June 14 – 19, 7pm nightly
Please reserve your free ticket below. Doors open 30 minutes before the readings begin. All are welcome.
Content advisory: readings may contain mature content, coarse language, sexual content and substance abuse.
By Kim and Jordan Wheeler Sunday, June 14 at 7pm How to Dress for a Funeral takes us on a journey through the relationships between a husband and wife and their Cree and Caucasian mothers. Each of them has to find their way through the stages of grief while examining their own complicated relationships with each other. Through dark humour, thoughtful conversation, arguments and love, How to Dress for a Funeral will make you laugh, cry and think about your own mortality, all while making you plan on what you want to take with you into the next life.
By April Seenie-Penner Monday, June 15 at 7pm Set against the backdrop of Southern Manitoba, this touching play follows an Anishinaabe family whose lives are deeply intertwined with the land, water and each other. Two brothers leave their reserve to enlist in the Canadian Army during World War II, each carrying the weight of duty, love and family ties. Albert, the eldest, falls in love while stationed in England and fathers a son during the war. But he returns home heartbroken when his wife and child do not accompany him to Canada. Albert slowly rebuilds his life alongside a young woman from his community, and together they raise 10 children. Years later, one of his daughters discovers a photograph of the boy and his mother, stirring questions about a past Albert has long struggled to confront. Joseph, the youngest brother, journeys through Holland, where he is taken in and cared for by a Dutch couple who become like family to him. His path eventually leads to the Scheldt Estuary in Belgium, where he meets a tragic fate. Already a husband and father, Joseph is killed in action, leaving behind a legacy of grief, sacrifice and enduring love. Through intimate family moments, evocative imagery of the natural world, and the haunting presence of war, the play explores the enduring bonds of family, the resilience of the Anishinaabe spirit, and the ways in which love, loss and human connection continue to echo across time and water. Content Warning: may contain descriptions and/or discussions of war, military intensity, trauma of combat, or death of loved ones.
By Arlea Ashcroft Tuesday, June 16 at 7pm A story about Indigenous identity set in the punk music scene. Three Indigenous women approaching middle age form a punk band and enter an Indigenous Music Contest in the hope of winning a big cash prize to alleviate their money troubles, even though none of them has ever been in a band before. One of the women discovers she’s not Indigenous. At all. She’s a Pretendian. How does this revelation affect the band? What fallout does it have on their lifelong relationship as best friends, and how does it affect her place in the world? Or was it a Status Error?
By Michael Hutchinson Wednesday, June 17 at 7pm The play takes place on a highway as two young men head to their rez. Over the course of the journey, Muskrat and Gremlin get three rides, first from a First Nation family, then a police officer and finally a van full of drunks. Each ride represents a kind of First Nation judgement against other First Nation people, while the cars themselves are symbols of colonialism and the city. While these individuals are strangers, their judgements are well-known and part of the First Nation environment. The play starts off with the boys speaking about the heat of concrete and ends with them going to enter the river. Throughout the play they discuss their feelings about the rez and Muskrat’s desire to leave and move to the city permanently. Tension rises between the two as the journey progresses. In the end, their Elder, Uncle Paul, helps them through their turmoil.
By Curtis Kaltenbaugh Thursday, June 18 at 7pm Kylie and Matthew are estranged siblings on either side of the homelessness crisis. Kylie is two-spirited and unhoused, reeling from a traumatic upbringing. Her friend, Zoe, is attacked for not paying back a debt. Together, they struggle with getting off the streets in Winnipeg’s downtown core. Zoe and Kylie meet street outreach nurse, Matthew, who informs them that the city is moving to shut down all encampments—effective immediately. With their world seemingly closing in around them, Kylie and Zoe must navigate their safety, while Kylie and Matthew must reckon with their shared past before these two worlds irrevocably collide.
By Liz Barron Friday, June 19 at 7pm The Shoes Stay follows Sarah, a woman fleeing an unnamed past who arrives in a small-town diner in Gibson, BC, carrying only a backpack and a collection of carefully preserved Fluevog shoes. Taken in by her estranged uncle and his partner, she begins to rebuild a quiet life through routine, community and unexpected connection with a local man, Cliff. But as warmth and belonging begin to take hold, an unseen presence tracking her through digital traces closes in. Moving between intimacy and unease, the play explores memory, autonomy and the fragile act of starting over when the past refuses to stay buried.