Rubaboo festival presents much needed opportunity for Aboriginal artists

An Edmonton arts festival is doing everything it can to create more opportunities for Aboriginal artists, while showcasing authentic stories that have mass appeal.
The second annual Rubaboo Arts Festival took place June 2 to 5 at the Yellow Head Brewery. Presented by the Alberta Aboriginal Arts, the event featured a variety of plays that revealed a contemporary side to First Nations expressions.

Ryan Cunningham, Alberta Aboriginal Arts co-director, said he and partner Christine Sokaymoh Frederick were motivated to start Rubaboo because of the lack of opportunity for First Nations actors to find roles and for their communities to see their stories told.

“They’re not going out to see the theatre because who wants to see Beauty and the Beast if you’re not from Disney?” Cunningham said playfully, referring to the touring production that was featured at Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre during May.

The reading of the play Dreary and Izzy, which opened the festival, is the type of story Cunningham spoke of.
Set in Lethbridge in 1975, Deirdre (Dreary) and Isabelle (Izzy) are sisters whose worlds are turned upside down when they lose both their parents in a car accident. Izzy, who was adopted at birth from the neighbouring Blood Tribe and who is affected by fetal alcohol syndrome, relies on her younger sister Dreary to take over as her caregiver. Overwhelmed with new responsibilities, Dreary finds comfort in a charming vacuum cleaner salesman Freddie Seven Horses, who ends up in the middle of a whirlwind of complications and misunderstandings between the sisters.

Playwright Tara Beagan, who read the lead role of Dreary, was thrilled to showcase her critically acclaimed play at the Rubaboo Festival within the same province the story takes place and where she grew up.

With a rich heritage that is part Ntlakapamux (Thompson River Salish) and Irish-Canadian, Beagan said she is thankful to productions like Rubaboo that creates more opportunities for artists in Alberta.

“One of the great things about this festival is giving more profile to artists who live here and who are incredibly talented. Maybe more opportunities will be made in Alberta so we can stay home,” said Beagan, who is now based in Toronto.

Telly James, who played Freddie Seven Horses in the Edmonton production of Dreary and Izzy, was also excited to take advantage of an acting job that is not too far from his home in Calgary.

“It’s really important for something like this to happen here, because I have a family, so it isn’t easy for me to get up and move to Toronto or Vancouver,” said James, who is the father of two young girls.

James, who spent part of his childhood growing up in Siksika First Nation, said having a role in a production like Dreary and Izzy was an opportunity for him to interact with familiar characters.

“We all have some experience with the subject to a certain degree or we are connected to somebody who has had these experiences,” said James, referring to the cast made up of all First Nations actors.

The four-day festival was presented in collaboration with the established Dreamspeakers Film Festival, which ran simultaneously.

The Rubaboo Arts Festival also featured actors Dawn Dumont, Michaela Washburn, Donald Morin, Melinda Jane, Wendy Walker and Alberta Aboriginal Arts co-director Ryan Cunningham.