shalan joudry & matthew lumley
The etymology of the word “theatre,” when taken from the Greek “théatron” is “a place for viewing,” but this week at Ross Creek Centre for the Arts in Elapultiek, which is staged at dusk with the audience sitting around a campfire, the emphasis is much more on this being a listening place, or “a place to be heard.” This could not be more apt, given that much of Mi’kmaw storyteller shalan joudry’s beautiful play is about the barriers between one character who needs to be heard and another who resists listening.
Elapultiek begins with Nat (played by joudry), a Mi’kmaw drum singer and the land of Mi’kma’ki that surrounds her, but that also surrounds us. Two Planks and a Passion’s theatre space at Ross Creek is up the North Mountain in Canning. It is breathtaking, with trees and forest full of wildlife, a nearby ocean and a giant sky full of stars. The exact same land Nat speaks of, with such reverence, as being the homeland of her ancestors, is the very place where we sit listening to her.
Nat is interrupted by Bill (Matthew Lumley), a white biologist, who is counting the depleting populations of the chimney swift, medium-sized birds that typically nest in chimneys, hoping to create a conservation area for them on the land. For Bill biology, the study of nature, is a chosen profession, it’s about science and education and objective observation. For Nat, biology is intuitive, it is part of her tradition, it’s inherent in the teachings of her grandparents, it is immersive. Nat sees that a reduction in chimney swifts connects to her, because she sees ecosystems in how they are interrelated.
Bill and Nat are from different generations (he is quite a bit older), different cultures, and different genders. When he simultaneously mansplains and whitesplains science to her it’s clear he’s completely oblivious to what he is doing. From the beginning of the play Bill wants to be polite, he wants to be a “good person,” but he has trouble hearing Nat’s words. The more she speaks about her experience, her culture, and her understanding of the land and the world, the more he grows defensive, dismissive, and the less he wants to hear. The genius in joudry’s writing is the way she is able to show Bill’s lack of intentional malice, and capture how so much of his racist conditioning is subliminal, and how much of it seems rooted in unacknowledged feelings of guilt that make Bill, a white male Canadian Baby Boomer (all the privilege one could ask for) extremely uncomfortable.
Lumley and joudry give beautiful nuance to their characters and their budding friendship. Lumley has found the balance between Bill’s frustrating micro-aggressions and his real affection for Nat, which ensures that Bill isn’t demonized, which allows the audience to immediately recognize people they know in him. I think many white people will recognize bits of themselves in him as well. joudry infuses Nat with confidence and exhaustion, a deep desire to connect, an intense passion for nature and community, and a touching mixture of fierce strength and vulnerability. Ken Schwartz’s staging around the campfire is so simple, yet so perfect. It mirrors both the changing of the seasons and an important story from the play about the stars.
Like the Greek word for “theatre,” in the language of the Mi’kmaq “Elapultiek” (ehl-ah-bool-dee-egg) is also about seeing- it means, “We are looking towards.” Inherently, it is a hopeful word. In this play the thing we are looking towards seems to be true reconciliation, finding ways to be heard and finding ways to listen. Elapultiek is the perfect place to both start to listen, or to continue to listen, to a story that needs to be heard.
Elapultiek runs at Ross Creek Centre for the Arts (555 Ross Creek Road, Canning, Nova Scotia) until September 1st. Tickets are available HERE. Then the show is touring to Bear River (September 4), Millbrook Cultural and Heritage Centre (September 7) and to Kejimkujik National Park.
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