Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 14, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba Available at Manitoba Liquor Marts - while supplies last! DON’T MISS THE HOLIDAY ISSUE Read the Winter 2024 issue at winnipegfreepress.com/fp-features P I C K U P Y O U R C O P Y T O D A Y ! M A N I T O B A W I N T E R 2 0 2 4 T O P M A N I T O B A S K I S P O T S M A N I T O B A ’ S P R E M I E R F O O D , D R I N K A N D L I F E S T Y L E M A G A Z I N E I N S I D E S A V O U R WE, OURSELVES AND US K IYANAAN — the name of a new Indigenous theatre festival in Winnipeg — is a southern Michif word meaning “us,” but the festival’s founder says “us” means everyone. “It’s an inclusive ‘us,’” says Char- lene Van Buekenhout, a Métis theatre producer who’s been planning the event for more than four years. “I can’t pretend to know what every- one needs or wants, but I envisioned getting Indigenous artists, supporters and administrators in the same rooms to figure out what we need to do to create spaces for ourselves to make theatre viably and sustainably.” For Van Buekenhout, that has meant looking backwards, forwards and all around when it comes to the festival’s programming, which includes new works from emerging writers, an in-depth conversation with Little Bird star Darla Contois and a staged reading of Ian Ross’s landmark 1996 production, fareWel. The latter will feature original and early cast members (Tracey Nepinak, Marsha Knight, Michael Lawrenchuk, Ryan Black, Jonathan Fisher) of the Governor General’s Award-winning show. Kiyanaan runs Saturday through Sunday at Prairie Theatre Exchange. “We tried to have something for everyone,” says Van Buekenhout, the artistic director of Echo Theatre, the festival’s producer and Prairie The- atre Exchange’s 2024 company-in-res- idence. Other events include a performance of the solo clowning-bouffon piece, who will save the night sky, created in 2023 by Philip Geller through the Banff Arts Centre’s Indigenous Dramaturgies Exchange; a reading of playwright Ashley Cook’s supernat- ural family drama Gone, She’s Gone, supported by the Manitoba Associ- ation of Playwrights; and a cabaret with performances by Victoria Per- rie, Sonya Ballantyne, Jo MacDonald, Issa Kixen, Simon Miron and the United Thunder dance team. Van Buekenhout, who directed Dar- rell Racine and Dale Lakevold’s Owl Calling last fall, has been planning the festival since 2020, when she and Knight abandoned plans for a touring project during the pandemic in fa- vour of a festival format. In the intervening years, Van Buek- enhout has completed a production internship with the Winnipeg Fringe Festival and a 10-week internship with Lori Marchand, the managing director of Indigenous Theatre at the National Arts Centre. Those expe- riences helped the producer under- stand the rigours of festival plan- ning, not just from a programming perspective, but from a community involvement standpoint, she says. Van Buekenhout, whose entry-lev- el Michif storytelling performance Minoosh Doo-Kapeeshiw will open the festival’s performance slate, says she wanted to plan Kiyanaan accord- ing to principles of multi-generational learning as reflected by the teachings of the medicine wheel. “I wanted to focus on where we’re from, where we are, and where we’re going,” she says. That’s best reflected through the festival’s Sunday programming, which begins with Bawaajigan, a “dreaming” workshop for the future of both the festival and Indige- nous-made theatre in Canada, open only to Indigenous festival attendees. Afterward, Indigenous artistic di- rectors from across the country will convene in person and over Zoom for a wide-ranging panel discussion. The day’s programming also includes an open rehearsal for Waawaashkeshiwag-Wabano, a work developed by Nova Courchene in Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s Pi- mootayowin Creators’ Circle in 2022. “The idea is that we will get to see what they’re working on in real time,” says Van Buekenhout. Before the staged reading of fareWel — the festival’s closing event — playwright Ross will be joined in conversation by local author, radio host and playwright Rosanna Deer- child, whose play The Secret to Good Tea opens at London’s Grand Theatre on Feb. 18 and at the National Arts Centre on March 20. Day passes and full festival passes are available at affordable ($10, $15), general ($25, $40) and donor level ($50, $75) tiers. ben.waldman@winnipegfreepress.com BEN WALDMAN THEATRE PREVIEW KIYANAAN INDIGENOUS THEATRE FESTIVAL ● Prairie Theatre Exchange, 393 Portage Ave. ● Jan. 18 to Jan.19 ● Visit echotheatre.net for a full schedule and ticketing information. RUTH BONNEVILLE / FREE PRESS Kiyanaan founder Charlene Van Buekenhout will open the new Indigenous theatre festival this weekend with her family-friendly Michif storytelling production. Festival Highlights Saturday, Jan. 18 Gone, She’s Gone by Ashley Cook (2 p.m.) Darla Contois (3:30 p.m.) Kiyanaan Cabaret (7:30 p.m.) Sunday, Jan 19 Bawaajigan (11 a.m.) Waawaashkeshiwag-Wabano rehearsal (2:45 p.m.) fareWel pre-show chat with Ian Ross and Rosanna Deerchild (5 p.m.) fareWel play reading (6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.) TUESDAY JANUARY 14, 2025 ● ARTS & LIFE EDITOR: JILL WILSON 204-697-7018 ● ARTS@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM ARTS ● LIFE SECTION C CONNECT WITH THE BEST ARTS AND LIFE COVERAGE IN MANITOBA ▼ Indigenous theatre festival striving to offer ‘something for everyone’ ;