Acclaimed play fareWel to debut in Vancouver

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In the years since fareWel was first performed, it has received a lot of attention from critics.

Reviews of the 1997 Governor General's Literary Award winner Ian Ross' play have been all over the map, but not one reviewer has ever been bored by it. Disturbed, yes. Amused, definitely. Uncomfortable, you bet. But never bored.

Preview performances of the play open at the Firehall Arts Centre, 280 East Cordova St., on Feb. 4. The 8 p.m. show that Thursday night, the performance the same time the next night and a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, Feb. 6 are all two admissions for the price of one. The shows regular run (at regular prices) begins Feb. 9 and continues until Feb. 27.

Ross grew up on a Metis settlement and spent his summers living in a First Nation community. As an Aboriginal playwright, he feels comfortable writing in a humorous fashion about some of the more tragic aspects of life on the rez. But as Cree reviewer Ken Williams wrote in a 1997 look at fareWel in Windspeaker, there's no malice, just compassion, in his words.

While some Native audience members have said they feel quite uncomfortable watching as Ross' characters act out some of the unspoken realities of reserve life, there's no doubt he has succeeded in painting an accurate picture. But there's no moralizing in the words.

"As a playwright, I ask questions," Ross said. "If I thought I had answers, I'd be a politician."

The story, set on the fictional Partridge Crop Reserve, is about a half-dozen band members who go through some serious changes when the community's welfare cheques go missing. Appeals for help to a chief who is always travelling somewhere else, arguments over Bill C-31ers, ideas on how to make money, plans for self government, etc. all combine with the wise-crack filled dialogue to provide a compelling insight into life under the Indian Act.

The cast members have earned high praise during previous productions. Lorne Cardinal, Sam Bob, Sophie Merasty, Tracey Olson, Cheri Maracle and Daryl Clark, an all-Native cast, should give Vancouver audiences more than their money's worth.