Sixty Below: Selected Readings

Audio Play by Leonard Linklater

Monday, April 14th - 5PM-6:30PM (Doors @ 6:45PM) - Meeting Room, Whitehorse Public Library, Whitehorse YT

Tuesday, April 15th - 7PM-8:30PM (Online Waiting Room Opens @ ~6:50PM) - Digital via Zoom, Yukon Time

“Sixty Below explores the effects of colonization on Indigenous people in today's Yukon Territory, along with our survival and resilience.” – Leonard Linklater

25 years ago, in Spring 2000, Sixty Below was presented as the first Gwaandak Theatre production. Written by Gwaandak’s founders, Leonard Linklater and Patti Flather, this work has found a new audience through the creation of an audio play adaptation with the Yukon Digital Theatre Collective. Join award-winning Canadian playwright Leonard Linklater (Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation) and other Indigenous artists as they bring this story to life for a new generation, sharing a selection of readings from the play followed by a discussion about the journey adapting this work from stage to radio with the Yukon Digital Theatre Collective.

You are also invited to take time throughout the festival (and beyond!) to experience the Sixty Below audio play production at sixtybelow.ca and find other Yukon Digital Theatre Collective works by Yukon creators at yukondigitaltheatrecollective.com.

Pre-register for the digital presentation of Sixty Below: Selected Readings (April 15th) via our Workshops and Digital Events form!

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CREDITS - SIXTY BELOW: SELECTED READINGS

Featuring Leonard Linklater, Roreigh Eftoda, Andrameda Lutchman, Luke Mae

Playwright & Performer | Leonard Linklater

Performer | Roreigh Eftoda

Performer | Andrameda Lutchman

Performer | Luke Mae

Co-Artistic Producer & Original Play Co-Writer | Patti Flather

Indigenous Storytelling

By Whitehorse Aboriginal Women’s Circle

Thursday, April 17th - 6PM (Doors @ 5:30PM) - Multi-Purpose Room, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, Whitehorse YT

Featuring Ian Angus, Bria Rose, Earl Darbyshire, Ḵudeishéex̱' Esquiro

The Whitehorse Aboriginal Women’s Circle hosts a series of storytelling events throughout the winter months. This event is an inclusive space for all generations and people to experience the knowledge and teachings of Indigenous people. Storytellers speak in English or traditional languages, sometimes use mediums such as song and music, and include stories about Indigenous histories, traditions, teachings, and personal life experiences. There will be snacks and refreshments available, free of charge.

Promotional image by Amber Taylor-Fisher

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For over 20 years the Whitehorse Aboriginal Women’s Circle has been supporting the work of Indigenous artists. This includes the encouragement of entrepreneurship through the teaching, showcasing, and selling of visual art, and by creating spaces where storytelling and language is shared and celebrated.

Dear Star Trek: A Work In Progress

Created & Performed by Christine Genier

In Collaboration with Jacob Zimmer, Produced by Nakai Theatre

Friday, April 18th - 7PM (Doors @ 6:30PM) - Multi-Purpose Room, Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, Whitehorse YT

Christine Genier – Poet, performer, writer, broadcaster, and language keeper – takes us on a journey through the pleasures, impact and obligations in pop culture media from her perspective as a fan and Indigenous woman. A life long Trekkie, Christine mixes her powerful and humorous storytelling with memes in a fun, teasing breakdown of Star Trek, Representation, and The Problem with Chakotay.

Content Warnings: Mature themes and subject matter.

Length: ~60 Minutes

Buy Tickets Now!

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CREDITS

Featuring Christine Genier

Creator & Performer | Christine Genier

Collaborator | Jacob Zimmer

Nakai Producer & Production Manager | Norah Paton

Promotional Photos | Jivesh Parasram

Superbloom Installation Unveiling

Conceptualized by Nicole Schafenacker and Krystle Silverfox + Created by many hands across the Yukon

Saturday, April 19th - 7PM Start (Doors @ 6:30PM) - Main Theatre, The Guild Hall, Whitehorse YT

Is art making vital to our survival? How can art-making (re)connect us to our kin in the world around us? How can it strengthen our community networks, our agency, and the actions we take to care for land and each other?

These are some of the questions that inspired the creation of Superbloom, a multidisciplinary installation conceptualized by Nicole Schafenacker and Krystle Silverfox and realized by many hands across the Yukon. Inspired by the fireweed superbloom that followed in the wake of the Ethel Lake wildfire, Superbloom explores how the land regenerates after a wildfire and how making art, in turn, can feed our whole selves and support our agency as stewards. This installation explores both the recent impacts of the climate catastrophe across Yukon and NWT and the webs of connection and resilience that are emerging in response, and was developed with support from the Dechinta Centre. Join us for its first unveiling!

Mussi cho to the speakers featured in our soundscape: Blake Shaá’koon Lepine, Jeneen Frei Njootli, Krystle Silverfox and more.

Make sure you register for FREE tickets to attend the Local Presentation of the Superbloom Installation Unveiling on Saturday April 19th at 7PM alongside the wâhkôhtowin project’s Climate Play Reading at superbloom-climate-play-awaken-festival-2025.eventbrite.com!

Climate Play Reading

By the wâhkôhtowin project (led by Yvette Nolan and Joel Bernbaum) & Local Artists

Saturday, April 19th - 7PM Start (Doors @ 6:30PM) - Main Theatre, The Guild Hall, Whitehorse YT

Featuring Keira Ash, Fabienne Calvert Filteau, Miche Genest, Laurel Perry, Nicole Schafenacker, and Colin Wolf with Music by Scott Maynard

Gwaandak Theatre has partnered with the wâhkôhtowin project (led by Yvette Nolan and Joel Bernbaum) to offer a paid six-day workshop and public reading as part of the wider Climate Play project. After completing a one-day verbatim theatre workshop in November 2024, local artists conducted interviews with community members, and reconnected during Awaken to further develop this project. Join us for a reading of this new work!

Make sure you register for FREE tickets to attend the Local Presentation of the Climate Play Reading on Saturday April 19th at 7PM alongside the Superbloom Installation Unveiling at superbloom-climate-play-awaken-festival-2025.eventbrite.com!

Please note that participants in the six-day workshop will have already been selected prior to the start of festival.