Taylor spreads the laughs on thick

Page 18

Drew Hayden Taylor's done it again with the hilarious new play The Buz'Gem Blues which recently played to a full house at the Lighthouse Theatre in Port Dover.

Buz'gem is an Ojibway word for boyfriend, girlfriend, or lover. The play begins with Professor Savage (Terry Barna), a cultural anthropologist, theorizing on the "elusive courting, love and sexual habits of contemporary Native people." The story takes place at an Elder's conference where Prof. Savage uncovers more than he bargained for.

The play follows Amos (Ian Ferguson), a 61-year-old Mohawk who is in love with Summer (Kirsten Van Ritzen), a 30-year-old one-64th Mohawk wannabe. Life gets complicated when Amos meets a 60-year-old Ojibway woman named Martha (Lee Maracle) and falls for her over a bowl of bannock.

Martha is an Ojibway language carrier who holds strongly to her Christian beliefs. She is accompanied by her daughter, Marianne, who is played by Maracle's real life daughter Columpa C. Bobb.

The Warrior Who Never Sleeps (Tim Hill) is Martha's young Cree helper. He is searching for his roots and trying to conceal his nerdy interest in Star Trek. While trying to find herself, Summer discovers she has a great deal in common with him.

"This is my third play at the Lighthouse Festival Theatre. Each one has been better than the last, and I love it," exclaimed Taylor after the performance.

Buz'Gem Blues is the third in Taylor's series of blues plays, following Bootlegger Blues and Baby Blues. A fourth play is pending.

"The inspiration behind this play was to write an Elder's love story, a tribute of sorts to the people who came before me and have taught our generation so much. But, at the risk of sounding overly general, Native people revere their Elders and tend to put them on pedestals.

Unfortunately by putting people on pedestals, it removes them from walking on the Earth like human beings. This story is an attempt to investigate the human side of Elderdom and explore their romantic side," said Taylor.

"I personally know several Summers and a few Warriors. Same with the Elders. I may push them dangerously close to being caricatures because of the nature of the farce, but I think they easily remain rooted in reality and community."

At the heart of all the issues about May-December relationships and interracial romances and identity crises was the laughter. Taylor jokes about residential schools and finds humor in broken treaties and oppression.

After Taylor's triumph in Ontario, he traveled to Vancouver to stage another new play entitled, "Sucker Falls." It's a musical about demons of the forest and the soul inspired by a 1930s German musical written by Brecht/Weill.

He has also finished the first draft of a one-person play about being a mixed blood for Toronto's Cahoots Theatre. Taylor is currently doing research for an NFB documentary on Native Erotica, will be lecturing on Native theatre in Italy, and has two books coming out this winter.

Drew will be a guest presenter at the Gathering of Good Minds in London, Ont. at the London Regional Art Gallery on Sept. 28 to 30. The gathering is a conference of artists and Elders in a workshop setting.