Click on the images to download the digital program and enrichment guide:
Playwright
Rosanna Deerchild (She/Her) is Cree, from the community of O-Pipon-Na-Piwan Cree Nation. She is a storyteller with more than 20 years experiences as a journalist, broadcaster and a poet. She is the host of CBC Radio One’s Unreserved, now in its ninth season.
Her debut poetry collection, this is a small northern town, shared her reflections of growing up in a racially-divided place. It won the 2009 Aqua Books Lansdowne Prize for Poetry. Her second book, calling down the sky is a collaborative work with her mother who was forced to attend Indian Residential School. She wrote her first play, The Secret to Good Tea, with Royal MTC’s Pimootayowin Creators Circle. She’s delighted to have its world premiere on Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s Mainstage.
Director
ROYAL MTC First engagement – Renae is honoured to direct this work by Rosanna Deerchild.
OTHER THEATRE Since the early ’80s Renae has created art. She works individually and collectively on Indigenous stories with specific cultural practices that shapes the music, theatre, television and videos she has written, directed and produced. From community plays with urban Indigenous people in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, to professional Canadian theatres, Renae works to support the stories of Aboriginal resilience in the wake of understanding the historical relationship with Canada today. She manages and is the lead vocalist and composer for M’Girl Music – mgirlmusic.ca.
ET CETERA Nêhiyawi/Cree, Nahkawiniw/ Saulteaux name: Pîyesîs ᐲᔦᓰᐢ
Set Designer
ROYAL MTC First engagement.
OTHER THEATRE Selected: The Flick, Good People, Misery (Arts Club); Footloose, Once, Grease (Chemainus); Are We Cool Now? (WCT); The Whipping Man, Wit, The Cake (Pacific Theatre); Titanic, The Music Man (Theatre Under the Stars); Mary’s Wedding (Firehall); White Noise (Savage Society).
TRAINING University of British Columbia.
ET CETERA Lauchlin calls Vancouver home and is grateful to be living today as an uninvited guest on the stolen and unceded lands of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkʷəy̓ əm (Musqueam) and səlililw̓ ə̓ taʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations. He has 22 Jessie Richardson Theatre Award nominations and three wins plus one Ovation Award. Lauchlin is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada and IATSE.
Costume Designer
FILM Yolonda is a First Nations multi-disciplinary artist, fashion, film and theatre costume designer from the Gitxsan Nation based in Vancouver. She has designed for the International Indigenous fashion world, having shown her various collections at VIFW, IFWT, SWAIA and Paris. She is new to film and theatre. Select design credits: NFB documentary film Lay Down Your Heart, directed by Marie Clements; Assistant Costume Designer for feature film and five-part miniseries Bones of Crows, directed by Marie Clements; NFB documentary film WaaPaKe (Tomorrow), directed by Jules Koostachin.
TRAINING/TEACHING Formerly, a multi-disciplinary high school teacher. Currently, a self-taught Indigenous fashion designer, being mentored under the guidance of Indigenous Costume Designer Carmen Thompson in both film and theatre.
ET CETERA Yolonda won “Most Inspirational Designer” for her first collection “Urban Regalia” at VIFW 2017.
Lighting Designer
ROYAL MTC (selected) Video Designer: Network. Lighting & Video Designer: The Mountaintop, Vietgone, Venus in Fur. Lighting Designer: Into the Woods, New, Calpurnia, Orlando, All is Bright, Women of the Fur Trade, Fun Home, The Color Purple (with Citadel), Kill Me Now (with NAC), Seminar (with Mirvish), Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing and many other productions since the ‘80s.
OTHER THEATRE Hugh has collaborated with choreographers, visual artists and dance and theatre companies worldwide.
ET CETERA Hugh enjoys working beyond the constraints of traditional lighting design using various forms of interactive media, video and photography. His photographic work resides in private collections and has been published worldwide. Hugh is a member of the Associated Designers of Canada and L’Association des professionnels des arts de la scène du Québec. www.pellucid.me.
Sound Designer
ET CETERA 2021 Juno Nominee, 2020 Leo Award Winner for Composer of the Year for Best TV Movie and 1/2 of the multi-award winning and nominated group Burnstick. Jason’s many accolades also include 2015 Indigenous Music Award winner, 2010 APCA’s Winner, 2009 Jessie Richardson and Dora Nominee, 2007 Juno Nominee and 2006 CAMA Award Winner. A Cree Musician, Singer-Songwriter/Composer based out of Winnipeg Manitoba. Jason’s musical expression comes from his original vintage 1920s Weissenborn lap slide guitars.
Video Designer
ROYAL MTC Orlando, Tiny Plays, Big Ideas. 2021/22 National Mentorship Program.
FILM Filmmaker: Queer Fear.
ET CETERA Carla Hernandez is an award-winning filmmaker, projection designer, and content creator focused on sharing stories about the beautiful and the hard. Carla is a member of the LGBTQ+ and Latinx communities, and is driven to bring awareness, education and support through her art. www.linktr.ee/carlaeher
Fight Director
ROYAL MTC Fight Director: New. Assistant Fight Director: The Rez Sisters. Actor: The Three Musketeers, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, A Christmas Carol, Alice Through the Looking-Glass.
OTHER THEATRE Actor: A Chorus Line, Breaking Up Is Hard To Do, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Little Shop of Horrors, Les Misérables, The Producers (Rainbow); Another Way Home (WJT); A Little Night Music, The Addams Family (Dry Cold); Reefer Madness, American Idiot, Heathers: The Musical, Avenue Q (WST); Danny and the Deep Blue Sea (The Keep Theatre).
FILM Actor: Spencer Sisters (Bell Media); Polarized (Enlightenment Productions); Hannukah on Rye, Christmas by Starlight, Merry and Bright (Hallmark).
TRAINING Bachelor’s in Vocal Performance from the U of M, Opera NUOVA, Rainbow Stage Training Intensive.
Assistant Costume Designer
OTHER THEATRE Assistant Costume Designer: Frozen River (MTYP).
TRAINING Fashion Design and Apparel Production (MC College); Indigenous Haute Couture Residency (Banff Centre for Arts).
ET CETERA As an intergenerational survivor and multimedia artist, it was a pleasure to work on this project alongside all the creative minds. It really shows the initial steps towards reconciliation. Well done Royal MTC!
Cree Language Advisor
Stage Manager
ROYAL MTC Selected: The Three Musketeers, The Rez Sisters, The Cottage, Heisenberg, A Christmas Carol, Sarah Ballenden, Chimerica (with CS), A Christmas Story, Next to Normal, The Shunning, Steel Magnolias, It’s a Wonderful Life, Bleeding Hearts, Pride and Prejudice, Fiddler on the Roof, Our Town, The Tempest.
OTHER THEATRE Selected: The Devil’s Disciple, Desire Under the Elms (Shaw); The War Being Waged, The Third Colour, Happy Place (PTE); Pandora (SIR/PTE); Pippin (ViC/WST); Beauty and the Beast (Rainbow); The 39 Steps (Harbourfront, PEI); Spelling Bee (Grand); James and the Giant Peach (MTYP); The Rick Hansen Story (MTYP/2010 Olympics/Citadel); Molière, The Beauty Queen of Leenane (ATP); The Addams Family (Dry Cold).
FILM/TV Bring It On: Cheer or Die (Universal); Winnipeg Comedy Fest (Frantic Films); Burden of Truth (CBC TV series).
Assistant Stage Manager
ROYAL MTC The Three Musketeers, The Rez Sisters, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, Orpheus Descending (with Mirvish), A Christmas Carol, Trying.
OTHER THEATRE Stratford Festival (18 seasons), Rainbow Stage, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Mirvish Productions, the Grand Theatre, the Globe Theatre, Theatre New Brunswick, Stirling Festival, Neptune Theatre, Factory Theatre and Theatre Orangeville.
ET CETERA Angela would like to thank her family and friends for their love and support.
ROYAL MTC Assassinating Thomson (tour).
OTHER THEATRE Café Daughter, Assassinating Thomson (Blyth); Sleeping Beauty: The Panto, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, The Drowsy Chaperone, Jasper Station, The Ballad of Stompin’ Tom, Driving Miss Daisy, Les Misérables, Dein Perry’s Tap Dogs, Footloose (Drayton); Rock of Ages (Drayton/RGA Productions); The Moblees Live! (Drayton/CBC); The Giant’s Garden (Theatre Orangeville); Night Light (Theatre Orangeville/STC); The Neverending Story (Roseneath/YPT/NYU).
TRAINING Graduate of Fanshawe College and Sudbury Regional Hairdressing School.
ET CETERA Sadie wishes to send thanks to her husband Alec and the rest of her family for all their love and support!
Apprentice Stage Manager
ROYAL MTC Apprentice Show Manager: Tiny Plays, Big Ideas.
OTHER THEATRE Most recent: Seven Visions, Songide’ewin (Sarasvàti).
ET CETERA Bear is extremely grateful to be a part of this show and wants to thank his family for the endless support he has received over the years. He only hopes to make a lasting first impression. Bear is a visual artist and finds it easier to communicate his emotions and concerns through artwork. His most recent piece is a mural inspired by the introduction of the carbon tax implemented in 2019. He wants to learn plenty more through all the many mediums of art within and around theatre.
Gwynn Starr
ROYAL MTC Actor: Women of the Fur Trade. 2021/22 National Mentorship Program. Playwright: In Conclusion (2020/21 Pimootayowin Creators Circle).
OTHER THEATRE Women of the Fur Trade (Upcoming), 1939, The Rez Sisters (Stratford); The Herd, The Revolutionists (Persephone); The Third Colour (PTE); The Wolves (Live Five Saskatoon); nîkwatin sîpiy [Frozen River], Torn Through Time (MTYP).
TRAINING Graduate of the 2018 Acting Class of the National Theatre School of Canada.
ET CETERA Kathleen is a 2Spirit, Métis-Settler from Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis (Saskatoon, SK). Kinanâskomitin to the Indigenous and Queer storytellers who have come before me – I stand on their shoulders. You can find Kathleen and their adorable tuxedo cat Oz on Instagram @katmaclean
Maggie Mooswa
ROYAL MTC Directing: The Rez Sisters. Acting: Sarah Ballenden, Good People, The History of Manitoba from the Beginning of Time to the Present in 45 Minutes. Playwriting: Redemption Tax (2020/21 Pimootayowin Creators Circle).
OTHER THEATRE Tracey has worked professionally, in theatres across Canada, since 1993. Recent acting: Philomena in The Rez Sisters (Stratford); Rae Anna in Honour Beat (world premiere, Theatre Calgary); Crazy Bone in A Short History of Crazy Bone (world premiere, TPM); Cleopatra in Antony & Cleopatra (SIR).
TV Recent acting: Rose in Burden of Truth (Eaglevision).
TRAINING Tracey graduated from the University of Winnipeg with a B.A. Honours in Theatre.
ET CETERA She is a proud member of Peguis First Nation, here on Treaty One Territory. Tracey is “over-the-moon” excited to be Milo’s “kookum”!
Mr. BigChief
ROYAL MTC First appearance.
OTHER THEATRE Of Mice and Men (Maples Rep Theatre); Where the Blood Mixes (Teesri Duniya Theatre); The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (WCT/NAC); King Lear (NAC); Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth (Magnus Theatre); Crazy Dave Goes To Town (Centre for Indigenous Theatre); Red Forest (The Young Vic); One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Alliance Theatre/Crucible Theatre/Flint Rep Theatre); Cottagers and Indians (Persephone); Feather Gardens (Hudson Village Theatre); Salt Baby (TA).
TRAINING York University – BFA Honours (Film & Video). Centre for Indigenous Theatre’s (CIT) full-time conservatory – Indigenous Theatre School.
ET CETERA META Award nomination for Feather Gardens (Hudson Village Theatre), a Wilde Award (Flint Rep Theatre) and Broadway World Award (Alliance Theatre), both for his role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Jeremy is originally from the community of Neyaashiinigmiing, Ontario. Chi-Miigwetch! www.jeremy-proulx.com
Michael
OTHER THEATRE Where the Blood Mixes, Almighty Voice and His Wife (Dora Nomination for Outstanding Performance), King Lear, Our Town (Soulpepper); This is How We Got Here, Ipperwash (Native Earth Performing Arts); Cottagers and Indians, The Berlin Blues, Ipperwash (Blyth); The Drawer Boy, Proof (Centaur); MacBeth (Great Southwest Shakespeare Company); Hard Times for These Times (NAC); Danny, King of the Basement (MTYP); Hayfever, Anne of Green Gables (Thousand Islands Playhouse).
ET CETERA James Dallas Smith is an actor/writer/musician with Six Nations Mohawk of the Grand River (Turtle Clan) and Scottish heritage. He is a Dora nominated performer who has been appearing on stage and screen for 25 years.
Crow
ROYAL MTC Apprentice Stage Manager: The Three Musketeers.
OTHER THEATRE Performance: Outside Joke: The Improvised Musical, The War Being Waged (PTE); Laurier (TNB/Confederation Centre of the Arts); In Time (End of the West). Select dance: Confluence (Raven Spirit Dance); AFTERGLOW (Rayannah); Actualize, Calibrations of Flux (Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers); Rite of Spring (WSO).
FILM/TV Chaud de’hiver (WebOuest). Screendance: Cišєt (ACC/WSDC); Three Sisters (TPM/Daniel Jordan); Wind and Water (TPM); The__Place (CBC Arts).
TRAINING BAH Contemporary Dance (U of W/School of Contemporary Dancers); BA Stage Management (U of W).
ET CETERA Indinawemaaganidog, All My Relations.
Nicki
ROYAL MTC The Rez Sisters, Women of the Fur Trade.
OTHER THEATRE Acting: Waazakone (The Frank); The Mystics (Kim Senklip Productions and Urban Ink); In My Day (ZeeZee); In Time (TPM); The Hours That Remain (TBTR); The Unnatural and Accidental Women (NAC/NAC Indigenous Theatre); Skyborn: a Land Reclamation Odyssey, The Council of Spider, Ant & Fly (Savage Society). Directing: The Boy in the Moon (Neworld Theatre). Co-director: Gather: Stories in Nature (Neworld Theatre); Cerulean Blue (Studio 58).
TRAINING Graduate of Studio 58 Actor Training Program.
ET CETERA Kelsey (they/she/he) is an off reserve member of Tataskweyak Cree Nation. Kelsey is Muskeg Ininowahk (Swampy Cree) and with German/Swedish/British Ancestry. Kelsey is a proud born and raised Winnipegger, now based in Vancouver. Kelsey is also a singer in traditional drumming groups M’Girl and Iskwew Singers. They would like to thank her incredibly supportive family, friends and community.