by Low D Wed Apr 18, 2018 11:23 pm
"Spirit Horse" - a play by Drew Hayden Taylor, being a Native American adaptation of the Irish play ‘Tir Na N’Og’ by Greg Banks. Directed by Greg Banks, A Roseneath Theatre production.
Taylor, an Ojibway from Curve Lake First Nations, in Central Ontario, has seamlessly inserted a story he learned through his family's oral narrative into the ancient Irish tale. Apparently, in Tir Na N'Og he saw parallels to First Nations' experience, and indeed themes of dislocation, separation from the (home)land, death and fractured families are stories universal to colonized peoples. A spirit animal that carries you between worlds was a familiar concept as well.
This play is aimed at a younger audience (9-13 years old), but I went with my 15 year old as part of a school group and we both cried. That said, it says something about the Irish experience that the First Nations version was happier than the original.
http://roseneath.ca/20162017-season/spi ... -the-play/"Spirit Horse" - a play by Drew Hayden Taylor, being a Native American adaptation of the Irish play ‘Tir Na N’Og’ by Greg Banks. Directed by Greg Banks, A Roseneath Theatre production.
Taylor, an Ojibway from Curve Lake First Nations, in Central Ontario, has seamlessly inserted a story he learned through his family's oral narrative into the ancient Irish tale. Apparently, in Tir Na N'Og he saw parallels to First Nations' experience, and indeed themes of dislocation, separation from the (home)land, death and fractured families are stories universal to colonized peoples. A spirit animal that carries you between worlds was a familiar concept as well.
This play is aimed at a younger audience (9-13 years old), but I went with my 15 year old as part of a school group and we both cried. That said, it says something about the Irish experience that the First Nations version was happier than the original.
http://roseneath.ca/20162017-season/spirit-horse-about-the-play/
