If Dionne Brand’s name sounds familiar there’s good reason. Every year the National Arts Centre’s Playwrights in Residence program invites playwrights of Aboriginal or culturally diverse backgrounds to join the English Theatre Company. During the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 seasons, Dionne was the Playwright in Residence where she had the opportunity to adapt her book of poems, thirsty, into a play.
“The experience gave me the chance to work with the fabulous Peter Hinton and Paula Danckert,” says Dionne. “I benefitted so much from their expertise. I do words. They do so much more.”
In fact, past Company Dramaturg, Paula Danckert admits she had a personal agenda for bringing Dionne’s collection of poetry to the stage. “I was in love with her work,” she says. “I had this powerful vision of how Dionne’s poetry had a place on the stage.”
Once the process for turning thirsty into a play had begun there was no stopping its momentum. Peter and Paula were so excited about the work, they made the decision to debut the new play on the NAC stage during English Theatre’s 2012-2013 season. Peter himself will take the helm as director.
“Poetry and the language of the theatre are very much related,” Peter explains. “Our most popular playwright is Shakespeare. At the NAC, we look to our poets as a way of seeing the stories in our country. This is like our own contemporary Shakespeare. thirsty is a deserving, inviting story for the stage.”
Dionne still remembers the day it all began. “When Paula first called me with this opportunity I wasn’t sure. I wondered what it would be like to work with a dramaturg to shape this work into a play,” she recalls. “And then I realized how much I want to work with people who can take my work to another place. I realized how lucky my poems were to have them.”
The NAC Foundation wishes to thank the Canada Council for the Arts and an anonymous donor for helping to bring thirsty to the stage November 5-17, 2012. Be sure to see Dionne’s breathtaking work first-hand by purchasing tickets to attend the performance.