Native theatre losing the legs it stands on

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With his new play showing in Edmonton, renowned playwright Tomson Highway spoke about the declining state of Native theatre in Canada and about his new play, Ernestine Shuswap Gets Her Trout, which he said would probably be his last.

Highway's play was part of the Magnetic North Theatre Festival held in Edmonton June 9 to 19. Highway, best known for his plays Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing and The Rez Sisters, took part in the Magnetic Encounters Speakers Series on June 17 and said there is a double standard that's closing doors to Native artists.

"Why allow the Italians and the Danes and the Scots and the Australians etc., to cast shows any old way they want? And you specify that this Native playwright, and it's not just me, has to cast shows only in a certain, specific racial way," said Highway to the crowd gathered at the Timms Centre for the Arts.

Highway said that he deliberately cast two Aboriginal and two non-Aboriginal people to play the Aboriginal roles, and he has been harshly criticized for that decision. The first criticism he heard about the play was that the two non-Aboriginal actors weren't believable as Aboriginal people.

Highway said the casting situation is one of the biggest reasons why he hasn't had a main stage show in 15 years. He said mainstream theatre shies away from doing plays with Native characters because there is a perception that only Native people should be cast in those parts. Actors are trained to transform into any part and should not be limited by their race, he said.

If Rez Sisters were to be produced in Spain, Spanish actors, not Native actors, would be cast. Highway said the double standard in Canadian theatre circles will eventually kill Native theatre, a very important part of Canadian theatre.

"Most of us come from these tiny, isolated communities. To put anymore roadblocks in front of them is a crime, it is a crime. You can't do that," said Highway. "The other alternative, if you open those doors and let people just cast the way they want them, you will see Native playwrights, and other playwrights, coming out of the woodwork. They will bloom if you're kind to them and you support them and encourage them."

But he's happy to have been given the chance to experiment with casting in Ernestine Shuswap. The story focuses on the Laurier Memorial, a document that was given to Sir Wilfred Laurier in 1910 by chiefs of the Shuswap, Okanagan and Thompson people. The document provides insight into the Aboriginal concepts of land ownership, family and hospitality. Highway tells the story of the presentation of this document through the eyes of four women of the Shuswap Nation.

The play was originally commissioned by the Western Canada Theatre Company and the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society, a cultural organization based on the Kamloops Indian Reserve.

"I approached it with great joy and great amusement. I had a wonderful time writing it and I loved doing it," said Highway. "I just love David Ross (director) and all the actors who are in it and the group. I had a really, really good time. I love it. I think it's a great privilege."

"The whole thing was a very interesting and very challenging experience. Tomson has a unique personality," said Ross, who is also the artistic producer at the Western Canada Theatre.

"What's also very brilliant about the play is that Tomson has encapsulated the next 100 years, from 1910 up until 2004, in the course of this single day. As they prepare (the feast) all the things that have happened over the last 100 years happen, including closed rivers to fishery, closed land to grazing, that kind of thing. It's a very powerful statement," David Ross said.

Ross said one of the biggest reasons why he and Highway did the play was to bring to light the problems First Nations people in British Columbia are having with land claims negotiations.

"We feel it's a key ingredient for Aboriginal people in British Columbia, findng their true place within the Canadian mosaic," said Ross.

Highway said that he doesn't need the theatre anymore, but he hopes to spend time trying to open doors once again for other Native artists.

"Everybody will lose (if Native theatre dies). Not only the Native acting community, but the Canadian theatre community and Canada itself will lose a very, very cultural-a very valuable-cultural product."