Mar. 24, 2010 - Issue #753: Zion I

Prevue

Let’s get political

Annie Mae's Movement traces the life and death of an aboriginal activist

This isn't criticism so much as an observation, but professional theatre tends to be mostly put on and attended by those both middle class and white, something that seems to limit the kinds of stories that get told onstage, and told to who. Linked to that, theatre, even political theatre, then tends to deal with the issues of the majority, presented by that majority for the enjoyment of the same. Audiences walk away having felt catharsis, not challenged. And while, again, there isn't anything inherently wrong with that—the mainstream caters to the mainstream, simple and understandable as that—it does mean that stories of the minority often get left on the sidestages, rarely focused on by the bulk of theatregoers and practitioners, rarely given a chance to make their case with a mainstage run. Particularly anything political.

But in a way, it's not so strange that Studio Theatre is putting up a politically charged-up show like Annie Mae's Movement. Mostly known for programming seasons of scripts ranging from classical to contemporary, Studio's on-campus homebase seems the perfect spot to get relevantly political, for a change.

"I think the Timm's [Centre] has done a good job this year in terms of that's something they're trying, to reach out to new audiences," says Jessica Abdallah. "For me it's this idea of, well, how do we create a dialogue between two populations that normally just go their own ways and not actually interact?"

"I don't think the issues have changed [in recent years]," adds Ruth Albertyn, the show's designer, of aboriginal-caucasian relations. "I think there's been more awareness of it, and it's been acknowledged a little bit more, but that might also backfire in some ways; 'Oh, you know, we apologized. We're good now.'"

Both are involved with the show as a partial fulfillment of their masters degrees—for Abdallah, in directing, after an undergrad in theatre development, for Albertyn, in design. For creating dialogue, the choice of play is pretty spot-on: Annie Mae was an aboriginal political activist, a Canadian who got involved in the American Indian Movement during times of upheaval—she was present at the Wounded Knee incident, where the AIM seized the town for months, among other major actions—and a woman who was brutally killed in 1975.

It took a long time for her loved ones to see any justice for the crime; the first conviction and trial happened in 2003, almost 30 years after the murder, with two more suspects currently on the verge of indictment. (In one of those curious life coincidences, one of her purported killers finally went to trial as this Studio show began rehearsals).

The play itself doesn't hide its grim ending, nor does it focus on the tragedy. Instead, Annie Mae's Movement traces the rise of her political awareness and activism and the kind of daunting hurdles she faced, but fought against.

"There are over 500 aboriginal women in the last 20 years that've gone missing or been murdered, and no one's looked into their deaths,"Abdallah says. "And numbers like that ... at first it hits you, and you're like, 'Oh my God.' But it also, for me, it drives [me] forward, because the story's not about 'let's wallow in this.' The story's about if we could only communicate and listen to each other, then this stuff can change." V

Thu, Mar 25 – Sat, April 3 (7:30 pm)
Annie Mae's Movement
Written by Yvette Nolan
Directed by Jessica Abdallah
Starring Renaltta Arluk, Chris Cound
Timms Centre for the Arts (87 Ave & 111 St), $10 – $20

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