≈ 1 hour · No intermission
Last updated: September 15, 2021
I have always been fascinated by dreams.
When waking up, I’ve even got into the habit of staying in that state between sleeping and waking, where it's easier to hold on to dreams – before they slip away and disappear inside my psyche.
Most of the time, what I remember are fragments. Words whispered in my ear while sleeping and whose meaning I try to decipher later, or images – like strange little films – that open new portals in the tributaries of my imagination.
I feel like these dreams help me broaden my vision.
I like to write my dreams down in a notebook, so as not to forget them and to be able to recall them to myself in due time.
I always find inspiration for my creations there.
It was in my recurrent dream of Micha Amik, the giant beaver, that the image of the dam as a poetic metaphor appeared to me. I wanted to go up the river of my DNA to better understand where I come from and the beaver became a guide in this journey.
I first encountered Émilie’s play through PWM, as part of the Interdisciplinary Writers Lab. It was at the beginning stage of creation, monologues exploring a personal story of discovery, and they were striking. Over time it has grown into a stunning play of a woman’s journey through fear to finding strength and inner courage by connecting to her ancestors, and speaking her truth. As a co-director, my focus was supporting Émilie in her quest to finding meaningful images she could explore on stage as an actor, and to rediscover how she built her play so that the depth of the journey could be communicated to an audience. This production has shown me just how much richer a rehearsal process can become when we build on each other’s ideas, and constantly seek for greater specificity in movement and storytelling. It has been a journey like no other.
Usually, it takes a while to establish a working process. For this piece, the delineation of the roles between Émilie, Emma and myself was very fluid and fell into place naturally and quickly. Input on movement, dramaturgy, text or design would often come from any one of the three of us. This removal of the hierarchical model of directing served the process and the piece well. The pentagon shaped set opened interesting challenges and wonderful, unexpected movement choices. Having the audience on five sides necessitated movement where the body fills the space in 360 degrees for the duration of the show. I wanted to have Émilie connect with the emotion and evocative imagery of the text and I used the initial small impulses that the text produced in her body as the starting point to develop the movement vocabulary for the piece.
Kwe! hOOlmah! Way’! Salut! Hello!
We are still here! And looking forward to welcoming you to Indigenous Theatre’s 2021-2022 season! A season of powerful, compelling art to bring a spotlight to the issues, experiences, and realities of Indigenous people, highlighting the vibrancy, diversity, beauty and the strength of our cultures from coast to coast to coast.
In addition to powerful productions, Indigenous Theatre invites audiences to experience Indigenous stories and culture through in-person and online free events; to witness and participate in the opportunity for enhanced mutual understanding and respect to build new relationships of trust and possibilities. And in honour of the new national holiday, the National Truth and Reconciliation Day, from September 27-30, Indigenous Theatre will host online events, activities, workshops, and panels.
“Our stories are medicine. We cannot change the past, but we can learn from it. We can move forward in a spirit of openness, generosity, and healing, to honour those who have come before and empower the future.”
Kevin Loring, Artistic Director
We offer our thanks to and acknowledge the host Algonquin Nation, whose generosity and openness inspire us every day.
— Kevin Loring, Lori Marchand and the Indigenous Theatre Team
Indigenous Theatre Team
Kevin Loring – Artistic Director
Lori Marchand – Managing Director
Lindsay Lachance – Artistic Associate (on leave)
Samantha MacDonald – Producer
Sage Nokomis Wright – Associate Producer
Mairi Brascoupé – Indigenous Cultural Resident
Kerry Corbiere – Education Coordinator
Alyssa Coghill – Education Assistant
Spike Lyne – Technical Director
RJ Mitchell – Assistant Technical Director
Jenna Spagnoli – Marketing and Communications Officer
Artists
At the crossroads of theatre, performance and media arts, Émilie Monnet’s work is most often presented in the form of interdisciplinary theatre or performative installations. Her artistic approach favors collaborative and multilingual creative processes, and explores the themes of identity, memory, history and transformation. A committed interdisciplinary artist, in 2011 she founded Onishka Productions in order to forge links between artists from different cultures and disciplines. Artist in Residence at the Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui from 2018 to 2021, she is now the artist in residence at Espace GO for the next three years.
Most recently, she presented her play Okinum at the Centaur Theater and at the National Arts Centre, and her new creation Marguerite: le feu will be produced next spring. Émilie is Algonquin/French and currently lives between the Outaouais and Tiohtià: ke / Mooniyaang / Montréal.
In 2008 Emma was named Artistic and Executive director of the national new creation centre Playwrights’ Workshop Montreal (PWM), where she has dramaturgically collaborated on numerous award-winning plays, including Jabber by Marcus Youseff, Squawk by Megan Coles, Instant by Erin Shields, and Behaviour by Darrah Teitel. So far in 2021, she co-created Skin, a new performance piece with the interdisciplinary company The Bakery, directed a digital staged reading of Behaviour by Darrah Teitel, and co-directed the audio play The Ringtone by Audrey Dwyer in April. Just last year, Emma was the recipient of the Elliott Hayes Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dramaturgy. Emma is a graduate of Concordia University’s Theatre Department and the National Theatre School of Canada’s Directing Program. She feeds her inner (and outer) punk rocker by playing in the family band The Tibaldos.
Sarah Williams has been working in the Canadian and Quebec dance scene for more than 30 years. As a performer she has danced with prominent choreographers and companies including, Holy Body Tattoo, Louise Bédard, Benoît Lachambre, George Stamos and La La La Human Steps. She has been artistic advisor, rehearsal director and choreographer for dance, performance art, video and theatre and has co-created projects with artists Nik Forrest, Marie Brassard, Eddie Ladd and long-time collaborator, Jackie Gallant Currently, Sarah is the rehearsal director for Animals of Distinction’s Frontera and Creation Destruction, and will be performing alongside dancer Louise Bédard in a new creation choreographed by Catherine Gaudet.
A lighting designer for over 30 years, Lucie Bazzo has collaborated with renowned directors such as Robert Lepage and Denis Marleau, as well as emerging creators. She has also designed lighting for the contemporary dance community, most notably with Linda Gaudreau, Crystal Pite, Benoît Lachambre, Hélène Blackburn, Sylvain Emard, just to name a few. Her work is not limited to the performing arts, collaborating with both musicians (Dear Criminals, Quatuor Bozzini) and several videographers, as well as creating in non-traditional venues. Lucie Bazzo often conceives lighting installations for the Phénomena Festival and is also a photographer.
Luciana is an established Montreal stage manager whose career expands over 24 years. She has been blessed to collaborate with the finest local artists. Selected favourite credits (amongst too many to mention): Paradise Lost, The St-Leonard Chronicles, Good People, Paradise by the River and In Piazza San Domenico (Centaur Theatre); Mythic, Once, Prom Queen: the Musical, The Secret Annex, Funny Girl, Othello, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz: the Musical, Cabaret, The Diary of Anne Frank, (The Segal Centre); Corpus, Where the Blood Mixes (Teesri Duniya) and many more. Luciana also translated and adapted for the stage St-Exupéry’s fable The Little Prince, premiered in Montreal by Geordie Productions and produced since in Ontario and Australia. She also translated into French The 39 Steps, which toured all over Quebec. Directing credits include: Better Late, Forever, Patsy Cline (Theatre Lac Brome); staged readings of Once Upon a Melody and When Blood Ran Red (Segal Centre’s Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre) and the 2017 METAS’s Award Ceremony. Currently, Luciana is extremely happy to be part of the Centaur Theatre family as Production Associate.
Clark is a Saskatchewan-born artist and filmmaker living, working and creating in Québec. His work has traditionally been concerned with issues related to identity politics and place. His narrative works focus on aspects of regionalism and attempt to use humour as a method of investigating these subjects. His documentary works also focus on regionalism and he is intent on making those subjects both interesting and accessible for those within and outside those borders. His work has traveled to festivals such as Festival du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal, the Yellowknife International Film Festival, The Sudbury International Cinefest Film Festival, The EnRegard Court Metrage Film Festival, Winnipeg’s WNDX, Germany’s Open Air Weiterstadt Film Festival, and has had several short works presented on CBC’s National Independent film program Canadian Reflections. He’s worked most recently in documentary forms including web documentaries, webseries, and feature length projects.
Marie-Eve Fortier holds a masters degree in Visual and Media Arts from UQAM (2009), where she focused on the materialization of textuality in installation. Her artistic practice led her to create spaces for the performing arts, guiding her to study scenography at the National Theatre School (2017). Fortier works as a set and props designer, illustrator and artist. She has taught in Cegep and was a guest scenographer at the ÉNT and the Conservatoire. She designed sets for Matériaux Composites (Graduating Class, Fred Barry Theatre, C.N.A.), and Home Dépôt: un musée du périssable – Espace Libre, le Théâtre INK (Faire la leçon – les Écuries), Alexia Burger (Pulvérisés + La Terre tremble — Studio Hydro-Qc), Productions Quitte ou Double (Bluff – S.A.T), Soleil Launière (Sheuetam, MAI), la Roulotte (Astéroïde B613), Geneviève Blais (Unité B1717) and Jocelyn Pelletier (Hamlet Machine - La Chapelle, De l’instant et de l’Éternité - Usine C, etc). As a prop designer, she has collaborated on Corps Titan (Théâtre d’aujourd’hui), l’Énéide (Quat’sous), Britannicus (TNM), Chapitres de la chute (Quat’sous), and Furioso, as a puppet builder (théâtre de l’Oeil).
Jackie Gallant is a musician, video artist and sound designer who creates and performs for dance, video and film. She began her musical career as a drummer for several Montreal rock groups. Since then she’s toured nationally and internationally with everyone from La La La Human Steps to Lesbians on Ecstasy. As sound designer and composer she has worked with, among others, actor/directors Marie Brassard and Brigitte Poupart, video artists Nelson Henricks, Nikki Forrest and Dayna McLeod and choreographers George Stamos, Sarah Williams and Karen Fennell. In fall 2015 she composed, directed and performed in the pop-opera (POD~the musical) as part of Montreal’s Phenomena festival. In the spring of 2016 she created the multimedia piece The King of Pop. Recently, she’s been involved as composer and performer in projects with Fortier DanseCréation (Trois and Solo 70) and Hélen Simard (Idiot and Requiem Pop). 2019 saw the release of the concept album 100 Years, by the duo Home Alone (a collaborative project with musician Yan Basque). In 2021 she has been collaborating with video artists Midi Onodera and Sonya Stefan.
For the opera he has collaborated with stage director Oriol Tomas and created sets for La Traviata (2019) at the Icelandic Opera, and for TwentySeven (2019) at l’Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal. Designs for recent theatre productions include Le Ravissement (2019) by Étienne Lepage at Théâtre de Quat’sous directed by Claude Poissant, and Les Hardings (2018) by Alexia Burger at Centre du Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui. He collaborated with Marie Brassard creating set designs also for Jimmy (2001), The Darkness (2003), Peepshow (2005), The Invisible (2008) and Trieste (2013), plays that have been acclaimed both in Quebec and internationally. With Cirque du Soleil, he designed the sets for Rebel (2019), Joyeux Calvaire – Homage aux Cowboys Fringuants (2019), Juste une p’tite nuite – Hommage aux Colocs (2018), Bazzar (2018) and Stone — Hommage à Luc Plamondon (2017). In dance he collaborated with Line Nault for Super-Super (2018) and Dana Gingras for Somewhere Between Maybe (2015). His film work includes the production design for Le bruit des arbres (2014) by Francois Péloquin and for Lost Song (2007) by Rodrigue Jean.
Caroline Monnet (Anishinaabe/French) is a multidisciplinary artist from Outaouais, Quebec. She studied Sociology and Communication at the University of Ottawa (Canada) and the University of Granada (Spain) before pursuing a career in visual arts and films. Her work has been programmed internationally at the Palais de Tokyo (Paris), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), TIFF (CAN), Sundance (US), Aesthetica (UK), Palm Springs (US), Cannes Film Festival, Whitney Biennial (NY), Toronto Biennale of Art (CAN), Museum of Contemporary Art (Montréal), Arsenal Contemporary NY, Walter Phillips Gallery (Banff), and the National Art Gallery (Ottawa). In 2016, she was selected for the Cinéfondation residency in Paris. Her work is included in numerous collections including Quebec Museum of Fine Arts, National Art Gallery, RBC Royal Bank, Museum of Contemporary Art Montréal. She is based in Montreal and represented by Blouin Division Gallery.
Simon is Innu originally from Pessamit on the North Shore and has been established in Montreal since 2014. He has been advancing in the art world since 2017 as a sound technician, musical creation and sound designer. Creator of music for the aboriginal production house Yändata’, he also collaborates extensively with aboriginal art companies located in Montreal such as Production Menuentakuan with Charles Bender and Marco Collin, Productions Onishka by Émilie Monnet, as well as with Natasha Kanapé Fontaine as part of her interdisciplinary project Tshishkushkueu. Simon also works with Lara Kramer, most recently on her project Them Voices.
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Having a broad interest in all the tricks that make live events magical, and a mind for the mechanical, Ted has developed a diverse career working behind the scenes for theatre, tours and live events since 2004. He has been the Stage Supervisor at Concordia University’s DB Clarke Theatre since 2011, and also has a busy practice as a freelance Technical Director, Production Manager and Lighting Designer, working for a wide array of productions and clients across the entertainment sector.
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees