Description
Created by Evalyn Parry, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Erin Brubacher, and Elysha Poirier with Cris Derksen | A GCTC and National Arts Centre Indigenous Theatre co-presentation of a Buddies in Bad Times Theatre production
A concert and a conversation, Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools is the meeting place of two people, and the North and South of our country. Inuk artist Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory and queer theatre-maker Evalyn Parry met on an Arctic expedition from Iqaluit to Greenland. Now sharing a stage, these two powerful storytellers map new territory together in a work that gives voice and body to the histories, culture, and climate we’ve inherited, and asks how we reckon with these sharp tools.
In the Inuktitut language, when a knife is dull, it is said to “have no face.” The word “Kiinalik” translates to mean the knife is sharp — or, “it has a face.” Embodying the stories of their heritage, Evalyn and Laakkuluk put a face to the colonial histories, power structures and the changing climate that lie between them.
ᑮᓇᓕᒃ: ᐃᐱᑦᑐᑦ ᓴᓇᕐᕈᑏᑦ
ᑮᓇᓕᒃ: ᐃᐱᑦᑐᑦ ᓴᓇᕐᕈᑏᑦ, ᑯᐃᐅ ᑕᐅᑐᕋᓐᓇᑕᐅᓂᕐᒧᑦ ᓴᓇᔨ ᐃᐊᕙᓕᓐ ᐸᐅᕆ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᐃᓄᒃ ᑕᐅᑐᕋᓐᓈᖅᑕᐅᓱᖅ ᓚᑯᓗᒃ ᐅᐃᓕᐊᒻᓴᓐ ᐹᑐᕆ ᓄᓇᖑᐊᓕᐅᖅᐳᒃ ᓄᑖᒥᒃ ᑕᐅᑐᕋᓐᓈᖅᑕᐅᓂᒃᒧᑦ ᐱᐅᔪᒥᒃ ᓴᓇᖃᑎᒌᑉᐳᒃ ᓴᓚᔅᓴᖅᓯᒪᔪᖅ ᐃᓕᓴᕆᔭᐅᓪᓗᓂ ᐱᓕᕆᐊᖓ ᓴᖅᑭᑎᑦᑎᓪᓗᓂ ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᐃᓕᖅᑯᓯᖓᓂᒃ ᓄᖑᑎᑕᐅᓚᐅᖅᓯᒪᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᑭᖑᓂᑦᑎᓐᓂ, ᐱᔪᓐᓇᕐᓂᖃᕐᕕᐅᔪᓂᒃ ᐊᐅᓚᑦᑎᒍᓯᖏᓐᓂᒃ ᐊᒻᒪᓗ ᓯᓚᐅ ᐊᓯᔾᔨᐸᓪᓕᐊᓂᖓᓂᒃ ᐊᑯᓐᓂᖃᖅᑐᑎᒃ.
Show Times
Tuesday - Friday
8pm
Saturday
4pm and 8:30pm
Runtime
110 minutes with no intermission.
Sunday
2pm
* Note: There is no performance on Saturday, February 1 at 8:30pm and no show on Tuesday, February 4 at 8pm.
Pay What You Decide
PWYD performance Sunday Jan 26, 2pm
Advisory
“A bracing, beautiful, thought-provoking, unsettling, challenging show.”
— Intermission Magazine
— — — — —
Dora Awards 2018: Outstanding New Play, Outstanding Sound Design
Creative Team
Written + Performed by Evalyn Parry + Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory
Created by Evalyn Parry, Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Erin Brubacher + Elysha Poirier with Cris Derksen
Directed by Erin Brubacher
Live Video by Elysha Poirier
Original Composition + Live Music by Cris Derksen + Evalyn Parry
Uaajeerneq and Throat Singing by Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory
Set Design by Kaitlin Hickey
Lighting Design by Rebecca Picherack
Sound Engineer Aleda Deroche
Stage Manager Georgia Priestley-Brown
Assistant Stage Manager Rico Manitok
Seal Skin Shoes by Nicole Camphaug, Enb Artisan, Nunavut
Jewelry by Matthew Nuqingaq
Ulu by Mosesie Lewis
Reviews
"A powerhouse that stands to be the pick of GCTC’s season" - Patrick Langston, Artsfile
"A must-see; that GCTC has programmed this into its main season is a commendable display of guts and commitment to ground-breaking new work from around Canada" - Aisling Murphy, Capital Critics Circle
"The Arctic is an adventure to southerners. Parry is our lens to see that; Laakkuluk, living proof that challenges that." - Ryan Pepper, Apt613
"They are magic on stage together and offer a deeply thought-provoking theatrical wonder." - Jennifer Hartley, Ottawa Life Magazine
"Confronting colonialism and big social issue topics of justice and erasure should be uncomfortable. Sitting in this tension is growth." - Fiona Tapp, Forbes
Stages and Pages
The Ottawa Public Library and GCTC have come together in a special partnership to help you explore the themes and topics raised in each play during GCTC’s 2019-2020 season.
OPL’s Readers’ Advisory staff have read the scripts for each of the plays, and recommended resources to further the exploration of their themes. The resources will only add to the experience of seeing the show, and can be explored before or after being part of the audience.
Prologue
The Prologue Series continues to bring exciting discussions and unique experiences to GCTC that take us into the creative process of the plays on our stage.
Please join us for Prologue. As an introduction to Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools, GCTC's Artistic Director, Eric Coates will interview Lori Marchand, the inaugural Managing Director of National Arts Centre's Indigenous Theatre, and Hugh Neilson, Managing Director of GCTC. The discussion will provide insight to these senior positions and how they interact with and support the artistic direction of their companies.
Date: Wednesday January 22
Time: 6:45pm
Location: GCTC studio (second floor lobby)
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