Playwright draws inspiration from all cultures

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In his nearly 20 years of involvement with the arts, Aboriginal playwright, actor, dancer and director Floyd Favel has accomplished much. He has worked on dozens of theatre, television and radio productions, he has travelled the world to live in and learn about many different cultures, and he has garnered so much public and critical acclaim that he is now justifiably regarded as one of the biggest talents on the Canadian arts scene. By any standard, Favel's career has been impressive, but perhaps most impressive of all is that he is only 37, and firmly believes his best work is still to come.

"Sometimes I think that what I know now, I really should have known when I was 20. Right now I feel like I'm going into a new phase, like I'm just starting," Favel shared in his easy, joking manner. "When I was younger . . . I hadn't really formulated my artistic vision. Now, my artistic vision is clearer to me."

Favel sees his current project -a play-in-progress entitled The Sleeping Land-as the beginning of this new phase, since more than any of his previous works, it crosses cultural boundaries and allows him to express his passions and beliefs about the universality of the arts.

"The arts should be a bridge to other peoples, and other cultures. In order to do that, though, we have to be familiar with our own culture," he said. "We have to remember that we're part of the world, and we should work in collaboration with all types of people and cultures, not be isolated."

Isolation is a feeling Favel first came to know as a boy growing up on Poundmaker First Nation near North Battleford. Of Plains Cree and Saulteaux descent, Favel left his isolated community at 17, moved to Saskatoon, and got his first 'job' in the arts-a volunteer position at the Persephone Theatre. There he met Ruth Smillie, the first of many talented mentors from whom Favel learned his craft (Smillie is now the director of Regina's Globe Theatre). Favel knew he had found his calling, and within the year, he had obtained funding from his band and the federal government to attend a theatrical training program for Aboriginal people in Denmark. After two years, he moved on to Italy, where he studied three additional years under acclaimed theatre director Jerzy Grotowski.

Favel returned to Canada with his own physical isolation left far behind, but in seeing the world, he found inspiration in the artistic isolation between cultures. The plays he has written since have mostly involved the Indigenous peoples of North America, though their themes of unity and self-discovery are universal. Two of his plays, Governor of the Dew and All My Relations, were recently published by Coteau Books, and Playwrights Canada Press will release a third, Lady of Silences, later this winter.

"My goal has been to express the reality of all northern Indigenous people, to capture the beauty of the environment and the difficulty of a traditional lifestyle."

With his latest work, Favel is for the first time expressing the realities of a completely foreign culture (though one he found to bear many similarities with his own). The Sleeping Land will tell the story of the massive, still unexplained explosion that, in 1908, decimated a vast tract of land in Tunguska, Siberia. The event is depicted through the experiences and legendary interpretations of the area's own Indigenous inhabitants, the Evenki. As a part of the larger Tungaska Project, Favel travelled to Siberia this spring with a group of documentary filmmakers, and lived among the Evenki for six weeks to research his play and learn about their way of life.

"To research the event, I lived in reindeer herders' camps, talked with scientists in Moscow, dialogued and worked with Evenki performance artists," Favel said of his experiences. "This project is a highlight, because I'm able to further fulfil my interests and goals with northern Indigenous peoples."

The Sleeping Land will go through workshop productions next May, in bot Montreal and Russia, before its official, as yet unscheduled debut at the Globe Theatre in Regina, which is planned for the 2003-2004 season.

Though writing the play is Favel's current focus, his work in other artistic genres is also continuing. A tour of his dance show, Nitaskenan, recently ended, he will be acting in next April's Globe Theatre production of Coronation Village, and he will be spending next summer working with the Canada Dance Festival and teaching at the Sage Hill Writing Experience. In what spare time he can find, he will also be continuing as director of the Takwakin Performance Laboratory, a development project for theatrical professionals that he founded with Smillie in 1990.