Michele LeTourneau
Northern News Services

NNSL (Feb 15/99) - They discuss the hard issues: suicide, drug abuse and relationships.

Together they dedicate hundreds upon hundreds of hours to turning these discussions into dramatic material and staging them. They're called the Kicking Caribou Theatre Company.

Based in Arctic Bay, Baffin region, the company is comprised of youth between the ages of 14 and 23.

"Last year, the play was called In the Eyes of a Child," says Natalie Webb, who directs the student effort at Inuujaq school. "It was about kids and parents, growing up, and relationships."

"We're not dealing with professional actors, they're student amateurs," stresses Webb, who took over from the man who started it all several years ago, Matthew Brown.

The experience is a lot of fun and hard work for company members, but there's also a little more at work in the process, as Webb explains.

"It helped one girl get off drugs. Another got himself out of trouble to stay a part of the group."

But professional or not, Kicking Caribou is nevertheless making great strides. This past year alone they've received several grants. The NWT Arts Council awarded them a sum of money so that they might pursue professional theatrical development. The Canada Council for the Arts has awarded them money for their current project, a play about Nunavut, as yet untitled. Finally, Visions Canada will fund a cultural exchange between the 22 youth involved and 20 youth from Kingston, Ont.

"The Kingston kids will be here for Nunavut," Webbs says. "And in May we'll go down, to do some cultural things, see some plays. A lot of them have never been down south so it's a great opportunity."

Kicking Caribou will kick off Nunavut celebrations in Arctic Bay, with a performance of the play in Inuktitut on March 24 and in English March 25.