Summer Play Readings 2010
June & July 2010
Celebrating First Nations Voices
Presenting public readings of acclaimed original plays and sneak previews of works-in-progress by First Nations and Yukon playwrights and performance artists. This reading series was sponsored by Holland America Line, along with Canada Council for the Arts.
Sixty Below
By Leonard Linklater and Patti Flather
Old Fire Hall - June 23rd
It’s nearly winter solstice when Henry, a young Gwich’in man, gets out of jail, ready to straighten out his life. Of course it’s not that easy. His old buddies just want to party, his girlfriend’s moving ahead of him. And then there’s the ghost of Johnnie, everyone’s hero, who just won’t leave the northern lights.
Directed by Mary Sloan
Bannock Republic
By Kenneth T. Williams
Old Fire Hall - July 7th
Find out what yoga, residential schools and the missing thirteenth floors have in common in the new comedy by Kenneth T. Williams. Bannock Republic reunites the cousins Jacob and Isaac Thunderchild 10 years after the mayhem of Thunderstick. This time, a beautiful and vengeful third-party manager will wreak havoc with their lives. Jacob is working as a video journalist and barely clinging to his sobriety. Isaac is now chief of their reserve and trying to get the band out of debt. Destiny Charles, appointed to take over the band’s finances, will make Jacob and Isaac realize that some secrets are better left buried.
Directed by Eric Epstein
The Rez Sisters
By Tomson Highway
Old Fire Hall - July 14th
This award-winning play by Cree playwright Tomson Highway is a powerful and moving portrayal of seven women from a reserve attempting to beat the odds by winning at bingo. And not just any bingo. It is THE BIGGEST BINGO IN THE WORLD and a chance to win a way out of a tortured life.
The Rez Sisters is hilarious, shocking, mystical and powerful, and clearly establishes the creative voice of Native theatre and writing in Canada today.
Directed by Mary Sloan
CREDITS
Featuring Kevin Barr, Boyd Benjamin, Jared Lutchman, Rae Mombourquette, Sean Smith, Ciara Stick, Susan Ellis, Wren Hookey, Dakota Pauls, Lacey Scarff, Mary Sloan, Erika Smarch, Sharon Shorty, Kiran Trace de Jaray
Playwright | Leonard Linklater & Patti Flather
Playwright | Kenneth T. Williams
Playwright | Tomson Highway
Directors | Eric Epstein & Mary Sloan
Stage Manager | Wren Hookey
