Nadio Cheechoo directorial debut in upcoming Thunder Bay play showcase

Magnus Theatre’s Nadia Cheechoo is directing one of the plays in the Seventh Annual 10×10 Showcase, which will be held on April 12-13 at Magnus Theatre in Thunder Bay.

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY—The Seventh Annual 10×10 Showcase will feature the directorial debut of Nadia Cheechoo, the head carpenter at Magnus Theatre in Thunder Bay whose mother is from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory.

“I did a little bit of directing when I was going to [Confederation] College — I took the film program,” Cheechoo says. “We did three short films the first year and then our big thesis film the second year. I find that theatre is definitely a lot more [where] you’ve got to use your imagination because you only have the particular setting as well as the pieces that you get and the fact that it is live as well instead of being able to take multiple shots for film.”

Cheechoo is directing the play Baggage Check, which was written by Sue Blott and will be performed during the 10×10 Showcase later this week on April 12-13 at Magnus Theatre.

“Baggage Check is about an older couple who have been married for about 25 years,” Cheechoo says, noting that the couple, Dale and Sadie, are taking baggage home from a visit with Sadie’s sister while also dealing with people on the street. “So that is going to be one of my big challenges, the fact that it is supposed to be taking place on the Toronto streets but will just be on the stage.”

Cheechoo plans to use a bare set on stage to give the actors room to roam on their walk.

“I kind of like that all the focus is going to be on the couple,” Cheechoo says. “There are going to be people walking on the sidewalk, but they are going to be a minimal distraction. I want all focus to be on what is going on between the two of them.”

Cheechoo says the directors for the 10×10 Showcase cast their plays from the same pool of actors, which included two Indigenous actors.

“We had two days of auditions,” Cheechoo says. “I did my first full table reading with all my cast and the playwright on Monday and then now this week we are starting rehearsals. So I am going to be working with my cast a least a couple of times a week to get the show ready. April 6 is when we [did] our full run through altogether with everybody.”

Cheechoo first got involved in theatre while she was in high school by volunteering for the De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre Group on Manitoulin Island.

“I volunteered a couple of summers for their show and then I worked another summer with them,” Cheechoo says. “After that, I kind of forgot about it for a little bit and I ended up at the college doing film.”

Cheechoo went to work at Magnus Theatre after graduating from the film program because it was the “closest thing I can do in town” related to film.

“So I got back into theatre here and it’s kind of hooked me,” Cheechoo says. “I was the stage hand/running crew, so originally I was just working backstage for the shows.”

Cheechoo says the head carpenter job is “very satisfying.”

“You see what it is like on paper and then you get to make it full size and 3D and workable with usable doors,” Cheechoo says.

Cheechoo says one of her future goals is to write her own play.

“I would also like to act in [a play],” Cheechoo says. “I think that would be fun.”