Theater Review: Frozen River Shows Kids a Path to Reconciliation

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frozen river (nîkwatinsîpiy)

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When: Until October 16.

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Where: Waterfront Theatre, Granville Island.

Tickets and information: $18-$35 in carouselteatro.ca

Reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Canadians will never happen in any meaningful way until today’s youth, as they take over the world, understand better than the rest of us where we went wrong and what we need to do to make things right.

Frozen River (nîkwatinsîpiy), from the Manitoba Theater for Young People, aims to help further that understanding. Vancouver Youth Carousel Theater advertises the play as appropriate for ages 5 and up. In a theatrical language aimed at preteens and minors, it dramatizes the schism that reconciliation seeks to heal. the two young protagonists illustrate how healing may be possible and how difficult it is likely to be.

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In front of the large circular piece by designer Andrew Moro that serves as a moon and as a screen for characters of shadows and projections, Grandma Moon (Krystle Pederson) explains that one day a long time ago two girls were born and we grew up together in territory he believes would eventually become Manitoba: Wâpam (Keely McPeek) to a Cree family and Eilidh (Mallory James) to a family of settlers from Scotland.

Although at first Wâpam only speaks Cree and Eilidh only English, the girls learn to understand each other. Wâpam teaches Eilidh which local plants are safe to eat. She teaches Eilidh’s little sister (a puppet) how to make traps to catch small animals to eat. The girls band together and promise to spend a winter with each other’s families when the river freezes over.

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But Eilidh, convinced of the superiority of their culture, little by little he moves away from his promise and from Wapam. “Why can’t you be like us?” he asks. The friendship ends.

Grandma Luna then fast-forwards us seven generations to the present, where the descendants of Eilidh and Wâpam, who also share birthdays, attend the same high school but live in two solitudes. The non-indigenous girl is outraged that the pipes in her suburban home have been frozen for four days. When the indigenous girl explains that her reservoir has not had clean water for 18 years, the other is surprised at the beginning of an understanding, and perhaps a change of heart.

All three actors are charming. Playwrights Michaela Washburn, Joelle Peters, and Carrie Costello have done a good job of making sophisticated plots relatively digestible for young audiences and avoiding heavy-handedness when assigning responsibilities and liabilities. blame allocation. Director Katie German introduces visuals, including the puppet children and a puppet turtle, to help enliven the set.

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But Frozen River is more dialogue-based with less theatrical spectacle than most works aimed at a young audience. I saw it the day after National Truth and Reconciliation Day with my granddaughters, ages five and eight. Two days before, they attended a school assembly in which the meaning of the holiday was explained. I wondered what they would think of the play.

They were attentive for the entire 65 minutes, even the five-year-old, who was playing for the first time. They understood the dynamic of friendships, thought it was cool that the girls had the same birthday, and were fascinated by the projections and puppets. TCultural conflicts seemed beyond them for now, but we all enjoyed smart entertainment pushing us towards a better future.

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