Student Matinee : The Unnatural and Accidental Women | Sep 18, 2019

National Arts Centre - Centre national des Arts Canada is our stage. Le Canada en scène.

Sep 18, 2019

Babs Asper Theatre 1 Elgin Street Ottawa Canada

Photo: Greg Girard Photograph ‘200 Block East Hastings/Ovaltine Café 1975 / Artistic Treatment Aura (moniqueaura.com) © Greg Girard

Indigenous arts Theatre Drama Storytelling Festival events

Performance options	Start time	Language	Availability
Wednesday, September 18, 2019	12:00 pm	English	Seats available

““An impressive, powerful work.””
Eye Weekly

An NAC English Theatre/NAC Indigenous Theatre Co-production

Award-winning Métis-Dene playwright Marie Clements’ tender and provocative The Unnatural and Accidental Women courageously demands that we never forget the continuing crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls across Canada. In this remarkable play, the spirits of ten women bear witness to each other’s lives and deaths as they convene to support Rebecca’s search for answers about her own mother, who went for a walk and never returned.

Using humour and deeply rooted ancestral knowledge to tell their stories, The Unnatural and Accidental Women fearlessly walks Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, pushing us ever closer to truth and remembering.

*Contains mature themes, sexual content, nudity and strong language.

12:00 NOON

This event is cancelled

Sorry it’s no longer available.

Study Guides

Performance Resources │ Unnatural and Accidental Women (1.17 MB)

Adults & chaperones

1 Free adult per 15 students

Free admittance for special needs assistants

$ (HST included) for additional chaperons At the discretion of the National Arts Centre

Payment deadlines

3 weeks before the performance

Full payment is required by the payment deadline. The NAC reserves the right to cancel any orders submitted but not paid for by the payment deadline.

Seating

There are no reserved seats for NAC student matinee performances.

Instead of tickets you will receive a letter of admission and groups will be seated on a first-come, first-served basis at the performance.

The letter of admission will be issued upon receipt of full payment.

If you have any questions, please contact us at education@nac-cna.ca

Artists

By Marie Clements

By Marie Clements

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Directed by Muriel Miguel

Directed by Muriel Miguel

Muriel Miguel - Director (Kuna/Rappahannock) is a choreographer, director and actor. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Spiderwoman Theater, the longest running Indigenous women’s theater company in North America. Muriel is a 2016 Guggenheim Fellow; awarded an Honorary DFA from Miami University in Ohio; a member of the National Theatre Conference and in 2015 attended the Rauschenberg Residency. She taught at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre and is a pioneer in the development of a culturally based Indigenous performance methodology.

Choreography: Throw Away Kids - Banff Centre's Aboriginal Dance Program.

Director: Murielle Borst Tarrant's More Than Feathers and Beads; The Scrubbing Project - Turtle Gals Performance Ensemble and Evening in Paris - Raven Spirit Dance Company.

Acting: Off-Broadway's Lily’s Revenge; The Rez Sisters and The Unnatural and Accidental Women; One woman shows Hot' N' Soft, Trail of the Otter and Red Mother.

Lecture: Muriel Miguel: A Retrospective.

She facilitates Storyweaving Workshops in universities and communities across the US, Canada and Europe.

Muriel Miguel (nations kuna et rappahannock) est metteure en scène, chorégraphe et actrice. Elle est la fondatrice et directrice artistique du Spiderwoman Theater, la plus vieille compagnie de théâtre de femmes autochtones en Amérique du Nord. M^me Miguel a reçu la bourse Guggenheim en 2016 et un doctorat honorifique de l’Université Miami en Ohio; elle est membre de la National Theatre Conference et, en 2015, a fréquenté la Rauschenberg Residency. Elle a enseigné au Centre for Indigenous Theatre et a fait œuvre de pionnière en créant une méthode d’interprétation basée sur la culture autochtone.

Chorégraphe : Throw Away Kids, programme de danse autochtone du Banff Centre.

Metteure en scène : More Than Feathers and Beads, de Murielle Borst Tarrant; The Scrubbing Project, Turtle Gals Performance Ensemble; Evening in Paris, Raven Spirit Dance Company.

Comédienne : Lily’s Revenge, production off-Broadway; The Rez Sisters; The Unnatural and Accidental Women; et les spectacles solos Hot’ N’ Soft, Trail of the Otter et Red Mother.

Conférencière : Muriel Miguel: A Retrospective.

Muriel Miguel anime également des ateliers sur le « storyweaving » (tissage d’histoires) dans diverses universités et villes des États-Unis, du Canada et de l’Europe.

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Mavis Columpa C. Bobb

Mavis Columpa C. Bobb

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Valerie Yolanda Bonnell

Valerie Yolanda Bonnell

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Barber Pierre Brault

Barber Pierre Brault

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Marilyn Jenifer Brousseau

Marilyn Jenifer Brousseau

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Woman/Dancer Animikiikwe Ode Couchie-Waukey

Woman/Dancer Animikiikwe Ode Couchie-Waukey

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Violet Lisa Cromarty

Violet Lisa Cromarty

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Logger / Ron Olivier Lamarche

Logger / Ron Olivier Lamarche

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Verna Cheri Maracle

Verna Cheri Maracle

Cheri Maracle is a Haudenosaunee/Irish Actress, Singer, Playwright, and Host of the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. She has been performing on stages across Turtle Island and abroad for over 25 years and has many TV, stage, and music credits to her name.

Some selected TV/Film credits include Bones of Crows (CBC), Alaska Daily (CTV), UNSETTLED (APTN, TVO), The Coroner (CBC), The Parker Andersons (Marble Media), Tribal (APTN), DeGrassi (Netflix, Epitome), and Murdoch Mysteries (CBC). Cheri was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Canadian Screen Awards for her role of Sara Bull in the series Blackstone (APTN). Cheri also has numerous stage credits to her name and was nominated for Best Solo Performance for her portrayal of Pauline Johnson in the world premiere of Paddle Song at High Performance Rodeo. She has appeared in selected Theatre pieces: The UNNATURAL & ACCIDENTAL WOMEN (NAC), The Hours That Remain (Theatre Aquarius), Kisaageetin, We Love You (NAC), The Rez Sisters (Belfry Theatre), White Noise (Firehall Theatre), and more…

Cheri has hosted the INDSPIRE AWARDS for Global TV, Planet IndigenUS (Harbourfront Centre), TU Jazz Fest (Ontario Place), Talking Stick Festival Music Night, and Indigenous Music Awards shows, and events across Turtle Island.

Cheri’s musical background began with hand drum music, with the Indigenous Women’s group Tiyoweh. She then penned two original albums, Closer To Home, and If I Am Water, which garnered several nominations in the Indigenous Music Industry. Her third album, Ache of Love, is a jazz compilation, for her forever love of jazz music. Cheri had the privilege of portraying Mildred Bailey at the First Ladies of Jazz concert, at the Celebration of Nations Gathering in St. Catherines. Most recently, Cheri played the Waterloo Jazz Fest and the TU Jazz Fest in Ontario with her Quintet. Cheri’s music can be found on iTunes and Spotify.

D’ascendance haudenosaunee et irlandaise, Cheri Maracle est une actrice, chanteuse, dramaturge et animatrice du territoire des Six Nations de la rivière Grand. Depuis plus de 25 ans, elle foule les planches des théâtres de l’île de la Tortue.

Elle compte un grand nombre de prestations scéniques, cinématographiques et télévisuelles à son actif notamment dans Bones of Crows (CBC), Alaska Daily (CTV), UNSETTLED (APTN, TVO), The Coroner (CBC), The Parker Andersons (Marble Media), Tribal (APTN), DeGrassi (Netflix, Epitome) et Murdoch Mysteries (CBC). Elle a été finaliste aux prix Écrans canadiens dans la catégorie Meilleure interprétation dans un rôle de soutien pour sa prestation dans la série Blackstone (APTN). Son interprétation de Pauline Johnson dans la création mondiale de Paddle Song a été très remarquée au Festival High Performance Rodeo. Au théâtre, on a pu la voir dans The UNNATURAL & ACCIDENTAL WOMEN (Centre national des Arts), The Hours That Remain (Theatre Aquarius), Kisaageetin, We Love You (Centre national des Arts), The Rez Sisters (Belfry Theatre), ou encore White Noise (Firehall Theatre).

Animatrice à ses heures, Cheri Maracle s’est illustrée aux cérémonies des prix Indspire (Global TV) et des Indigenous Music Awards, au Planet IndigenUS (Harbourfront Centre), au Festival de jazz Toronto Undergraduate (Ontario Place), au Festival de musique Talking Stick et d’autres événements dans toute l’île de la Tortue.

Elle a commencé sa carrière musicale en jouant du tambour à main au sein du groupe féminin autochtone, Tiyoweh. Elle a également composé deux albums originaux très remarqués, Closer To Home et If I Am Water. Grande amoureuse du jazz, elle a fait paraître un troisième opus, Ache of Love, entièrement dédié à ce genre musical. Elle a eu le privilège d’incarner Mildred Bailey au concert First Ladies of Jazz, dans le cadre du rassemblement annuel Celebration of Nations, à St Catherines. Récemment, Cheri Maracle et son quintette se sont produits au Festival de jazz de Waterloo et au Festival de jazz Toronto Undergraduate (Ontario). Sa musique est disponible sur iTunes et Spotify.

On la retrouvera prochainement dans Women of the Fur Trade au Centre national des Arts, à Ottawa, et dans Tartuffe au Arts Club Theatre, à Vancouver. Nia:Wen!

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Aunt Shadie Monique Mojica
Aunt Shadie Monique Mojica

Monique Mojica (Guna and Rappahannock nations) Actor/ playwright Monique Mojica is passionately dedicated to a theatrical practice as an act of healing, of reclaiming historical/ cultural memory and of resistance. Spun directly from the family-web of New York’s Spiderwoman Theater, her theatrical practice embraces not only her artistic lineage through mining stories embeded in the body, but also the connection to stories coming through land and place.

Monique’s first play Princess Pocahontas and the Blue Spots was produced in 1990 and is widely taught in curricula internationally. She was a co-founder of Turtle Gals Performance Ensemble with whom she created The Scrubbing Project, the Dora-nominated The Triple Truth and The Only Good Indian. In 2007, she founded Chocolate Woman Collective to develop the play Chocolate Woman Dreams the Milky Way, a performance created by devising a dramaturgy specific to Guna cultural aesthetics, story narrative and literary structure.

Monique has taught Indigenous Theatre in theory, process and practice at the University of Illinois, the Institute of American Indian Arts, McMaster University and is a former co- director of the Centre for Indigenous Theatre. She has lectured on embodied research and taught embodied performance workshops throughout Canada, the U.S., Latin America and Europe.

She was most recently seen onstage in Kaha:wii Dance Theatre’s world premiere of Re-Quickening choreographed by Santee Smith and with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in I Lost My Talk as part of the Life Reflected series.

Upcoming projects include Side Show Freaks & Circus Injuns co-written with Choctaw playwright, LeAnne Howe and directed by Jorge Luis Morejón with an illustrious collaborative team of Indigenous artists from diverse disciplines.

Monique Mojica (nations kuna et rappahannock), est une actrice et auteure qui se passionne pour la pratique théâtrale, qu’elle voit comme un acte de guérison, de résistance et de revendication de la mémoire historique et culturelle. S’inscrivant dans la lignée du Spiderwoman Theatre de New York, sa pratique personnelle tire parti de son héritage artistique en mettant au jour les histoires du corps, mais aussi le lien aux histoires qui émanent de la terre et des lieux.

Sa première pièce, Princess Pocahontas and the Blue Spots, a été produite en 1990 et fait partie de nombre de programmes d’enseignement à l’international. Elle est l’une des cofondatrices du collectif Turtle Gals Performance Ensemble, avec qui elle a créé The Scrubbing Project, The Triple Truth (finaliste pour un prix DORA) et The Only Good Indian. Elle a fondé le Chocolate Woman Collective en 2007 pour développer la pièce Chocolate Woman Dreams the Milky Way, une production épousant une approche dramatique étroitement liée à l'esthétique, aux formes narratives et aux structures littéraires propres à la culture kuna.

Monique Mojica a enseigné la théorie, les procédés et les pratiques du théâtre autochtone à l'Université de l'Illinois, à l'Institute of American Indian Arts et à l'Université McMaster, en plus d’être codirectrice du Centre for Indigenous Theatre. Elle a prononcé des conférences sur la recherche incarnée et a donné des ateliers d’interprétation incarnée au Canada, aux États-Unis, en Amérique latine et en Europe.

Ses prestations les plus récentes sur scène comprennent la première mondiale de Re-Quickening, du Kaha:wii Dance Theatre, dans une chorégraphie de Santee Smith, et l’interprétation d’I Lost My Talk avec l’Orchestre du Centre national des Arts dans le cadre de la série Réflexions sur la vie.

Parmi ses projets à venir, mentionnons Side Show Freaks & Circus Injuns, une pièce coécrite avec la dramaturge choctaw LeAnne Howe et mise en scène par Jorge Luis Morejón, qui présente une impressionnante équipe d’artistes autochtones oeuvrant dans diverses disciplines.
NAC media featuring Monique Mojica
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Patsy / Composer & Choral Director Soni Moreno

Patsy / Composer & Choral Director Soni Moreno

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Rebecca PJ Prudat

Rebecca PJ Prudat

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Penny Kelsey Wavey

Penny Kelsey Wavey

Kelsey Kanatan Wavey (they/them) is a nonbinary multidisciplinary artist currently based in so-called Vancouver. Kelsey was born and raised in Treaty 1, Winnipeg, and is a proud member of Tataskweyak Cree Nation. Kelsey attended Studio 58 to study acting, and has been working as an actor, writer, director, and curator since graduating in 2019. Kelsey is a singer and is working on self-releasing their work with their Indigenous indie pop duo “EVERB0DY”, as well as sings with an all femme drumming group “M’girl”. Some of their recent theatre acting work includes The Rez Sisters, Women of the Fur Trade (MTC) and Break Horizons: a Concert Documentary (Urban Ink and The Cultch). You may have seen their recent directing work in Cerulean Blue (Studio 58) and Gather: Stories in Nature (Neworld and Pacific Theatre).

Membre de la Nation crie de Tataskweyak, Kelsey Kanatan Wavey (iel) a grandi sur le territoire du Traité n^o 1, à Winnipeg, avant de s’installer dans la ville qu’on appelle Vancouver. Depuis l’obtention de son diplôme en art dramatique du Studio 58 en 2019, l’artiste multidisciplinaire non binaire partage son temps entre l’écriture, l’interprétation, la mise en scène et la programmation. Aussi à l’aise au chant, la moitié du duo autochtone de pop alternative, EVERB0DY, prépare actuellement un nouvel album autoproduit, en plus de chanter avec le groupe de percussions 100 % féminin, M’girl. Au théâtre, on a pu l’applaudir dans The Rez Sisters, Women of the Fur Trade (Royal Manitoba Theatre Center) et Break Horizons: a Concert Documentary (Urban Ink et The Cultch). Kelsey Kanatan Wavey a également mis en scène les pièces Cerulean Blue (Studio 58) et Gather: Stories in Nature (Neworld Theatre et Pacific Theatre).

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Rose Colleen Winton

Rose Colleen Winton

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Assistant Director / Choreographer Penny Couchie

Assistant Director / Choreographer Penny Couchie

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Set, Props and Projection Designer Andy Moro
Set, Props and Projection Designer Andy Moro

Andy Moro is the Artistic co-director of ARTICLE11 with Tara Beagan. Their work upholds the 11th Article of the UN’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Selected Theatre Credits: The Unnatural & Accidental Women (NAC); Rise Red River (ARTICLE 11/Theatre Cercle Moliere/Prairie Theatre Exchange); PISUWIN (Atlantic Ballet); Sleuth, Extractionist, Gaslight (Vertigo Theatre); NOMADA (Diana Lopez Soto); F WORD (Downstage/Alberta Theatre Projects); Ministry of Grace, Reckoning, ROOM, Declaration, Deer Woman (ARTICLE11); Little Women, Honour Beat; (Theatre Calgary); Hookman (University of Calgar/Chromatic); The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time (NAC/Neptune Theatre); Post Mistress, Rez Sisters (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Blackhorse (Caravan Theatre); The Herd (Citadel Theatre/Tarragon Theatre); Frozen River (Manitoba Theatre for Young People); Third Colour, Spacegirl, War Being Waged (Prairie Theatre Exchange); Ministry of Grace, Time Stands Still, O’Kosi (MT7); SkyDancers (Anowara Dance); Raven Mother (Dancers of Damelahamid); Finding Wolastoq Voice (Theatre New Brunswick); Blood Water Earth, Blood Tides, The Mush Hole (Kahawi Dance Theatre).

Andy Moro est le codirecteur artistique, avec Tara Beagan, de la troupe ARTICLE 11, qui doit son nom à l’article de la Déclaration des Nations Unies sur les droits des peuples autochtones.

Au théâtre : The Unnatural and Accidental Women (CNA); The Herd (Tarragon Theatre); Rise Red River (ARTICLE 11 Theatre Cercle Moliere, Prairie Theatre Exchange); PISUWIN (Atlantic Ballet) Sleuth, Extractionist, Gaslight (Vertigo Theatre), NOMADA (Diana Lopez Soto), F WORD (Downstage, Alberta Theatre Projects), Ministry of Grace, Reckoning, ROOM, Declaration, Deer Woman (ARTICLE 11); Little Women, Honour Beat (Theatre Calgary); Hookman (Université de Calgary et Chromatic); Post Mistress, Rez Sisters (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre); Blackhorse (Caravan); The Herd (Citadel et Tarragon); Frozen River (Manitoba Theatre for Young People); Third Colour, Spacegirl, War Being Waged (Prairie Theatre Exchange); Ministry of Grace, Time Stands Still, O’Kosi (MT7); SkyDancers (Anowara Dance); Raven Mother (Dancers of Damelahamid); Finding Wolastoq Voice (Theatre New Brunswick); Blood Water Earth, Blood Tides, The Mush Hole (Kahawi Dance Theatre).
NAC media featuring Andy Moro
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Costume Designer Sage Paul

Costume Designer Sage Paul

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Lighting Designer Jeff Harrison

Lighting Designer Jeff Harrison

Jeff Harrison is a Vancouver-based, four-time Jessie Award-winning lighting designer for his work on Carousel Theatre’s Pharaoh Serket & the Lost Stone of Fire, Patrick Street Theatre’s Floyd Collins, Pi Theatre’s Blasted and Arts Club’s Hand to God. Other lighting credits include Pi Theatre’s Beautiful Man, Patrick Street Theatre’s Batboy the Musical and The Full Monty, Urban Ink’s Children of God, Arts Club’s Beneath Springhill, and NAC Indigenous Theatre’s The Unnatural and Accidental Women. Jeff is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada (IATSE ADC659).

Jeff Harrison est le lauréat de quatre prix Jessie pour ses conceptions d’éclairages dans les productions PharaohSerket & the Lost Stone of Fire (Carousel Theatre), Floyd Collins (Patrick Street Theatre), Blasted (Pi Theatre) et Hand to God (Arts Club). Il a également conçu les éclairages de Beautiful Man (Pi Theatre), Batboy the Musical et The Full Monty (Patrick Street Theatre), Children of God (Urban Ink), Beneath Springhill (Arts Club) et The Unnatural and Accidental Women (Théâtre autochtone du CNA). Jeff Harrison est membre de l’Association des designers canadiens (AIEST, section locale ADC659).

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Sound Designer Troy Slocum

Sound Designer Troy Slocum

A sound designer and electronic music composer, Troy recently scored and designed the sound for the new CBC Gem series The Bannocking by Damien Eagle Bear and designed the sound and produced the beats for the audio play Black Fly by Amy Lee Lavoie & Omari Newton. Upcoming, he will be doing the sound design and composition for Blithe Spirit at The Shaw Festival. In addition, Troy has created original music and sound design for over 50 theatrical productions. Highlights include The Lamentable Tragedy of Sal Capone (NAC), The Rez Sisters (Belfry), and Buried Child (NAC/Segal Centre). Select Film/TV credits include sound design and original music for Looking at Edward Curtis (Knowledge Network); MIA (Salmon) (TIFF, VIFF); and sound design for documentary features The Road Forward, That Higher Level, True North - The Rise of Toronto Basketball (NFB); Grey Roads (HOTDOCS 2021). Troy has been nominated for a Soirée Des Masques Award, several Mecca and META Awards, and won the Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Sound Design for The Pipeline Project (ITSAZOO/Savage Society).

Concepteur sonore et compositeur de musique électronique, Troy Slocum a signé la trame sonore de la série The Bannocking de Damien Eagle Bear diffusée sur CBC Gem et des rythmes sonores de la pièce radiophonique Black Fly d’Amy Lee Lavoie et Omari Newton. Prochainement, il composera la bande sonore de la pièce Blithe Spirit au Festival Shaw. Il a composé la musique originale et la trame sonore de plus de 50 productions théâtrales, notamment The Lamentable Tragedy of Sal Capone (CNA), The Rez Sisters (Belfry) et Buried Child (CNA/Centre Segal). Au cinéma et à la télévision, on a pu entendre ses créations dans Looking at Edward Curtis (Knowledge Network) et MIA (Salmon) (TIFF et VIFF Centre), et dans les documentaires The Road Forward, That Higher Level, Direction nord – La montée du basketball à Toronto (ONF) et Grey Roads (HOTDOCS 2021). Finaliste à la Soirée des Masques, aux Montréal English Critics Circle Awards (MECCA) et aux prix du Théâtre anglais de Montréal (META), Troy Slocum a remporté le prix Jessie Richardson de la meilleure conception sonore pour The Pipeline Project (ITSAZOO/Savage Society).

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Intimacy & Fight Coach Siobhan Richardson

Intimacy & Fight Coach Siobhan Richardson

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Stage Manager Lisa Russell

Stage Manager Lisa Russell

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Assistant Stage Manager Jane Vanstone Osborn

Assistant Stage Manager Jane Vanstone Osborn

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Apprentice Stage Manager Brody Halfe

Apprentice Stage Manager Brody Halfe

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By Marie Clements
Directed by Muriel Miguel
featuring Columpa Bobb, Yolanda Bonnell, Pierre Brault, Jenifer Brousseau, Nimikii Couchie-Waukey, Lisa Cromarty, Olivier Lamarche, Cheri Maracle, Monique Mojica, Soni Moreno, PJ Prudat, Kelsey Wavey, Colleen Winton
Assistant Director / Choreographer Penny Couchie
Set, Props and Projection Designer Andy Moro
Costume Designer Sage Paul
Lighting Designer Jeff Harrison
Sound Designer Troy Slocum
Composer & Choral Director Soni Moreno
Intimacy & Fight Coach Siobhan Richardson
Stage Manager Lisa Russell
Assistant Stage Manager Jane Vanstone Osborn
Apprentice Stage Manager Brody Halfe

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