Friday November 11

Fallen Feather

by Jeremy Proulx

“For years, the area of Thunder Bay/Binesii-wiikwedong and Fort William First Nation in northern Ontario have made national headlines for its years of colonial power, abuses, systemic racism and treatment of its Indigenous Peoples, especially the many displaced youth. Numerous First Nation children have been found dead or gone missing for decades within this traditional territory that many Anishinabek Peoples have called home for generations.  The play was written in honour of those children who never made it home and whose bodies were found under suspicious pretenses. This play is also in honour of those families and communities who still live and reside within the area today who are still fighting for answers and justice for all of their children. Chi-Miigwetch.”

Playwright Jeremy Proulx 
Mentor Lisa Nasson 
Staging Director Rinchen Dolma 
Actors Trina Moyan, Celeste Sansregret, Jesse Wabegijig, James Dallas Smith 

Jeremy Proulx is an award-winning actor and multi-disciplined (actor, writer, filmmaker) First Nation storyteller of both Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) and Haudenosaunee (Oneida) descent, originally from the community of Neyaashiinigmiing, First Nation. His acting career has taken him nationally across Canada as well as internationally throughout the USA. Globally he has performed in such countries as Brazil, United Kingdom, Poland, Italy, Macedonia and Greece. Select theatre credits: Of Mice and Men (Maples Repertory Theatre), Where the Blood Mixes (Teesri Duniya Theatre), BONES: An Aboriginal Dance Opera (Banff Centre), The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (Western Canada Theatre and the National Arts Centre), King Lear (National Arts Centre) and Where the Blood Mixes (Teesri Duniya Theatre), Only Drunks and Children Tell The Truth (Magnus Theatre). International credits: Red Forest (The Young Vic in London, UK; Teatro Vascello in Rome, Italy and Teatro Ermanno Fabbi in Modena, Italy) for Belarus Free Theatre and the MOT International Theatre Festival in Skopje, Macedonia, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, GA) for which he won a BroadwayWorld.com award for Best Actor in a Play. After much success with performing the role within North America, he remounted the role internationally in the UK to great critical acclaim with Sheffield Theatres at their historic Crucible Theatre. Most recently, he won a Wilde Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Play for his professional debut with Flint Repertory Theatre in Michigan back in 2020. Jeremy was seen performing last year in a co-production between the Centre for Indigenous Theatre (CIT) and the Toronto Fringe Festival in their production of Bannock Republic written by Kenneth T. Williams. Most recently, he made his stage debut with Persephone Theatre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan last Fall 2021 in their production of Cottagers and Indians written by Drew Hayden Taylor and returned to Magnus Theatre stage in Salt Baby written by Falen Johnston. Jeremy’s most recent performances onstage were two world premieres, Crazy Dave Goes To Town, written by the late Daniel David Moses, based upon the late Basil Johnston’s best-selling book, and Feather Gardens written by Jimmy Blais for Hudson Village Theatre. Upcoming: the role of Mister Big Chief in The Secret to Good Tea, a new play written by Rosanna Deerchild that will make its world premiere at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre next Spring 2023. More information about Jeremy can be found at www.jeremy-proulx.com 

The Bridge

by Pesch Nepoose

The Bridge follows Kara, a young indigenous woman as she navigates through her life. Struggling through addiction, self harm, identity and family issues. Kara has to come to terms with her past to be able to move forward.

Creator and Performer Pesch Nepoose
Mentor Katey Wattam

Pesch Nepoose is a Cree multidisciplinary artist from Edmonton, Alberta. Currently residing in Toronto, Ontario. She graduated her fourth and final year at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in May 2019. Pesch has many skills and experience as an actor, writer, dancer, singer, stage manager and tour guide. As a full time actor, she has been a part of many projects, most recently Mno Bimaadziwin by Theatre By the Bay. Including the films Dish Dances and By These Presents with Ange Loft, also acting in the short film Hunger which premiered at the Imaginative Film Festival 2019. Pesch enjoys working with Clay and Paper Theatre, Jumblies Theatre, the Encounters collective, Out of Sync collective and many others. As a writer, Pesch has been in the Paprika festival, workshopping her one woman show currently titled The Bridge. She also was a part of Nightwood Theater’s Groundswell Festival and Workman Arts Rendezvous with the Madness Festival.

This performance is followed by a conversation with both artists, moderated by Katey Wattam.

Katey Wattam is a director, creator, and helper of mixed English, Irish, Franco-Ontarian, and Anishinaabe ancestry. She has worked with many communities across Turtle Island, and each one holds a bit of her heart. She is drawn to stories that connect with her ways of knowing while allowing space to explore and experiment with theatrical forms through a mixed-blood/Indigenous lens. Through her corporeal-based practice, she is guided by her own blood memory and how it attunes with others to uncover ancestral knowledge to reclaim and decolonize bodies, minds, and spaces. They are an alum of McGill University, MAI Alliance Program, Black Theatre Workshop’s Artist Mentorship Program, and Why Not Theatre’s ThisGen Fellowship.

Katey is currently developing a theatrical adaptation of Katherena Vermette’s poetry book, river woman. As an artist-researcher, she works with Project Humanity, exploring ethics of care in theatre process and practice. She is pursuing her Master’s in Indigenous Trauma and Resiliency at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto.