Where the Blood Mixes – How the Story is Told is as Important as the Story Itself

where the blood mixes

I strongly believe that anyone should be able to tell not only their own stories but also those of people from other cultures, countries and backgrounds. That said, I have now seen two productions at two successive Magnetic North Festivals that have been spearheaded by large theatre companies in association with smaller Aboriginal organizations.

The first was the National Arts Centre and urban ink co-production of Copper Thunderbird in 2007 and now the Vancouver Playhouse and Savage Society with Where the Blood Mixes in 2008. Both were written by Aboriginal artists telling Aboriginal stories, but directed by senior theatre artists from a contemporary Canadian English theatre tradition.

The script for Where the Blood Mixes tells a genuinely moving story about the fallout from the Canadian residential school system on the members of an Aboriginal community. The production seems aimed at a theatre audience who were weaned on theatre performed in soft-seat, proscenium arch theatres… but I’m not convinced that this approach was true to the spirit of the script. I spent much of the evening wondering what the play would have been like if it had been produced in a style more responsive to the original material. Instead of imposing traditional theatre structures, what if the spirit of invention we see in our thriving independent sector had been allowed to work on the piece? What if an Aboriginal director had been hired?

When we hear the story of Floyd (Billy Merasty), Mooch (Ben Cardinal) and June (Margo Kane) from Lytton, BC, they talk about what was taken from them when they were removed from their community and forced into the residential school system. Their journeys are set in a brightly lit sky-blue set, with live guitar accompaniment and commentary from the only white guy who happens to be the local bartender (Tom McBeath). The crux of this story revolves around Christine (Quelemeia Sparrow) who was raised by a white family in the “city“ (quite likely Vancouver) and has come to small-town Lytton to meet her father Floyd for the first time as an adult. It is a tale of both grief and redemption.

By telling an Aboriginal story in traditional theatrical style for a mainstream audience, it seems to me that this production misses the mark. More than 40 years after The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, we appear to have been stuck at this point for an awfully long time. I look forward to the day that I see the same audience from Magnetic North attending performances at the Talking Stick Festival featuring Aboriginal artists. Even better, I hope for the day that Magnetic North chooses to program a full theatrical work from one of our Canadian Aboriginal theatre companies such as Native Earth Theatre, Full Circle : First Nations Performance or Saskatchewan Native Theatre.

Credits:
Kevin Loring
Where the Blood Mixes (Western Canadian Premiere)
Roundhouse Theatre June 11 – 14, 2008


Co-presenters: The Playhouse Theatre Company in association with the Savage Society
Direction by Glynis Leyshon
Set Design by Robert Lewis
Costume Design by Patricia Smith
Lighting Design by Itai Erdal
Visual Design by Carl Stromquist
Projection Design by Jamie Nesbitt
Stage Manager: Carol Chrisjohn
Apprentice Stage Manager: Bronwyn Bowlby
Technical Director: Kelvin Bonneau

CAST:
Ben Cardinal as Mooch
Margo Kane as June
Billy Merasty as Floyd
Tom McBeath as George
Quelemia Sparrow as Christine
Jason Burnstick as Musician / Composer

By Allyson McGrane