October 10, 2012 Updated: October 10, 2012 | 6:12 pm
Backstage Pass: New play explores issue of missing aboriginal women
There can be any number of challenges when it comes to staging a play. Finding the right director, venue and cast members are all potential stumbling blocks.
For the creative forces behind The Hours That Remain, the greatest roadblock may be overcoming expectations about the work, which deals with the difficult subject matter of missing women in Canada.
“It’s not an issue play, in that it doesn’t say anything about what should be done. But it does address a national problem of disappeared women whose cases don’t seem to be taken very seriously,” said director David Storch.
The play, the first written by Métis artist and actor Keith Barker, was inspired by the Highway of Tears in British Columbia.
“Keith’s found a really wonderful and succinct personal story that’s surrounded with a devastating social issue,” said Keira Loughran, who plays Michelle. “It’s not preachy, but it is deeply moving”
Storch says audience members should hand over not just their tickets but also their preconceived notions about The Hours That Remain when they enter the theatre. While it is dark, there’s also humour and even some elements of a mind-bending thriller at work.
“It’s very cleverly constructed,” said Storch. “If we do our job right you’re surprised to learn exactly what’s been going on. We’re asking the audience to put together what they’ve seen.”
“It’s very different from a mainstream play where things run very linearly. This is a bit more circular, so it allows for those puzzle pieces to drop in,” added Loughran.
The play is being staged locally by Saskatchewan Native Theatre Company, which the director calls a perfect relationship.
“There’s nothing better than doing a play that has meaning, working with great companies and people that recognize the power of art to change lives,” said Storch. “I can’t imagine a better place in Canada than this theatre to do this play.”
The production heads to Toronto after wrapping in Saskatoon, but Loughran hopes it will have a similar impact on all audiences as the issue affects the entire country.
“It doesn’t just happen in B.C., it happens everywhere to often marginalized people,” she said. “It’s a real privilege to do it in two such different cities as Saskatoon and Toronto, but to know in your gut it will play in both cities very well.”
The Hours That Remain runs at Studio 914, 914 20th St. W., through Oct. 14.
A long and painful stretch of road
The Highway of Tears, which provided the inspiration for The Hours That Remain, is a section of road that stretches between Prince Rupert and Prince George in Northern British Columbia.
As many as 43 women, many of Aboriginal descent, have disappeared on the highway since the late-1960s. The vast majority of the cases remain unsolved, however convicted American murderer Bobby Jack Fowler, who died in 1996, has been linked to at least three of the disappearances.
