Tuning into humanity with Burning Vision

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Sahtu Dene Metis playwright Marie Clements wants to take you places you never thought you'd go.

The vehicle is her new play Burning Vision, opening April 23 in Vancouver.

"Expect the unexpected," Clements said.

Opening with the discovery of an Aboriginal toddler who symbolizes a uranium rock, the journey from excavation to final atomic explosion above Hiroshima, Japan is presented with a series of scenes that takes the audience on a roller coaster ride through space and time.

"It's like we're on the radio dial and trying to dial into different worlds," explained Clements.

Clements hopes to help her audience tune into a "frequency of vision and humanity," by exhibiting the common experiences of different peoples. To achieve that goal, the play will be performed by a multicultural ensemble consisting of First Nations, Japanese and Caucasian actors.

Burning Vision was inspired by a Dene Medicine Man's vision in the late 1800s of a burning in the sky. The vision was later validated as the atomic bombs dropped on two Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, at the end of the Second World War.

While visiting relatives in Fort Good Hope in the Northwest Territories eight years ago, Clements became aware of the story about the discovery of uranium in the area and how the Native people of the area, her extended family, suffered because of it.

"You write things you're very passionate about," said Clements. "Having lost a lot of my Elders made me hyper-aware and sensitive to radiation poisoning."

She then began noticing similarities in how different people in different parts of the world were affected by the radioactive element, the most destructive manifestation being the atomic bomb attacks on Japan, ushering in an era of fear and the exposure of corruption.

"When you look back at the period of time in the 30s and 40s, pre-and-after the War, there is a different sense of the world as we knew it, and a different sense of how we receive information," said Clements. "We've come to know a lot of secrets kept by government and people of power."

Performer Margo Kane said the provocative subject matter is nothing new to Aboriginal communities throughout the world, and it's what attracted her to the play.

"There are a lot of stories that have been buried because they're not very flattering," Kane said. "I think it's critical to bring these stories to life and to know what's been covered up."

Despite the hurt and deceit it exposes, Clements said the play shows the best in people.

"Ultimately, what I try to hang on to is the spirit of hope, the human capacity to believe in the best and to aspire to just that."

Burning Vision runs from April 23 to May 11 at the Firehall Arts Centre, with two-for-one previews on April 23 through 25 and two-for-one matinees on May 4 and 11. For tickets call 604-689-0926.