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Centre for Indigenous Theatre
Presents the world premiere of
GEGWAH
Written by Alanis King

Sioux Lookout, Ontario – In an unprecedented collaboration, The Sioux Lookout Anti-Racism Committee, Kwayaciiwin Education Resource Centre, Queen Elizabeth District High School and the Sioux Hudson Entertainment Series have joined forces to bring a most extraordinary play to Sioux Lookout. Alanis King’s new work Gegwah will be presented in Sioux Lookout, Thursday, May 17 at 7:30, at Queen Elizabeth District High School. Admision is "Pay what you can", suggested donation of $5. The play will be presented to students on Friday, May 18 at 9 AM at the high school as an activity in its annual Native Awareness Week.
 
The Centre for Indigenous Theatre is touring Gegwah across Ontario in April and May.  It is being performed by CIT’s professional acting students and supported by an award winning production team. Gegwah will be presented in Toronto, Peterborough, Wikwemikong, Sault Ste Marie, Cape Croker, Kettle Point, Ottawa and Sioux Lookout.
 
Set on the shores of Manitoulin Island in the 1600’s, the story of Gegwah follows seven dispossessed characters, a young band of Odawas who are faced with the onslaught of first contact, specifically the bible and the fur trade.  The story focuses on the emotional impact of colonization through the eyes of these characters as they deal with a rapidly changing landscape. The principal characters are two sisters, who are abandoned by their band as their land is set on fire. They seek solace and guidance from Nokomis (grandmother) and the many animate spirits around them, who feed them with stories and songs to give them strength.
 
This piece is performed entirely in Anishnabemowin, specifically the Odawa dialect that is true to the region in which the story is set and very similar to Ojibway. Audience members will be provided with a synopsis of the story, however our experience through the workshop of this piece indicates that the movement choreographed by Alejandro Roncerio (director / choreographer / dramaturge), combined with the production design, will make it accessible to non-speakers of the language.

A graduate of the National Theatre School, Alanis King is a playwright with numerous credits to her name including, Lovechild, Artshow, Heartdwellers, Manitoulin Incident, Tommy Prince Story, If Jesus Met Nanabush, Storyteller and Step by Step. Ms. King is excited about the presentation of this work, “I gladly accepted the offer from [Artistic Director] Rose Stella to be CIT’s Playwright in Residence, it’s a wonderful chance for a playwright to work on a new play and have students develop and produce it with a director.”

Based in Toronto, The Centre for Indigenous Theatre offers post-secondary performing arts training to people of Indigenous ancestry. The purpose of the program is to develop contemporary performance art from a distinctively Indigenous cultural foundation. The training program springboards from Indigenous culture and contemporary theatre techniques, in such a way that students will receive a uniquely Indigenous beginning to their performance arts careers. The curriculum integrates training in the areas of acting, voice and movement with Indigenous cultural classes in dance, song and oral history. The program also offers a professional development component, which allows students and working professional artists to train together, adding a mentoring element to the curriculum. To gain practical performance experience, students are given the opportunity to publicly perform through community showcase events, story creation projects and year-end shows featuring senior students. We seek to create performance, rooted in our mythology and oracy through cultural instruction aimed at bringing out the cultural memory of the individuals attending the school and validating their perception of culture.

The Centre for Indigenous Theatre gratefully acknowledges the support of The Department of Canadian Heritage, Canada Council for the Arts, The Ontario Arts Council, The Toronto Arts Council, the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, Baagwating Community Association (Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation), Bank of Montreal Financial Group, Miziwe Biik Aboriginal Employment & Training, The Cultural Human Resource Council, The George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation and the Suncor Energy Foundation.

For more information or media enquiries please call (416) 506-9436. Jeffrey Ross, Marketing Coordinator

or in Sioux Lookout, Laurel Wood (807) 737-2174
lawood@gosiouxlookout.com

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The Centre for Indigenous Theatre
401 Richmond Street West, Suite 205
Toronto, Ontario M5V 1X3
citmail@indigenoustheatre.com
www.indigenoustheatre.com