Tales of an Urban Indian: a journey of forgiveness, transformation, and redemption
By Rick Garrick
IQUALUIT—Talk is Free Theatre (TIFT) kicked off its 15th anniversary season with the July 27-30, 2016, production of Tales of an Urban Indian in Iqaluit, Nunavut.
“It touched a lot of people,” says Herbie Barnes, Director of the TIFT’s production of Tales of an Urban Indian. “It was something beyond what they thought it was going to be, not just your regular theatre.”
Barnes says the TIFT production of Tales of an Urban Indian often takes place on a bus.
“In Iqaluit, they wouldn’t have had shows like this,” Barnes says. “The audience is right there, and that is even a step beyond what theatre is about.”
Craig Lauzon, an Indigenous actor and writer who is known for his role with the Royal Canadian Air Farce, performed the role of Simon Douglas in the one-man play.
“He also took his girlfriend with him…to go on the experience with him,” Barnes says, noting that a stage manager also travelled up to Iqaluit for the show. “They want to go back up without a show — they want to go and explore. They said the people were so nice.”
TIFT initially produced Tales of an Urban Indian in 2009 on a moving city transit bus.
“The idea of performing Tales [of an Urban Indian] on the bus initially came to us when we didn’t have a permanent home,” says Arkady Spivak, TIFT’s artistic producer. “The production has since developed a legacy of its own not only in Barrie, but now in remote communities that don’t have either a resident company [or] even a theatre venue, where we continue to tour.”
Tales of an Urban Indian was written about 15-20 years ago by Darrel Dennis who is known for his roles on Northwood and The Rez. The play is a semi-autobiographical tale about a modern First Nations male and his life journey. Barnes did the original reading of the play and has directed it since then.
“It’s toured all over North America, it’s been right across Canada and now up to Iqaluit,” Barnes says. “It’s been down in New York — it’s played off Broadway — and it’s played in L.A. It’s one of these shows that is sort of a powerhouse that has been going on forever.”
Barnes says the play features life experiences that happened to Dennis or people he knew.
“It’s one man’s journey through his life and dealing with alcoholism and drug addiction,” Barnes says. “And finding out who he is as a Native person growing up in the B.C. interior.”
Barnes says the message of the play is that there is always hope and there is always tomorrow.
“Every step along the way no matter what the journey is and no matter what the mistakes were made, that there is forgiveness for those and there are opportunities to recover from those mistakes,” Barnes says.
TIFT also plans to produce Meredith Willson’s The Music Man from September 14 to October 2, 2016, in Barrie, Ontario. The audience will be “whisked from one city site to the next” as the cast of 60-plus participants perform the show at locations throughout Barrie that correspond with settings in the play, such as the library, city hall, and picturesque parks.
“At its core, this story of romance and redemption is about community transformation,” Spivak says. “I wanted to stage it in a way that would transform a community.”
TIFT’s production of Tales of an Urban Indian in Iqaluit received support from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and North West Company.