Prairie Song: An Indian Cinderella Story
Prairie Song: an Indian Cinderella Story -- well, the plot is in the title. In this version, the well-known story revolves around the traditions of a pre-contact Plains First Nations family: the little ash girl of the European fairy tale is transformed into a motherless child called Prairie Song. The wicked step-mother is an ambitious widow whose husband Quiet Buffalo Man has been killed in battle.
The play treads a well worn path, but with important distinctions: the conversations, plot points, and details are recast in an Aboriginal context. Dressed in traditional garb, Prairie Song performs traditional dances for a handsome young Chief (aka Prince Charming); the labour inflicted on her by her step-family consists in skinning hides and dressing deer meat; and her father's obligations to the cold-hearted Widow are those of a surrogate provider whose duty to his brother's wife is dictated by tribal custom.
Although predictable, the play is charming and includes humourous twists: the vain step-sisters are played with rambuctious glee by men in drag and a the Grandmother Spirit who visits Prairie Song to prepare her for the forbidden dance comes dressed in a glittering silver headband that is more disco than traditional. Alongside these moments of levity are touching moments of human warmth between father and daughter.
The cast of Prairie Song: an Indian Cinderella Story offer engaging and honest performances, and their actions are guided by strong direction that pushes core ideas to the fore so that they are clear to the audience. The play has the quality of a teaching story: each scene both evokes and counters expectation. In the difference between the European Cinderella and the Indian Cinderella Story, there is a plethora of detailed cultural information: a sweetgrass cleansing, lullabies and communal songs, young women's dresses and beaded decorations, and celebratory dances are all integrated into this retelling.
There is something satisfying too in a reversal of cultural appropriation: against the Disnification of a story like Pocahontas, Thunderbird Theatre Group offers the reweaving of Cinderella as the triumph of an upstanding Aboriginal girl in this sweet and understated tale.
Prairie Song: an Indian Cinderella Story is playing as part of this year's Fringe. For more information, go here.