This conversation brings together theatre-makers whose work examines systems of justice. Audrey Dwyer, Cole Alvis, and Kim Senklip Harvey reflect on the ways in which art can shape, uphold, and subvert narratives about the justice system, and the ways in which performance can help imagine alternative understandings of harm, accountability, and repair. Moderated by Nikki Shaffeeullah.
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Learn more about Stages of Transformation, an expansive new digital resource that brings together artists and creative communities from across so-called Canada to explore the imperatives of abolition movements and their applications to our work in the theatre sector.
Cole Alvis (she/her) is a 2 Spirit Michif (Métis) artist based in Tkarón:to with Chippewa, Irish and English ancestors from Turtle Mountain. She is one of the leaders of lemonTree creations, manidoons collective, and AdHoc Assembly, and is on the board of the Dancers Of Damelahamid.
Recently, Cole performed in Louis Riel (Canadian Opera Company / National Arts Centre) and directed the Dora-nominated bug by Yolanda Bonnell (manidoons collective / Luminato), Lilies by Michel Marc Bouchard (lemonTree creations / Why Not Theatre / Buddies in Bad Times Theatre) and, alongside fellow Dora-nominated Michael Greyeyes, co-directed an Indigenous opera double bill called Two Odysseys: Pimooteewin / Gállábártnit (Signal Theatre / National Sami Theatre Beaivváš / Soundstreams).
This spring, Cole co-directs, alongside Samantha Brown, White Girls in Moccasins by Yolanda Bonnell, co-produced by manidoons collective and Buddies In Bad Times Theatre, and a digital presentation of the play Toka by Indrit Kasapi, co-produced by lemonTree creations and Theatre Passe Muraille.
Theatre credits at Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre include, as Director: The Mountaintop, Women of the Fur Trade; as Intimacy Director: Orlando, Fun Home; as Consulting Director: Bang Bang (with Belfry Theatre); as Actor: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (with Mirvish Productions), Good People, Medea (with Mirvish Productions). Theatre credits elsewhere include, as Actor: thirsty (NAC); The Crucible, Theory (Tarragon Theatre), Clybourne Park and The Overwhelming (Studio 180 with Mirvish Productions), The Tempest (Canadian Stage, Dream in High Park), Black Medea (Obsidian Theatre); as Director: Blink (University of Winnipeg); Prairie Nurse (Lighthouse Theatre); Calpurnia (Nightwood Theatre/Sulong Theatre); The Apology (Rabiayshna Productions).
Audrey is Royal MTC’s Associate Artistic Director. She has won three Dora Mavor Moore Awards and the Cayle Chernin Award for Theatre. She was nominated for the Pauline McGibbon Award for Direction twice. Audrey co-wrote The D-Cut, a six-episode series produced by Shaftesbury Films. The multiple award-winning series is on Crave (Canada) and Shaftesbury’s KindaTV channel. She wrote the libretto for Backstage at Carnegie Hall (Bradyworks), which will open in Montreal in 2022. She was commissioned to write The Legend of Daddy Hall for the Tarragon Theatre, which was part of their Acoustic Season (2020/2021). She has been commissioned by Nightswimming Theatre to write The Generations, an epic five-hour drama about the legacy of a Black family over eons of time. She was a recipient of CBC’s Creative Relief Fund for her television pilot called The Gordons. She has been a writer-in-residence at Obsidian Theatre and the Tarragon Theatre, where she was also the Urjo Kareda Artist-in-Residence and the Assistant Artistic Director. Audrey graduated from the National Theatre School of Canada in 2001.
Kim Senklip Harvey is a proud Syilx and Tsilhqot’in award-winning director, writer and actor who is known for her ability to craft stories that inspire, nourish and delight.
Kim was the first Indigenous woman to win the Governor General’s Award for Drama in 2020 with her play Kamloopa. She is the host and lead creative producer of the podcast The Indigenous Cultural Evolutionist which is streamed in over 20 countries.
Kim is currently developing three TV series, writing her first book of prose and is in pre-production for her next play Break Horizons: A Rocking Indigenous Justice Story. Kim has her Masters in Creative Writing and is currently getting her PhD in Law. Harvey believes that storytelling is the most compelling medium to move us to a place where everyone is provided the opportunity to live peacefully.
Nikki Shaffeeullah (she/her) is a director, writer, actor, and facilitator who creates theatre, film, and poetry. Past roles include artistic director of The AMY Project, and editor-in-chief of alt.theatre magazine.
As a facilitator, Nikki supports grassroots groups to navigate collective processes and to uphold equity and accountability in all aspects of their work. An award-winning theatre and film artist, Nikki collaborates with companies and artists from across Canada. She has held residencies with organizations including Canadian Stage, Why Not Theatre, The Theatre Centre, SummerWorks, and others. She has an MFA from the University of Alberta and is a fellow in the Salzburg Global Forum for Cultural Innovators.
Nikki believes art should disrupt the status quo, centre the margins, engage with the ancient, dream of the future, and be for everyone.