Aboriginal playwrights in demand

Page 4

When Robin Melting Tallow and Shane Cunningham put out a call for new scripts by Aboriginal artists, they were looking for contemporary works to serve as the centrepiece for Crazy Horse Theatre's Aboriginal Playwrights Festival. What they got was not only several new plays, but also confirmation that their Calgary festival was answering a pent-up demand.

"We were totally shocked at the response," said Cunningham, who in addition to acting and producing at the festival serves as Crazy Horse's artistic director.

"We were thinking we would get local playwrights-initially we had a local concept. We never expected to get the number of scripts we did. It was a fulfilling experience because we realized there is a need out there for Aboriginal theatre companies, especially in Alberta."

Executive Director Melting Tallow and Cunningham formed Crazy Horse Theatre with Calgary actor Steve Gin, who left the company in 1999. Cunningham said the idea of creating an Aboriginal playwrights festival came in part from the difficulty they were having finding plays to include in Crazy Horse's second season. They knew Aboriginal writers were producing interesting scripts, but because not a lot of them were published they were difficult to track down.

"We decided what would make our jobs a lot easier as well as meet our mandate-which is to help new Aboriginal artists-was to do the festival and create a library for ourselves and other Aboriginal companies to draw from," Cunningham recalled.

With 14 scripts submitted from playwrights across the country, Cunningham and Melting Tallow's first job was to select plays for the festival. The results were seen over four nights beginning May 21, as the festival presented staged readings of 10 works and concluded with a full production of Misty Lake, featuring Tantoo Cardinal and Tina Keeper.

Cunningham said the scripts were chosen, in part, to present a contemporary portrait of Aboriginal people that is too often ignored.

"One thing the media doesn't explore a lot is the fact that we have relationships. How many times do you see a Aboriginal couple that is happy and in love? That isn't dealing with alcohol, that isn't dealing with abuse problems, that is just a happy couple in love?"

He adds that the plays do deal with issues-including Oka, residential schools, and the high percentage of Natives in prison-but these issues form the backdrop for the main drama of simple relationships that allow Aboriginal audiences to see their own experiences onstage.

The festival brought experienced Aboriginal directors in to work with actors who had a range of experience from the old pros like Cardinal and Keeper to local amateurs and those with experience in television but not in theatre.

Along the way, Cunningham also gained some valuable experience. It was the first time he had served as a producer and he was grateful for the support of Crazy Horse's volunteers, the local theatre community and the presence of Melting Tallow and local actor Michelle Thrush.

Thrush co-wrote one of the plays, directed another and was instrumental in recruiting many of the actors.

Crazy Horse plans to produce the festival every two years and to create a library of the scripts on the Internet. The hope is that other companies will produce these plays and that some of the playwrights will see their work published.

It seems that, in addition to creating a successful theatre festival, Melting Tallow and Cunningham just might have made their lives easier-they expect to include some of the plays featured at the festival in Crazy Horse's upcoming season.