Curtains open for Kahnawake

Some of Kahnawake’s finest creative minds will be lighting up the Centaur Theatre in Montreal this month with a brand-new theatre piece titled Stone and Bone Spectacular that promises to recount the history of Tiohtià:ke in a way that’s never been done before.

“It’s a bit of a fantasy, and it’s a lot of fun,” said Ange Loft, who wrote and directed the piece.

Alongside Barbara Kaneratonni Diabo and Iehente Foote, Loft co-created the play as part of Centaur’s inaugural Indigenous Artist Residency, which she was selected for in 2021.

She, Diabo, and Foote started out by conducting a series of interviews, a process Loft said is typical of her creative style. She dove into research, speaking with all sorts of people from Kahnawake and beyond that could help her team fill in gaps in their historical understanding of the area.

“We even talked with some urban archaeologists and historians, and that gave us some clues to follow,” Loft said.

Over the past four years, the piece has grown from those preliminary interviews to a glistening production, set to take place in Centaur’s recently renovated theatre from October 15 to 26.

“It has so many layers of depth, and emotion, and joy, it’s just so rich,” said Diabo. “I feel like this is a play that people should see more than once, because there’s so much in it that even I’m still discovering as we go through it.”

The set is special, Diabo said, with unexpected set design and costumery making the piece a stand-out work.

“It’s such a wild ride. The visuals are incredible in the set, the lighting, and the costumes, and it creates this whole atmosphere where it feels like a Vaudeville play, almost a cabaret,” Diabo said. “All that flash and excitement brings in so many layers about our history here, and it’s really wonderful to watch.”

For Centaur Theatre’s artistic director Eda Holmes, Stone and Bone Spectacular fills an obvious gap in Montreal’s theatre scene.

“There’s an emphasis on American and European theatrical offerings, and it’s great work, but we’re missing stories. This is the opportunity to tell those stories that we’re missing, and as a theatre in the middle of a multicultural, multilingual city like this one, I feel that’s what our job is, to amplify those voices and tell stories that enrich who we are as a collective,” she said.

Holmes said that she’s thrilled with how the inaugural residency has gone so far.

“The set is incredible, it’s huge, and I think combining the modes of storytelling that Ange, Iehente, and Barbara have woven together is not like anything else we’ve done. It’s a very poetic and imagistic way of telling a story,” she said. “I’m really excited for the audience to experience that.”

Other Kahnawa’kehró:non also contributed to the project, both on stage and off, including actress Wahsontí:io Kirby, costume designer Lauren Ashley Jiles, Kaia’tanó:ron Dumoulin Bush, who designed puppets brought to life by Loft, and Kahentanó:ron Brianna Montour, who designed the lighting.

Foote, who also acts in the play, said it’s been special to bring so much local talent to the stage.

“It means everything, because it’s our stories that aren’t usually told by us,” she said.

“Centaur is using their resources and putting their money where their mouth is, and we were really being supported by them.”

The show will be taking place in Centaur’s recently renovated theatre, which Foote said has given the team the space and resources to truly flex their creative muscles.

“Being on set, being in the space that we’re actually going to be in, and figuring out how we’re going to do everything, has been a highlight,” she said, adding that she’s especially excited for people from Kahnawake to come and see the performance. “To just be on the stage making inside jokes that people from town are going to get is going to be so amazing.”

Tickets forStone and Bone Spectacular can be purchased at centaurtheatre.com or by calling the box office, and Indigenous audience members can access special $15 tickets by selecting “All My Relations” pricing.

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