are moments in life we are never able to forget.
This is an episodic story of confession. Beneath its surface, it is a story about longing and loss, about what we gain, what we leave behind, and how we are reborn through connection, courage, and the search for who we truly are.
As a first-generation immigrant, I see myself in this story. I know what it means to move from one dream to another, to cross borders not only between countries, but between versions of ourselves. There are things we cannot easily let go of — memories, people, places, and the selves we once thought we had to become.
This is my second time directing this show, and through this process, I have realized that I could direct a thousand versions of Ivy and Song. Because she is us. She could be any of us. Across borders, across languages, across the quiet distances between who we are and who we hope to be, what stays with us is often ourselves. And only we know what it takes to belong.
I invite you to come, to feel, and to perhaps find a part of yourself within this story.
TEAM
2026 OTTAWA FRINGE
Irene (Fan) Yi
PLAYWRIGHT
Daisy Mengru Jia
DIRECTOR
Charlee Ning 宁唯而
ACTOR
Ziqi (比卡) Liu
STAGE MANAGER
Noel Pendawa
PROJECTION DESIGNER
Nick Fangzheng Wang
SET / SOUND DESIGNER
Thank you for helping this play arrive.
Thank you for being part of I Have a Dream in Chinese at Ottawa Fringe 2026.
Our Fringe run has now come to a close, and we are deeply grateful to everyone who attended, donated, shared, and supported this production. We are also honoured that the show received the Outstanding Design Award during the festival.
Although the performances are over, your support still matters. Donations help us cover the real costs of independent theatre, including rehearsal, production, design, technical needs, documentation, promotion, and artist labour.
Our limited-edition [Two-Cities] postcards have now sold out. Thank you to everyone who supported us during the run.
If the show moved you, stayed with you, or made you feel seen, we invite you to consider making a post-show donation. Your support helps this work continue beyond Ottawa Fringe.
$285 raised
28%
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OUR TEAM
PLAYWRIGHT: Irene Fan Yi
DIRECTOR: Daisy Mengru Jia
STAGE MANAGER: Ziqi (比卡) Liu
PROJECTION DESIGNER: Noel Pendawa
SET AND SOUND DESIGNER: Nick Fangzheng Wang
CARPENTRY: Bing Liu, Nick Fangzheng Wang, Ziqi (比卡) Liu
POSTER / TRAILER: RX Wang
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CAST
IVY/SONG
Charlee Ning 宁唯而
V/O (non-appearing)
Blair Bai, Jiaqi Liu, Ziqi Liu,
Nirris Nagendrarajah, Hong Tan, Sophia Xia
For design purposes, some voiceover was generated by AI as a choice.
Special thanks to Blair Bai for providing the projector and to Jeannie Nie for her stage management consulting.
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WITH GRATITUDE TO OUR SUPPORTERS
( $25+)
Sophia Xia, Lucia Nie, Shenyi Lu, Jason Dai
And to everyone whose generosity and belief in our work help make this production possible.
About the Production
Production Development History
I Have a Dream in Chinese participated in Ruby Slippers Theatre’s 2026 Advance Theatre Festival in Vancouver in January 2026. The creative team included playwright Irene Fan Yi, director and dramaturg Daisy Mengru Jia, and performer Huirui Zhang Su. A public reading was held on January 26, 2026, at Studio 103 Recital Hall, 6450 Deer Lake Ave, Burnaby, BC V5G 2J3.
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all those who made invaluable efforts and contributions toward bringing this work to the Fringe stage.
Ticketing Policy
All ticketing for this production is managed through the official Ottawa Fringe website. Ticket policies, including sales, exchanges, refunds, and admission terms, are subject to Ottawa Fringe’s official ticketing policy.
Trigger Warning / Content Advisory
This performance contains explicit references to racism and xenophobia, including verbal harassment and workplace discrimination experienced by the protagonist as a Chinese immigrant in Canada.
The play includes a dramatized interrogation scene depicting state coercion and political intimidation in China. While there is no physical violence shown on stage, the psychological pressure and threats of detention may be distressing.
There are references to the COVID 19 pandemic, including illness, rising death toll statistics, and the death of Dr. Li Wenliang. These moments address collective trauma, grief, and survivor’s guilt connected to Wuhan during the early outbreak.
Mature Language: The script includes strong language in both English and Mandarin, including profanity used in moments of emotional intensity.
This is a bilingual Mandarin-English production, with English surtitles for Chinese-language sections.