Theatre program develops Indigenous voices

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This article was published 14/03/2020 (2397 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A season’s worth of studying and rehearsals will begin to pay off for the budding young actors at Native Youth Theatre on Sunday.

That’s when the program that offers theatre training for Indigenous youth holds its cabaret performance at the Manitoba Theatre for Young People.

The program, which began in 2013, offered four classes this year for students ranging from age nine to 18. The free classes are offered based on skill level, with the advanced class requiring an entrance audition.

The program is run by Winnipeg playwright Ian Ross (FareWel, The Third Colour) and assistant director Nova Courchene; they are aware of the barriers that have kept Indigenous people away from the theatre and the cultural dynamics that can make new students uncertain about acting.

“A lot of kids feel uncomfortable being asked to do certain things ,but we do try really hard to make everyone who is invested and engaged a part of it,” Courchene says. “We spend a lot of our time participating in ice-breaking exercises and gameplay and ensuring that they feel comfortable in a space like this, where traditionally First Nations people aren’t always represented.

“Sometimes kids find that it’s not for them.”

However, many others look forward to classes every week, Courchene says.

“We have a group from Peguis First Nation who drive four hours every Friday to attend,” she says.

Many of the instructors at Native Youth Theatre are also former students in the program, including Braiden Houle, who starred in Kill Me Now at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre in 2017. His class is working on the play Jumping Mouse, by First Nations playwright Columpa Bobb and Marion de Vries.

Another instructor, Darla Contois — who wrote and performed in the show White Man’s Indian, presented by Sarasvati Productions in 2018 — remembers how helpful taking classes at Native Youth Theatre was.

“In my time as a student, I remember being encouraged a lot by my teacher, Anne Barrager,” says Contois, who went on to graduate from the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in Toronto. “She was a huge influence on me. She introduced me to improv and it was the first thing I was good at. Without her or the program, I wouldn’t still be creating work today, or teaching.”

The class is creating an original devised theatre piece — a collaborative work created by the actors — to present at Sunday’s cabaret. The use of devised practice speaks to NYT’s commitment to bringing Indigenous values and protocols into theatrical spaces.

“We want to develop young Indigenous voices,” says Courchene. “And we encourage our students to come back here, to the centre of the web, and pass on their knowledge to the next generation.”

The Native Youth Theatre showcase takes place at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 15, at MTYP. Admission is free.

Frances.Koncan@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @franceskoncan