Ernestine Shuswap Gets Her Trout

By Tomson Highway

In Association with Alberta Theatre Projects and
The Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company

Co-Commissioned by Western Canada Theatre &
The Secwepemc Cultural Education Society

January 22 to 31, 2004

Cheri Maracle, Lisa C. Ravensbergen, Lisa Dahling & Janet Michael in Ernestine Shuswap Gets Her Trout. Photo by Murray Mitchell.

The gurgle of the river, rich and evocative; it is the voice of this land. Jointly commissioned by Western Canada Theatre and the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society, this is acclaimed playwright Tomson Highway's first play in over ten years. It is August 1910, and the "Big Kahoona of Canada", Wilfrid Laurier, is paying a visit to the Thompson River Valley. Two worlds collide in this vivid and thought-provoking piece; while four women prepare for Laurier's arrival, their world and ways begin to disappear. In the true spirit of Coyote, this piece is both full of humour and at the same time intensely dramatic.

So we been fishing in that river, my folks and me, for a very, very long time… Fishing not allowed? Why, that would be like me, Annabelle Okanagan of Kamloops, BC, that would be like me coming right into your homes, opening my mouth, and telling all of you…"No more breathing. Stop right now."

ARTISTIC PERSONNEL

Director	David Ross
Assistant Director	Lanni McInnes
Scenic & Costume Design	Kim Nielsen
Lighting Design	Gerald King
Sound Design	Budge Schacte & Tomson Highway
Movement Coach	Mary Ellen MacLean
Projection Artist	Trent Scherer
Stage Manger	Kelly Manson
Apprentice Stage Manager	Trent Scherer

CAST

Isabel Thompson	Lisa Dahling
Delilah Rose Johnson	Cheri Maracle
Ernestine Shuswap	Janet Michael
Annabelle Okanagan	Lisa C. Ravensbergen

WCT PRODUCTION PERSONNEL

Production Manager	Chris MacDonald
Technical Director	John Reilly
Head Carpenter	Bryan Best
Second Carpenter	Dale McRann
Head of Properties	Alan Graham
Head of Wardrobe	Cindy Wiebe
Technician/Sound Operator	Bronwyn Bowlby
Production Assistant	Ryan Holowaychuk
House Manager	Kay Dodds
Relief House Manager	Jennie Stadnichuk
House Photographer	Murray Mitchell

Here's what the press had to say:

“…a rare and at times absurd dramatic experience, a little like laughing and crying at the same time.”
Mike Youds, Kamloops

“A tale of mythic proportions…”
Allan Wishart, Kamloops This Week

And at the Magnetic North Theatre Festival:

"...the play is both laugh-out-loud funny and a precarious high-wire act...
A flawless production and a huge treat as a nomadic festival offering."
Gilbert A. Bouchard, Globe & Mail (6/22/4)

Lisa C. Ravensbergen & Cheri Maracle, Photo by M. Mitchell

Meet the SCES: http://www.secwepemc.org/

Read the Ernestine Shuswap Gets Her Trout  Study Guide

Back in 1999, Western Canada Theatre, in conjunction with the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society, commissioned renowned Canadian playwright Tomson Highway to write a play.  This is that play.  It is what happens when an exceptional playwright turns his attention to fascinating material, in this case, the Laurier Memorial, a document given to Sir Wilfrid Laurier by the Chiefs of the Shuswap, Okanagan and Thompson people in August of 1910. What makes the Laurier Memorial fascinating are the revelations it offers regarding Aboriginal concepts of land ownership, kinship, and basic hospitality. What makes Tomson's work exceptional is his ability to give shape to these principles through a day in the lives of four 'ordinary' women; 100 years told in the course of an evening.  Welcome to a great play written by one of Canada’s premier playwrights.  Welcome to a story far from its conclusion…

Ernestine Shuswap Gets Her Trout was co-commissioned by Western Canada Theatre and the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society.  Western Canada Theatre gratefully acknowledges the development assistance of The Banff Centre - Theatre Arts, Alberta Theatre Projects, The Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company, The National Arts Centre, The Canada Council Canadian Creation Program, the Community-University Research Alliance Program funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Native Earth Performing Arts Inc.
Western Canada Theatre would also like to acknowledge the contributions of the following artists who participated in developemental workshops and/or public readings of the script in process: Layla Alizada, Marie Clements, Lisa Dahling, Margo Kane, Lanni McInnes, Cheri Maracle, Lori Marchand, Jody-Kay Marklew, Janet Michael, Renae Morriseau, Lisa C. Ravensbergen, Lori Ravensborg, Yvonne Wallace, Val Pearson, Jennie Young, Gay Hauser, Budge Schacte, Del Surjik.

was co-commissioned by Western Canada Theatre and the Secwepemc Cultural Education Society.  Western Canada Theatre gratefully acknowledges the development assistance of The Banff Centre - Theatre Arts, Alberta Theatre Projects, The Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company, The National Arts Centre, The Canada Council Canadian Creation Program, the Community-University Research Alliance Program funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and Native Earth Performing Arts Inc.Western Canada Theatre would also like to acknowledge the contributions of the following artists who participated in developemental workshops and/or public readings of the script in process: Layla Alizada, Marie Clements, Lisa Dahling, Margo Kane, Lanni McInnes, Cheri Maracle, Lori Marchand, Jody-Kay Marklew, Janet Michael, Renae Morriseau, Lisa C. Ravensbergen, Lori Ravensborg, Yvonne Wallace, Val Pearson, Jennie Young, Gay Hauser, Budge Schacte, Del Surjik.