Categories
Weesageechak

Jeremy Proulx: “The Work is Daring”

In addition to the line-up of playwrights featured in Weesageechak Begins to Dance 27 there are also remarkably talented performances artists. Another of these artists is Jeremy Proulx, a multi-disciplined artist of Anishnaabeg (Ojibwe) and Haudenosaunee (Oneida) descent.

No stranger to Weesageechak Begins to Dance, Proulx explains he returns to Native Earth’s  annual Indigenous festival of new works to “help support talented and emerging First Nation talent in the theatre community.”

This support certainly helps to encourage more playwrights to share their work, which Proulx says pushes boundaries. “The work is daring. The work is highly original.”

Currently an Artistic Associate and ensemble performer with Belarus Free Theatre in the United Kingdom, Proulx has been an actor, writer, dancer and filmmaker for the past 15 years. This past July, he made his London stage debut at the Young Vic in Red Forest, which was co-produced as part of the London International Festival of Theatre (LIFT).

“The work pushes boundaries. The work is daring. The work is highly original.”

Proulx recently returned from a theatre production tour throughout Italy with Young Vic. Future plans for more international tour dates of Red Forest include New York City, the Melbourne Theatre Festival in Australia, as well as an extensive UK tour next year.


Some bits and bobs about Jeremy Proulx

What advice would you give to someone who wants to do what you do? The rejection can be tough but it’s not always about you. Learn to be persistent. Fight for what you believe in.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received as a writer?
Writing is rewriting. Write what you know.

 What are you thinking right before you begin a play?
Why do people want to hear this play now?

Who are some of your favorite writers? Favorite playwrights? Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, William Shakespeare, Richard LaGravanese, James L. Brooks, Harper Lee, The Coen Brothers

What’s your favourite song lyric?
“Life I’ve always wanted, guess I’ll never have. I’ve been working for somebody else until I’m in my grave. I’ve been dreaming of a life of ease and mountains o’ mountains o’ things.”
Mountains O’ Things by Tracy Chapman

If you had to choose three books as a “Welcome to Canada” gift, what would those books be?
Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden, Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson and An Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King

What’s your favourite dessert?
Cherry Cheesecake

If you were a breakfast cereal which would you be?
Pac-Man

Thanks Jeremy!


You can catch Jeremy Proulx on various nights throughout the festival with a Weesageechak Begins to Dance 27 Festival Pass.
More About Tickets