Stage Door News
Stage Door News
Talk Is Free Theatre (TIFT), located in Barrie, Ontario about an hour north of Toronto, produces unique and thought-provoking theatre, which over the years has led to national and even some international acclaim. To launch its 15th Anniversary season, TIFT is once again stepping outside its comfort zone – 2263 kilometers outside of it – to bring its smash hit Tales of an Urban Indian to Iqaluit, Nunavut.
TIFT’s first run of Tales of an Urban Indian in 2009 received unprecedented attention not only because of the gripping and heady performance in the one-man show, but also because it was performed on a moving city transit bus.
“The idea of performing Tales… on the bus initially came to us when we didn’t have a permanent home,” says Arkady Spivak, TIFT’s Artistic Producer. “The production has since developed a legacy of its own not only in Barrie, but now in remote communities that don’t have either a resident company nor even a theatre venue, where we continue to tour.”
And so next stop – Iqaluit, Nunavut! Tales of an Urban Indian will be transported more than 2,000 kilometers north to a part of the country that couldn’t be more disparate from the urban centre in southern Ontario where TIFT calls home.
Written by Darrell Dennis (best known for his roles in such television series as Northwood and The Rez), Tales of an Urban Indian is a semi-autobiographical tale about a modern First Nations male and his life journey as he is transplanted from a reservation to downtown Vancouver, to Canada’s most northern capital city.
Talk Is Free Theatre’s production is directed again by Herbie Barnes. The role of Simon Douglas will be performed by Craig Lauzon, an actor and writer, widely known for Royal Canadian Air Farce.
Tales of an Urban Indian will have its limited engagement from July 27 to July 30, 2016, with performances at 8:00 PM each night and added 2:00 PM matinee’s on Friday, July 29 and Saturday, July 20. Single tickets are $40. Tickets may be purchased from July 19 in person at Northmart in Iqaluit. Tickets, additional information and performance schedule are available at www.tift.ca or by calling (888) 792-1949 from July 15.
This tour has been made possible through generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and North West Company.
Photo: Craig Lauzon.
2016-07-13
Barrie: Talk Is Free Theatre takes "Tales of an Urban Indian" to Iqaluit