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Medicine Shows: Indigenous Performance Culture
Medicine Shows traces Canadian Indigenous theater artists over the past thirty years, illuminating the connections, the artistic genealogy, and the development of a contemporary Indigenous theater practice. Neither a history nor a chronicle, Medicine Shows examines how theater has been used to make reconnecting individuals and communities, giving voice to the silenced and disappeared, staging ceremony and honoring ancestors.
208 pages, Paperback
First published October 13, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 21, 2020
This book takes a really unique and effective approach to introducing First Nations/Metis/Inuit theatre in Canada, primarily by telling the stories of significant plays and showing how they reflect the concept of medicine. Nolan explains medicine as a complex of ethical actions, ritual behaviors, and physical substances or symbols that build community, create harmony, and balance both the individual psyche and the natural world. For instance, there are physical elements like tobacco, cedar, and sage that play important ritual or sacred roles in many Indigenous ceremonies, but there are also good practices like communal governance, honoring natural spirits when harvesting, hunting, or fishing, and behaving ethically/empathically toward others. For Nolan, this idea of medicine is central to Indigenous theatre practice.
Nolan not only argues that these plays revolve around different forms of medicine--often with the goal of healing communal and/or individual wounds from colonialism and cultural genocide--but that Indigenous theatre practice and performance is itself a form a medicine. She discusses the importance of collaborative creation in many Native theatres, including her own work at Native Earth Performing Arts, where the play Death of a Chief (a Julius Caesar adaptation) was workshopped by the entire troupe to develop a version that would reflect and potentially build toward the world that they wanted. Further, she argues that theatre itself is a form of medicine because it helps regenerate and honor Indigenous cultural practices, build potential bridges to settler Canadian culture (though, as Nolan illustrates, this process is often hampered by reviewers who either purposefully or unintentionally denigrate Indigenous shows), and asserts the legitimacy of Indigenous identities.
Nolan not only argues that these plays revolve around different forms of medicine--often with the goal of healing communal and/or individual wounds from colonialism and cultural genocide--but that Indigenous theatre practice and performance is itself a form a medicine. She discusses the importance of collaborative creation in many Native theatres, including her own work at Native Earth Performing Arts, where the play Death of a Chief (a Julius Caesar adaptation) was workshopped by the entire troupe to develop a version that would reflect and potentially build toward the world that they wanted. Further, she argues that theatre itself is a form of medicine because it helps regenerate and honor Indigenous cultural practices, build potential bridges to settler Canadian culture (though, as Nolan illustrates, this process is often hampered by reviewers who either purposefully or unintentionally denigrate Indigenous shows), and asserts the legitimacy of Indigenous identities.
January 30, 2020
A well written and informative overview of Canadian Indigenous theatre. It is truly sad that there is so little opportunity to see plays of this calibre and theatre companies across the nation should endeavour to remount these challenging productions. Greater commitment is also required to support local Indigenous playwrights and actors and Sheldon ELTER (Edmonton), as one example, is an actor I have followed for many years and he has been outstanding in any production I have seen him in! In terms of the plays covered in this book, I have only seen SALT BABY (mentioned briefly in the book) and it was AMAZING! And of course the recent 2018 musical by Corey Payette, CHILDREN OF GOD is powerful theatre and should be a MUST SEE for ALL Canadians!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews