Created/Written by Tara Beagan
and the original SummerWorks creative team
Direction: Tara Beagan
Performer: Sera-Lys McArthur
Production Design: Andy Moro
Stage Manager: Mike Lewandowski
Assistant Director: Jessica Carmichael
“I don’t remember growing up. Not really. I remember school shopping but I don’t remember ever thinking, Wow, my feet are bigger today, better get new shoes!”
Synopsis
In Spirit (formerly Quilchena)
“Slow, beautiful burn of a show.” – Luke LaRocque
Spring, 1979. A young girl is mere days away from celebrating her birthday. Her dad can’t keep the secret of her gift any longer, so proudly presents her with a new bike- well… new to her.
Sharing in his excitement, birthday girl and bike make their debut trip along the nearest paved road. Failing to return for dinner, a makeshift search party finds only the bike, tossed to the roadside. Years pass and family and friends hope and pray for a return.
“In Spirit is important because it forces you to consider the radical idea that missing First Nations women are people.” Christi Olson
There is no sign of their young, bright girl until one terrible day when partial remains are officially identified. The community tries to release her spirit into the next world, unsettled though they are by not knowing how this awful thing has happened. In that ceremony of communing, the missing girl does her best to push through to her loved ones, sharing her shattered recollections in shards. This fictionalized journey into love and loss is inspired by all too many true stories.
Native Earth’s featured production was the much-acclaimed In Spirit, directed by former NEPA Artistic Director Tara Beagan. Created by Beagan and the original creative team, In Spirit is a fiercely haunting work inspired by a true story.
“In Spirit is a very touching piece […] [it] has one of the best integration of projection and sound design that I have seen for a very long time.”
Mooney on Theatre
Production Designer Andy Moro returned with a fearsome videoscape along with the sound and lighting he conceived of in the SummerWorks production where “he seared our eyes and ears.” (NOW Magazine, ’07 Top Ten Theatre Artists of the year.) Actor Sera-Lys McArthur (Where the Blood Mixes, CBC’s Arctic Air, Hard Core Logo II) joined Beagan and Moro as the sole performer, rounding out the all-Indigenous creative team. The work went on tour in February to Kingcome Inlet and debuted at Talking Stick Festival on February 19th, before returning to the Aki Studio Theatre and Rutas Panamericanas Festival.
Reviews:
Mooney on Theatre
Urban Native Magazine
Echoworld
NOW Magazine
Christi Olson
Technical information for presenters In Spirit technical rider feb 2014.
Click here for the In Spirit Package Theatres.
Cover Photo Credit: Juan Camilo Palacio