Coquitlam playwright nets award nomination with musical tackling Trump child separation policy

The images made it look like the past was invading the present.

Diane Currie Sam had been a technology writer and a speechwriter. But one thing the Coquitlam resident had never been was a playwright – not until she saw those images.

As part of the first Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, migrant children were being separated from their parents. The children and adults were held in detention centres and put into cages sometimes called La Perrera – Spanish for dog kennel.

Sam describes feeling outraged and horrified.

“I know from my experience in education as a counselor that it’s child abuse,” she says.

But there was something else in the pictures that reminded her of the disgraceful legacy of residential schools in Canada.

“That feeling of: oh my god, they’re doing it again.”

The past was the present.

During an interview with the Dispatch, Sam emphasizes her belief in the power of narrative.

“I just really believe that you can change the world through stories,” she says.

So, she started telling a story.

Sam set up shop at the Terry Fox Library in Port Coquitlam – a place where her kids couldn’t interrupt – and found herself meditating on Oliver Twist.

Oliver was an orphan “lost in a system” of haves and have-nots that was either indifferent or hostile to his existence.

And what if Oliver Twist existed today. “What would that story be like?”

The answer was Olivia O, The Musical.

The play focuses on teenaged undocumented migrant Olivia Ortiz who is separated from her mother at the U.S.-Mexico border.

For her work on the play, Sam is a finalist for the Dan School of Drama and Music Musical Award as part of the 2025 Tom Hendry Awards.

“I hope, I hope, I hope it’s going to open some doors in Canada,” she says of the award nomination. “I would love to have it performed here.”

Sam credits co-writer Jessica Carmona for her work on the play.

“Jessica was vital in this. We really wanted to do honour to the people that we were talking about and telling the stories of,” Sam says.

While the show has yet to receive a full-on professional production, the play has been staged in Dallas and workshopped in Philadelphia and New York.

But as Sam gauged audience reaction, actor interpretation and honed her story, another story was being told in the United States as Donald Trump swept back into power.

“I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I’m really glad I’m Canadian,” Sam says.

For Sam, it’s critical to keep telling stories that awaken our compassion and connection.

“If you have the right story at the right time – which I hope this one is – it can open people’s eyes.”

The Tom Hendry awards are set to be announced Oct. 27.