International Indigenous Theatre Tour to Receive Official Welcome at Trent University September 19

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Honouring Theatre Debuts in Peterborough September 20-24

Monday, September 18, 2006, Peterborough

At 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 19, Trent University will host the playwrights, actors, producers, and directors of the Honouring Theatre tour, a festival of Indigenous theatre from Australia, New Zealand and Canada, at a traditional welcome gathering in Mshiikenh: The First Peoples Gathering Space, located on the East Bank of Trent’s Symons campus in Enweying/Peter Gzowksi College. The by-invitation-only welcome ceremony and dinner will be followed by an open to the public artists’ talk and roundtable discussion at 7:00 p.m. in Nozhem: the First Peoples Performance Space at Trent.

Theatre guests will be officially welcomed to the Anishnaabe Territory by regional First Nations Chiefs and elders. Trent President Bonnie Patterson will also be participating in the welcome ceremony where traditional Native foods will be served.

At 7:00 p.m., the public is invited to attend “Creating a Global Pathway for Indigenous Theatre: Pine Tree Artists Talk and Roundtable Discussion.” Through a moderated panel, Honouring Theatre playwrights and producers, including: Sam Cook (Executive Producer, Yirra Yaakin Aboriginal Corporation, Australia) and Yvette Nolan (Playwright and Artistic Director, Native Earth Performing Arts, Canada), will speak. Cheri Maracle, an actor/singer/songwriter of Mohawk and Irish ancestry, will moderate the panel. There is no charge to attend this event.

Touring over three years, Honouring Theatre is an ambitious and eagerly anticipated global initiative showcasing a triple bill of powerful and authentic Indigenous theatre. The tour is co-presented by Indigenous Performance Initiatives, O’Kaadenigan Wiingashk, and Public Energy, in association with the Indigenous Studies Department at Trent University. Produced by Toronto-based Native Earth, Honouring Theatre is expected to carve a global pathway for Indigenous theatre as it tours Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Honouring Theatre makes its international debut in Peterborough from September 20-24, and stops in Toronto, Regina, and Vancouver before heading overseas in 2007. The three shows that make up Honouring Theatre, Annie Mae’s Movement, Frangipani Perfume, and Windmill Baby, will run at two Peterborough venues: Market Hall Performing Arts Centre, and Nozhem: First Peoples Performance Space at Trent University.

Tickets are $15 for each show ($12 students, seniors, and the underemployed). Tickets can be purchased in advance at Speak Volumes, 446 George St. N. in Peterborough and in Lakefield at Happenstance Books and Yarns, 44 Queen St. Three-show packages are available for $30. Call 745-1788 or go to www.publicenergy.ca to reserve.

For more information about Honouring Theatre, visit www.publicenergy.ca or www.nativeearth.ca.

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Media are invited and encouraged to attend the Official Welcome and Dinner on Tuesday, September 19 at 5:00 p.m. Please contact Marrie Mumford at (705) 748-1011 x7310 to reserve a spot.

For more information, please contact:

Marrie Mumford, Canada Research Chair, Indigenous Studies, Trent University, (705) 748-1011 x7310

or

Patti Shaughnessy, Indigenous Arts Programmer, Public Energy and Peterborough New Dance, (705) 745-1788.