Awaken Festival 2025

April 13th-27th | Whitehorse, YT & Online

Question… Honour… Celebrate… Awaken!

Gwaandak Theatre presents Awaken Festival 2025 - Featuring in-person and digital workshops, cultural presentations, performance showcases, and more - all in an effort to celebrate the different ways we can gather and connect! This hybrid festival is curated for Indigenous and Northern artists as well as interested members of the public.

As winter transforms into spring, life wakes up in the North. Mother Bears pass on knowledge to their cubs in order for them to thrive on their own. Awaken - so to speak - connects “cubs” (new and aspiring artists) to “mother bears” (experienced artists). Join us this spring from April 13th-27th, 2025 in Whitehorse YT and Online to learn, share, and Awaken new beginnings within yourself and your community.

Find out more about our Current Season or get special updates throughout the year by subscribing to our e-newsletter using the link at the bottom of this webpage.

- Performance Showcases -

Each year at Awaken, we present three national Performance Showcases as part of our festival line-up. This April 2025 at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, we are pleased to present: Sound of the Beast by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard, Savage is a Word in the English Dictionary by Brefny Caribou, and Talk Treaty To Me by Theresa Cutknife & Samantha Fraughton.

April 22nd & 25th, 2025 @ KDCC

By Donna-Michelle St. Bernard

Sound of the Beast

Savage is a Word in the English Dictionary

By Brefny Caribou

April 23rd & 26th, 2025 @ KDCC

By Theresa Cutknife and Samantha Fraughton

Talk Treaty To Me

April 24th & 26th, 2025 @ KDCC

Tuesday, April 22nd - 7PM (Doors @ 6:30PM) - Opening Night & Post-Show Talkback - Multi-Purpose Room, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, Whitehorse YT
Friday, April 25th - 7PM (Doors @ 6:30PM) - Closing Night & 25th Anniversary Celebration - Multi-Purpose Room, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, Whitehorse YT
"Compassion is good, but it’s just motivation. Cars need engines. Movements need mobilization."
Through spoken word, storytelling and hip hop, acclaimed wordsmith Donna-Michelle St. Bernard illuminates racial discrimination, the suppression of expression and the trials of activism. Her experience as a Canadian emcee is woven through with allusion to Tunisian emcee Weld El 15’s unjust imprisonment for rhymes against a regime. This story creates a space to reflect on how we are connected to the systems that oppress us, and how we can empower each other to rise up.
Sound of the Beast is a New Harlem Productions & Rumble Theatre Touring Co-Production.
Content Warnings: Police Violence.
Length: ~90 Minutes
Thank you to Cultured Fine Cheese, Tum Tum’s Black Gilt Meats, and Air North, Yukon’s Airline for supporting the 25th Anniversary Celebration.
—
CREDITS
Featuring Donna-Michelle St. Bernard aka Belladonna the Blest
Creator / Performer | Donna-Michelle St. Bernard
Directors | Jivesh Parasram and Andy McKim
Assistant Director | Nicci Pryce
Stage Manager | Maria Zarrillo
Sound Design | David Mesiha
Lighting Designer | Jack Goodison*
Promotional Photos | Graham Isador & Hoffworks
*With Support from Rebecca Vandevelde
Website Icon | Sound of the Beast featuring Donna-Michelle St. Bernard aka Belladonna the Blest. Photography by Colbourne Creative. Awaken Festival 2025, Gwaandak Theatre.
Wednesday, April 23rd - 7PM (Doors @ 6:30PM) - Opening Night & Post-Show Talkback - Multi-Purpose Room, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, Whitehorse YT
Saturday, April 26th - 2PM (Doors @ 1:30PM) - Closing Matinee & Post-Show Tea - Multi-Purpose Room, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, Whitehorse YT
Savage is a Word in the English Dictionary follows a young Indigenous woman who is asked to give a presentation at her old elementary school for their “Indigenous Studies” unit. Arriving at the school she is confronted with the memories of her own school days. When nostalgia and reality collide, she realizes that history doesn’t smell as good as the textbook.
Content Warnings: Use of a vaping device (no nicotine or THC), coarse language, themes of residential school and intergenerational trauma.
Length: ~60 Minutes
Thank you to Cultured Fine Cheese and Tum Tum’s Black Gilt Meats for supporting the Post-Show Tea.
—
CREDITS
Featuring Brefny Caribou
Performer & Creator | Brefny Caribou
Director | Keshia Palm
Stage Manager | Maya Bowers
Promotional Photos | Kate Dalton
Website Icon | Savage is a Word in the English Dictionary featuring Brefny Caribou. Photography by Colbourne Creative. Awaken Festival 2025, Gwaandak Theatre.
Thursday, April 24th - 7PM (Doors @ 6:30PM) - Opening Night & Post-Show Talkback - Multi-Purpose Room, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, Whitehorse YT
Saturday, April 26th - 7PM (Doors @ 6:30PM) - Closing Night & Post-Show Mixer - Multi-Purpose Room, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, Whitehorse YT
1, 2, 3, 4, I declare a thumb war! 5, 6, 7, 8, Treaty 6 will be so great! What could go wrong? Talk Treaty To Me follows the long friendship between Jess, a settler, and Max, a Nehiyaw woman. Max and Jess meet as children, and their friendship changes as they grow up and learn what it means to be a part of Treaty. Max and Jess’ story is intercut with two crass tricksters who were there when Treaty 6 was signed. The tricksters chase and taunt one another, and bleed into the world of Max and Jess.
Content Warnings: Contains stories of grief, swearing or potential offensive language, depiction of soft drug use, depictions of generational trauma, mentions of residential school and genocide.
Length: ~90 Minutes including post-show talkback
Thank you to Cultured Fine Cheese and Tum Tum’s Black Gilt Meats for supporting the Post-Show Mixer.
—
CREDITS
Featuring Theresa Cutknife, Samantha Fraughton, Mitchell Saddleback, Sheldon Stockdale
Writers and Co-Creators | Theresa Cutknife & Samantha Fraughton
Max | Theresa Cutknife
Jess | Samantha Fraughton
Harvey | Mitchell Saddleback
Alexander Morris | Sheldon Stockdale
Director | Desirée Livingstone
Stage Manager and Assistant Production Manager | Andrea Murphy
Production Mentor and Overall Wizard | AJ Hrooshkin
Composer and Sound Designer | Matthew Cardinal
Assistant Sound Designer | Autumn Strom
Production Designer | Skye Grinde
Interim Producer | Rebecca Bissonnette
Tour Graphic Designer | Raine Radtke
Promotional Photos | Brianne Jang
Website Icon | Talk Treaty To Me featuring Mitchell Saddleback and Sheldon Stockdale. Photography by Colbourne Creative. Awaken Festival 2025, Gwaandak Theatre.

Updated March 27th, 2025. Details are accurate at the time of print/posting and are subject to change.

Download Festival Program (Updated Week of March 10th)

Download Festival Program Insert (Updated Week of April 13th)

Download Awaken Theatre Gathering Schedule (Updated April 11th)

Download Festival Schedule (Updated April 18th)

Thank you to the sponsors & supporters of the 2025 Awaken Festival!

We acknowledge the support of the Government of Canada (nous reconnaissons l'appui du gouvernement du Canada), the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Yukon, the City of Whitehorse and Lotteries Yukon. We acknowledge the support of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation with funding provided by the Government of Canada. Funding for Gwaandak Theatre is made possible through the assistance of Arts Operating Fund - Annual Operating Component, Department of Tourism and Culture, John Streicker, Minister.

We also thank the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre and their staff for their generous support as our Festival Hosts, The Guild Hall for their venue support towards the Superbloom and Climate Play events, What’s Up Yukon for marketing support, as well as Air North, Yukon’s Airline and Northern Vision Development LP (NVD) for their continued support of visiting artists. (We also want to give a special shoutout to Air North’s Flight Kitchen for providing cookies for our 25th Anniversary Celebration!) We are grateful to the Indigenous Arts Knowledge Exchange (IAKE) for their generous financial support, as well as to the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance (IPAA), Theatre Alberta, Balancing Act, the Government of Yukon’s Art Branch, Nakai Theatre, and the wâhkôhtowin project for their support of the Awaken Theatre Gathering, local presentations, and festival workshops. Thank you to Cultured Fine Cheese & Tum Tum’s Black Gilt Meats for their support of the Post-Show 25th Anniversary Celebration, the Post-Show Tea, and the Post-Show Mixer. We also wish to thank Patrick Matheson for sponsoring additional lighting equipment in support of the Performance Showcases and Local Presentations taking place at the KDCC. We also thank the Blue Feather Music Festival for donating the use of a lighting instrument as a special during one of the Performance Showcases!