One-woman show a trip to 1950s Saskatchewan
Actress Tiffany Ayalik explores identity and racism as Chinese-Cree woman in Cafe Daughter at NACC
Cafe Daughter will make its NWT debut this fall, touring six communities, including a Sept. 23 show on the NACC stage. Tiffany Ayalik carries the one-woman play forward in an exploration of identity, culture and racism in a story inspired by the remarkable life of Sen. Lillian Eva Quan Dyck. - Ed Ellis photo |
Emelie Peacock
Northern News Services
Friday, September 15, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Tiffany Ayalik returns to the NACC stage next weekend with Cafe Daughter, a solo show exploring identity and racism in a 1950s-era Saskatchewan town.
Cafe Daughter tells the story of Yvette Wong, child of a Cree mother from Gordon First Nation and a Chinese father and cafe-owner. From a very young age, Wong is asked by her mother to hide her Cree identity because she would rather her daughter face racism for being Chinese than for being Indigenous.
Inspired by the remarkable life of neuroscientist and senator Lillian Eva Quan Dyck, Ayalik plays Yvette Wong, along with 12 other characters including an old Cree man, an elderly Chinese man, various aunties, bullies and racists in the show.
"It definitely doesn't feel like a one-woman show because there's constantly 12 voices in my head," she said, breaking into laughter.
"It's a wonderful challenge as an actor because I have to - in an instant - drop into a completely different person's body and voice and mannerisms and everything on top of all the lines that I'm saying."
It won't be the first time she has taken on the role of Wong. In 2015, she performed Cafe Daughter as part of Workshop West Playwrights' Theatre in Edmonton, and she returned to the piece this summer at the Ottawa National Arts Centre.
Ayalik comes from what she calls a blended background, growing up with one Inuk parent and one non-Indigenous parent. Often faced with the question of, "what are you?" and at times overt racism in the form of slurs and graffiti, she said she can relate with Wong's struggles despite the gulf in time between her and her character.
"It gives you the opportunity to see and to say, 'OK, here's where we were in the 50s or the 60s,' and then we get to ask ourselves, 'Has anything changed?,'" she said.
"That's a very interesting mirror that period pieces give audiences."
The play explores universal questions of identity, belonging and coming of age while also
unearthing previously untold
stories of Canada's
Indigenous people and immigrants.
Marie Coderre, executive and artistic director at NACC, said the play speaks volumes about the story of Canada and changes to indigenous communities in the 1950s, including shifts from a traditional way of life to a non-Indigenous one.
Both Coderre and Ayalik agree that while the play touches on heavy topics, it is also full of humour.
"It's very funny," said Ayalik. "She's a very loveable character and we get to see the childhood resilience and the sparkle of her despite the times."
Written by Cree playwright Kenneth T. Williams, Cafe Daughter had its first run in 2011 in Dawson City, Whitehorse and five rural Yukon communities.
The show is coming to Yellowknife for the first time Sept. 23, and will be touring five NWT communities as well.
