IF I LISTENED…
A TransPoetico Production
in collaboration with Debajehmujig Theatre Group
Wikwemikong Unceded Territory - Ontario, Canada
Larry E Lewis Studio - Debajehmujig Creation Centre
43 Queen Street, Manitowaning
Performances dates
Preview July 21 at 7pm
July 22, 23, 27, 28, 29, 30 & August 3, 4, 5, 6 at 7pm
Matinee Sundays July 24 & 31 at 2pm
Call 705 859 1820 to Reserve Tickets
If I listened… is the journey of a nine-year-old girl named Waawaatesi, after the crossing of her Nookmis to the spirit world.
Told in the voice of her older self, she recounts the heroic efforts of her seventeen-year-old Uncle Finn to find her, as well as the story of the fantastical landscapes she passes through with her best friend and heart, Ogichidaa, who appears and disappears with the vivacity of her imagination….
(In some dialects of Anishinaabemowin Nookmis means grandmother, Waawaatesi means firefly, and Ogichidaa protector)
by Courtnee Osawabine
This original work is a collaborative-creation, devised show created with local indigenous and first nations artists from Manitoulin Island, Canada, directed by Carlos García Estévez and Paige Allerton.
This TransPoetico Production is produced and hosted by Debajehmujig Theatre Group and will premiere July 22nd 2022.
The process of creation used Manifesto Poetico’s fundamental research, and living pedagogic language to make a new theatrical language on the spot for and with the group and their audience. The show is nourished and inspired by local knowledge, as well as traditional knowledge, provided by elders and community members of Wikwemikong, Elder David Osawabine, and the Debajehmujig Team.
Manifesto Poetico has embarked on a journey of research with participating artists, exploring the elements that are their reality and surroundings in order to transpose them into a poetic language: the social, the patterns, the waves, the hopes, the dreams and the consequences.
“The child’s eyes and the freedom to imagine.”
Contributing Artists: Tyler Pangowish, Courtnee Osawabine, Daniel Recollet-Mejaki, Samantha Lynn Brennan, Aaron Courtorielle, David McDonald, Marsha Coffey, Ogeequa Williston Osawabine, Ashley Manitowabi and Dustin Trudeau
Stage Management: David Osawabine, Isha Eshkawkogan and Quinten Kaboni
Production Team: David Osawabine, Isha Eshkawkogan, Quinten Kaboni and Kristin Pitawanakwat.
Special thanks to Lynda Anne Fox Trudeau, Joahnna Berti, Charity Shigwadja, David Osawabine and all of the staff at the Debajehmujig Creation Centre.
