About fareWel
This reunion reading of the play fareWel celebrates the past and honours the journey and great path that was blazed by this impactful story.
"Winner of the 1997 Governor General's Award for Drama. Life is tense on the Partridge Crop Reserve. The Chief is in Las Vegas (again), the band is in receivership, and there's a move on to unilaterally declare self-government. And now that the welfare cheques have gone missing, the people of this fictional First Nation are forced to take control of their lives. "fareWel" is a raw and funny look at a group of ordinary people tackling some extraordinarily big issues." -Scirroco Drama
Featuring Ryan Black, Jonathan Fisher, Marsha Knight, Michael Lawrenchuk, Tracey Nepinak, Ian Ross
Directed by Katie German
CONTENT CONSIDERATION:
This play engages with content, using the artistic medium of theatre, that is reflective of the time in which it was written, although these themes persist today. The playwright investigates, through drama, character, and language, and relationships the tools of white supremacy and colonization to divide and disempower Indigenous communities and people. Concepts such as blood quantum, shadeism (or colourism), racism, as well as misogyny, education (and lack of), and dependency.
One facet is reflected by the use of the "N" word as a character's nickname. It is used to refer to the character informally instead of their name 30 times in the play, twice with some harshness in tone as in "Sit down, __" and "shut up, __".
performer
Ryan Black
performer
performer
Jonathan Fisher
Jonathan Fisher is Bear Clan and Anishnabe from the Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory. Selected credits include: "Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing" (Red Roots Theatre). "fareWel" (Prairie Theatre Exchange). "New France" (VideoCabaret). "Copper Thunderbird" (National Arts Centre). "Tales of an
Urban Indian" (Talk Is Free Theatre). “The Rez Sisters” (Magnus Theatre). "Night" (Human Cargo). “The Hours That Remain” (Magnus Theatre). "Elle" (Theatre Passe Muiraille). "The Berlin Blues" and "Ipperwash" (Blyth Festival). “Reckoning” (Article 11). “This Is How We Got Here” (Native Earth/Shaw Festival). “The Mush Hole” (Kaha:wi Dance Theatre) “White Noise” (Firehall Arts Centre) and “Women of the Fur Trade” (National Arts Centre/Native Earth.
performer
Renata Meconse
performer
performer
Michael Lawrenchuk
performer
performer
Tracey Nepinak
performer
Playwright
Ian Ross
Metis/Ojibway playwright and author Ian Ross was born in McCreary, Manitoba in 1968 and currently lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film and Theatre. Ian Ross has written for theatre, film, television and radio. Ross’s play “Heart of a Distant Tribe” was published in the Manitoba anthology A Map of the Senses: 20 Years of Manitoba Plays, edited by Rory Runnells (Scirocco). His play fareWel, which garnered him the 1997 Governor General Award for Drama, is a dark comedy about Native life on the fictional Partridge Crop Reserve.
Director
Katie German
Katie is a Métis performer, director, playwright, educator and mother. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and with ancestral roots in both St. Rose Du Lac, MB and Aberdeen, Scotland, Katie is currently the owner and director of Junior Musical Theatre Company (JMTC) and is proud to be called Mom by a creative 9-year-old and a joy-filled 4-year-old who keeps her laughing and running. Katie is passionate about learning, dismantling and decolonizing the theatre process as well as creating spaces that are human focused, nourishing and driven by curiosity.
Recent directing credits include: Little Women (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre), This Is How We Got Here (Persephone Theatre), A Pickle (Winnipeg Jewish Theatre), Frozen River Nîkwatin Sîpiy National Tour (Manitoba Theatre for Young People), Embodying Power and Place Digital Presentation & Workshop (New Harlem Productions, Nightwood Theatre & Native Earth Performing Arts), and Winn nipi (Prairie Theatre Exchange).
Recent performance credits include: The Sound of Music (The Citadel Theatre), Rez Sisters, Into The Woods, The Sound of Music (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre), Hockey Sweater, Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (Rainbow Stage), A Year With Frog And Toad, Seussical The Musical (Manitoba Theatre for Young People), Merrily We Role Along, Sweeney Todd (Dry Cold Productions) and the TVO cartoon, Wolf Joe (Media Rendezvous & TVO).
