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NAC Indigenous Theatre
· 2019-2020 Season

Evalyn Parry, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory. Lighting design : Rebecca Picherack. Set design : Kaitlin Hickey. © Jeremy Mimnagh. Artistic treatment: Heather Campbell

Performance languages: English, Inuktut and Kalaallisut (Greenlandic)

https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/22154

At once strangely complex and astonishingly simple, Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools is a concert and conversation between two people: both women, storytellers, and artists. Queer theatre-maker Evalyn Parry and Inuk artist Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory met on an Arctic expedition from Iqaluit to Greenland, setting out with very different ideas of what dreams the expedition might fulfil. One was realizing her father’s wish to see the far North, the other was navigating the routes of her...

Jan 22 - Feb 9, 2020

Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre (GCTC) 1233 Wellington Street West Ottawa

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Jan 22 - Feb 9, 2020

Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre (GCTC)

Evalyn Parry, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory. Lighting design : Rebecca Picherack. Set design : Kaitlin Hickey. © Jeremy Mimnagh. Artistic treatment: Heather Campbell

kiinalik-04 — Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory. Lighting design : Rebecca Picherack. Set design : Kaitlin Hickey. © Jeremy Mimnagh

w0a3449 — Evalyn Parry. Lighting design : Rebecca Picherack. Set design : Kaitlin Hickey. © Jeremy Mimnagh

kiinalik-06 — Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Evalyn Parry. Lighting design : Rebecca Picherack. Set design : Kaitlin Hickey. © Jeremy Mimnagh

Indigenous arts Music Theatre Storytelling

≈ 110 minutes · No intermission

At once strangely complex and astonishingly simple, Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools is a concert and conversation between two people: both women, storytellers, and artists.

Queer theatre-maker Evalyn Parry and Inuk artist Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory met on an Arctic expedition from Iqaluit to Greenland, setting out with very different ideas of what dreams the expedition might fulfil. One was realizing her father’s wish to see the far North, the other was navigating the routes of her ancestors.

Embodying the stories of their heritage, Evalyn and Laakkuluk put a face to the colonial histories, power structures and the changing climate that lie between them.

ᑮᓇᓕᒃ; ᐃᐱᑦᑐᑦ ᓴᓇᕐᕈᑏᑦ

ᑮᓇᓕᒃ: ᐃᐱᑦᑐᑦ ᓴᓇᕐᕈᑏᑦ, ᑯᐃᐅ ᑕᐅᑐᕋᓐᓇᑕᐅᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᓴᓇᔨ ᐃᐊᕙᓕᓐ ᐸᐅᕆ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᒃ ᑕᐅᑐᕋᓐᓈᖅᑕᐅᓱᖅ ᓚᑯᓗᒃ ᐅᐃᓕᐊᒻᓴᓐ ᐹᑐᕆ ᓄᓇᖑᐊᓕᐅᖅᐳᒃ ᓄᑖᒥᒃ ᑕᐅᑐᕋᓐᓈᖅᑕᐅᓂᒃᒧᑦ ᐱᐅᔪᒥᒃ ᓴᓇᖃᑎᒌᑉᐳᒃ ᓴᓚᔅᓴᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᓕᓴᕆᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖓ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᖓᓂᒃ ᓄᖑᑎᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᑭᖑᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂ, ᐱᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᖃᕐᕕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᑎᒍᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓯᓚᐅ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᐸᓪᓕᐊᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᐊᑯᓐᓂᖃᖅᑐᑎᒃ.

Inuktitut translation

READ MORE: All Our Relations – Directors’ Chat with Eric Coates, Kevin Loring, Lori Marchand and Hugh Neilson

Learn more in the program notes ›

Artists

Creator + Performer Evalyn Parry

Creator + Performer Evalyn Parry

Evalyn Parry is the artistic director of Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto. An award- winning, queer performance-maker, her work as a director, musician, creator/performer and collaborator is inspired by intersections of social justice, history, and auto/biography. Her show Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools (co-created with Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Erin Brubacher, Elysha Poirier and Cris Derksen) is a "concert and conversation" between the North and South of Canada, weaving personal storytelling with themes of colonization and climate disruption. Kiinalik won the 2018 Dora Award for Outstanding New Play, as well as Sound Design/Composition; since premiering at Buddies it has been presented in Iqaluit, Nunavut and Vancouver’s PuSH festival, and will be at Luminato in June 2019 before undertaking an international tour. Other notable recent projects for include directing The Youth/Elders Project, and Obaaberima by Tawiah M’Carthy; writing and performing in Gertrude and Alice (co-authored with Anna Chatterton and Karin Randoja, nominated for a 2018 Governor General’s Award), and her acclaimed show SPIN, a feminist history of the bicycle which has had than 300 performances around North America. www.evalynparry.com

Evalyn Parry assure la direction artistique du Buddies in Bad Times Theatre.Créatrice multitâche queer primée, sa démarche, en tant que metteure en scène, musicienne, créatrice-interprète et collaboratrice, puise son inspiration aux carrefours de la justice sociale, de l’histoire et de l’auto/biographie.Son spectacle Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools (créé en collaboration avec Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Erin Brubacher, Elysha Poirier et Cris Derksen) est « un concert et une conversation » entre le Nord et le Sud du Canada, arrimant des faits vécus aux thèmes de la colonisation et du dérèglement climatique. Kiinalik a remporté le prix Dora de la meilleure création en 2018, de même que celui de la meilleure conception sonore/musique originale; depuis sa création au Buddies in Bad Times, elle a été présentée à Iqaluit, dans le Nunavut, et au festival PuSH de Vancouver, et elle prendra l’affiche au festival Luminato en juin 2019 avant d’entamer une tournée internationale.Parmi ses plus récentes réalisations, mentionnons également sa mise en scène du Youth/Elders Project, et d’Obaaberima de Tawiah M’Carthy; sa prestation dans Gertrude and Alice, pièce qu’elle a coécrite avec Anna Chatterton et Karin Randoja, mise en nomination pour un Prix du Gouverneur général en 2018; et sa production très applaudie SPIN, une histoire féministe de la bicyclette qui a fait l’objet de plus de 300 représentations à travers l’Amérique du Nord. www.evalynparry.com

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Creator + Performer Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory
Creator + Performer Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory
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Director + Creator Erin Brubacher

Director + Creator Erin Brubacher

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Live Video + Creator Elysha Poirier

Live Video + Creator Elysha Poirier

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Cello + Live Music Cris Derksen
Cello + Live Music Cris Derksen

Juno-nominated Cris Derksen is an Internationally respected Indigenous Cellist and Composer. In a world where almost everything—people, music, cultures—gets labelled and slotted into simple categories, Cris Derksen represents a challenge. Originally from Northern Alberta, she comes from a line of chiefs from NorthTall Cree Reserve on her father’s side and a line of strong Mennonite homesteaders on her mother’s. Derksen braids the traditional and contemporary, weaving her classical background and Indigenous ancestry with new school electronics to create genre-defying music.

As composer Derksen has a foot in many worlds, 2019 compositions include Maada’ookii Songlines – a Mass Choral piece for 250 singers Commissioned by Luminato Festival. Rebellion—a short symphony commissioned by the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. Iron Peggy – a Theatre piece commissioned by the Vancouver Children’s Festival. A new performance art piece commissioned by the National Art Gallery of Canada, Ikumagiialit. Her 2018 works include the DORA Award for Best Sound Design for Theatre 2018; Kiinalik: these sharp tools, TIFF Premier Biidaaban (the dawn comes) Short Animation Film by Amanda Strong, Ka:hawai Dance Company production of BloodTides, Kamloopa Theatre production, 2018 Banff Centre for the Arts String Quartet Residency White Mans Cattle and Wood Quintet International 5 bucks per head.

As a performer, Derksen performs nationally and internationally solo and with some of Canada’s finest, including Tanya Tagaq, Buffy Sainte Marie, Naomi Klein, and Leanne Simpson, to name a few. Recent destinations include Hong Kong, Australia, Mongolia, Sweden, and a whole lot of Canada—the place Derksen refers to as home.

Finaliste aux prix JUNO, Cris Derksen est une violoncelliste et compositrice autochtone dont le talent brille à l’international. Dans un monde qui se plait à mettre des étiquettes à presque tout – aux gens, à la musique et aux cultures – Cris Derksen fait figure d’électron libre. Dans son arbre généalogique, on retrouve des chefs de la réserve crie de North Tall du côté paternel et de robustes homesteaders mennonites, du côté maternel. Entre traditionnel et contemporaine, cette native du nord de l’Alberta puise dans sa formation classique, ses racines autochtones et l’électronique pour composer une musique radicalement inclassable.

Dans ses compositions, Cris Derksen navigue entre les univers musicaux, elle qui n’aime pas se cantonner dans un seul style. Rien qu’en 2019, elle crée quatre œuvres de commande : Maada’ookii Songlines, une pièce chorale pour 250 interprètes (Festival Luminato), la brève symphonie Rebellion (Orchestre symphonique de Thunder Bay), la pièce de théâtre Iron Peggy (Festival des enfants de Vancouver) et enfin une œuvre-performance, Ikumagiialit (Musée des beaux-arts du Canada). En 2018, elle participe à divers projets, notamment la pièce Kiinalik: these sharp tools (prix Dora pour la meilleure conception sonore au théâtre), le court métrage d’animation Biidaaban (the dawn comes) de Amanda Strong présenté en première au TIFF, la production BloodTides de Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, la pièce Kamloopa, et dans le cadre d’une résidence au Centre des arts de Banff un quatuor à cordes, White Mans Cattle, et l’œuvre 5 bucks per head pour quintette à vent.

Sur scène, Cris Derksen se produit dans le monde entier, en solo, ou en collaboration avec des artistes remarquables comme Tanya Tagaq, Buffy Sainte Marie, Naomi Klein, ou encore Leanne Simpson. Son art l’a conduite à travers le monde, notamment à Hong Kong, en Australie, en Mongolie, en Suède et aux quatre coins du Canada, là où elle se sent chez elle.
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Sound Consultant Aleda DeRoche

Sound Consultant Aleda DeRoche

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Set Design Kaitlin Hickey

Set Design Kaitlin Hickey

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Lighting Design Rebecca Picherack

Lighting Design Rebecca Picherack

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Stage Manager Georgia Priestley-Brown

Stage Manager Georgia Priestley-Brown

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Created by Evalyn Parry, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Erin Brubacher and Elysha Poirier with Cris Derksen
Production A Buddies in Bad Times Theatre Production
Co-Presented Co-presented with and hosted by Great Canadian Theatre Company