Indigenous Theatre Archives

May 10, 2011 Article, Writing

“SUSAN CREAN ON ABORIGINAL THEATRE COMPANY NATIVE EARTH PERFORMING ARTS” IN THIS MAGAZINE

In This Magazine, May-June 2011.

"I joined the board of Native Earth Performing Arts, in Toronto’s Distillery District, several years ago, and quickly discovered the best perk of the office is watching a performance evolve through rehearsal. Seeing the actors figuring out their moves together, adjusting dialogue, and dissecting the meaning of the play, and then witnessing opening night when they fire the creation into life…is magic. No better word for it."

Read the article "Susan Crean on Aboriginal theatre company Native Earth Performing Arts" online here.

April 8, 2008 Article, Writing

“RIEL’S PROPHECY – THE NEW CONFIDENCE OF ABORIGINAL THEATRE”

In The Walrus, April, 2008.

“My people will sleep for one hundred years. When they awake, it will be the artists that give them back their spirit.” — Louis Riel.

I spent ten fabulous years on the board of directors of Native Earth Performing Arts, the country’s oldest professional Indigenous performing arts company. During that time I saw the creative process at work and close-up, and witnessed the evolution of many plays and performances from gleam in the eye to full scale production. This article chronicles the evolution of Indigenous theatre work in recent years, and profiles some of the extraordinary artists behind it.

Read Riel’s Prophecy: The New Confidence of Aboriginal Theatre online here.

Susan Crean is a cultural critic, author, and activist. A writer for over 30 years, Crean's expertise is in Canadian history, art and culture, topics on which she has written extensively. She has been a pioneer of creative non-fiction in Canada, and is the author of seven books, the first, Who’s Afraid of Canadian Culture, appearing in 1976. Her next major work, The Laughing One – A Journey to Emily Carr, was nominated for a Governor General’s award and won a BC Book Prize in 2001. Crean published her memoir, Finding Mr Wong, in 2018, a work that recreates the life of her family's cook, Wong Dong Wong, beginning with his journey from China to Vancouver, following his work as a domestic servant in Toronto to his eventual citizenship and retirement. Crean spent a number of years researching Wong's story, visiting China in search of Mr. Wong's home village, to better understanding of where Wong came from, what his prospects were as an orphan, and what his journey to Canada was like. Finding Mr Wong recently reached the top 10 list of Best Canadian History books by Canada`s History magazine. READ MORE

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“SUSAN CREAN ON ABORIGINAL THEATRE COMPANY NATIVE EARTH PERFORMING ARTS” IN THIS MAGAZINE

“RIEL’S PROPHECY – THE NEW CONFIDENCE OF ABORIGINAL THEATRE”