Unique performance comes to capital
Tales of an Urban Indian to be performed from July 27 to July 30
Stewart Burnett
Northern News Services
Monday, July 25, 2016
IQALUIT
A unique show performed entirely on a moving bus is coming to Iqaluit.
Craig Lauzon, playing Simon Douglas in Tales of an Urban Indian, is the one-man show in the 80-minute play coming to Iqaluit this weekend. The story takes place entirely on a bus as it travels between locations and chronicles a native man's experiences moving to the big city from a reservation. - photo courtesy of Sam Rose |
Tales of an Urban Indian, a semi-autobiographical story about a modern First Nations man, tells a story of being transplanted from home on a reservation to downtown Vancouver.
Debuting in 2009 to much applause, the show will be coming to Iqaluit this weekend.
The play is written by Darrell Dennis, best known for his roles in Northwood and The Rez on television.
"(Iqaluit) looks so mystical to an artist who doesn't live there," said Arkady Spivak, artistic producer at Talk Is Free Theatre. "It's a completely new kind of artistic process, which is also very important. Playing a show in Toronto is very boring - everybody does that."
His company started in Ontario, and Tales of an Urban Indian began as a traditional theatre performance.
When he lost the ability to use his venue, Spivak was put in a tough spot to fulfill his obligations to season pass holders. It was during a meal at a cafe, when he saw a bus drive by and splash the window, that he came up with the idea to do the play in a different kind of venue.
Audience members board the bus and are taken for an 80-minute ride as one actor plays all the parts in the show.
"One actor plays Simon (the main character) himself as well as every other character who figures in Simon's life, including his grandmother, his mother, his friend, his girlfriend, pretty much everyone," said Spivak. "It's not only a wonderful story, but also the way it's told."
Craig Lauzon, best known for his work Royal Canadian Air Farce, is playing Simon Douglas.
Every performance in a different community is tailored to each location. The bus driver plays a big role himself in the speed of travel and the route, said Spivak. But the great thing about it, he added, is no formal venue is needed - all he needs is bus and a road.
The play in Iqaluit will take place on a 24-seat bus, telling Simon's story as it travels from place to place.
"It's the same approach," said Spivak. "We of course have to devise a very specific route that is specific to Iqaluit because obviously the locations of things is different from elsewhere. We have to incorporate the community as it exists geographically as much as possible."
He only wishes he could go, too, but the cost of plane tickets means he's having to send only the three people necessary to put on the performance.
The show will have a limited engagement from July 27 to July 30, with tickets available at Northmart.
