Ipperwash

Written & Directed By Falen Johnson

Native Earth Production in Partnership with Blyth Festival

CONGRATULATIONS TO FALEN JOHNSON
AND MICHELLE RAMSAY FOR THEIR DORA NOMINATIONS!


In 1942, when the Department of Defence forcibly evicted the community of Stony Point to the neighbouring reserve of Kettle Point to establish military training base, Camp Ipperwash, the department promised to return the land after the war had concluded. This promise went unfulfilled for over 70 years.

“An empty house is a lonely house…”

February 6-18, 2018
Tickets $15-25
Aki Studio

Bea King, an Anishinaabe veteran of the war in Afghanistan, returns to Canada in search of a new life. When she volunteers for duty with the Department of National Defence at the Kettle and Stony Point Reserve, she believes she’s found a peace mission she can ‘give back’ through.

Upon arriving at Stony Point, Bea begins to learn about the devastating history of Camp Ipperwash, the former Canadian military base built on appropriated land; land that is still dangerously contaminated to this day.

Through the forging of new friendships in the community, Bea comes to learn about the forcible evictions that underpinned the forming of the camp, and the impacts of displacement still reverberating through the community.

With the helpful guidance of a mysterious child, and an aging local veteran, Bea discovers how hard it can be to ever truly return home.


NNNN “The well-paced narrative is exciting, fascinating, funny, spine-tinglingly spooky, educational and politically engaged.”
 – NOW Magazine

“Well written and acted, the story does not leave you either emotionally exhausted or unrealistically hopeful but it will leave you with many questions about the relationship between healing and justice.”
– Muskrat Magazine


“Land is identity. Land is language. How we speak, how our languages sound, is informed by our environments and what’s around us. It’s just so strange how this tiny percentage of land that we hold is so deeply desired by Canada for development or resource extraction. Why is it not enough yet?”

Revisiting the play on the 25th Ipperwash anniversary — and what has and hasn’t changed in the past quarter-century.
TVO.org


Featuring: PJ Prudat, Jonathan Fisher, James Dallas Smith, Samantha Brown. Learn more about the cast.

Dramaturg Yvette Nolan
Core Collaborator Gil Garratt
Community Consultant Candace Scott-Moore
Stage Manager Michael Panich
Lighting Designer Michelle Ramsay
Costume Designer Jeff Chief
Sound Designer & Composer Deanna H. Choi
Production Manager Courtney Pyke

Ipperwash was commissioned and developed by the Blyth Festival and premiered there in 2017. View credits here.

Visual art by Julie Flett


FALEN JOHNSON (Playwright & Director)

Falen Johnson is Mohawk and Tuscarora from Six Nations Grand River Territory. Her plays Salt BabyTwo Indians, and Ipperwash have played in theatres across Canada.  Her writing has been featured in Brick Literary Journal, The Canadian Theatre Review, and Granta Magazine. She has also been featured on the Moth Storytelling Hour. Her new podcast The Secret Life of Canada (co-hosted with Leah-Simone Bowen) debuted this past summer. Ipperwash marks Falen’s directorial debut.


PREVIEW: Sunday February 4 at 7 PM
Tuesday February 6 at 8 PM

PAY WHAT YOU CAN (PWYC): Tuesday February 13

VALENTINE’S DAY MYSTERY DATE: Wednesday February 14
More Details. *Participation is optional.

POST-SHOW DISCUSSION
WITH PLAYWRIGHT/DIRECTOR & CAST: Saturday February 17


IPPERWASH 2018 PRESS RELEASE


Samantha Brown as Kwe, PJ Prudat as Bea, James Dallas Smith as Slip. Photo by Kaytee Dalton