A play, a tour and a chief subject of project

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Big Bear, the movie, a Canadian mini series aired in 1998, will soon be followed by the publication a new play of the same name, reinterpreted for the stage by playwright Michael C. Lawrenchuk and presented by the Centre For Indigenous Theatre in Toronto.

Lawrenchuck, chief of the Fox Lake reserve in Manitoba and a classically trained actor, has written Big Bear as an epic play about courage, betrayal, passion and politics - a classic tragedy that tells the real life story of the Plains Cree leader Big Bear.

Blessed and cursed by his dreams and visions, Big Bear struggled against insurmountable odds during the first days of European settlement of the west.

The Centre For Indigenous Theatre plans to produce a multidisciplinary performance of Lawrenchuck's work that combines traditional story telling with dance, mask, song and contemporary theatre, choreographed by actor/dancer Michael Greyeyes.

As part of the Big Bear Millennium Celebration, the theatre company also plans to tour the play across Canada to four sacred sites, to acknowledge and honor what this land has given to the people of this country. After each performance, a feast or potlatch would be held as a thanksgiving and blessing for the future.

Designed for both outdoor venues and major urban theatre centres, the entire process will be filmed as part of the Big Bear Millennium project.

"We wanted to film the whole creative process of the play's production, from the rehearsals to the choreography, tape the tour, performances and audience response as it goes across Indian country. We see the play, not just as a multidisciplinary piece, but as a celebration of what the land and the Creator has given us. The artists, who have been given great gifts, jobs and responsibilities, are giving back with their talent," said Carol Greyeyes, principal and artistic director of the centre.

"It was very important that Big Bear [the film] was done because for the first time, a mini series broadcast on a national level, which informed the greater public about Native history and leaders from a First Nations point of view. A lot of that stuff is not in the history books. Out here in Toronto, I have taught dramatic arts students about Big Bear and Poundmaker, and not even the First Nations people living here knew who they were. They just don't know. They don't have a clue. The film was a good start. I mean, excuse me. There were people living here many thousands of years ago, and guess what? We have a culture. You [the non- Aboriginals] are not the only ones here. You are not the only ones with a culture," Greyeyes said.

"I think that a play like Big Bear will reach a very wide audience, first of all because it has a universal theme, the human spirit fighting against the most incredible odds. At the same time, Aboriginal people will benefit, because it's part of our past, part of who we are," said Lawrenchuk.