In an age of re-examining Canadian history, director Yvette Nolan is promising that her production of Women of the Fur Trade will provide a new lens for people – and plenty of laughs along the way.
Described as three women on the banks of the Red River, Treaty One Territory, in “eighteen hundred and something-something,” these women start remembering their history in a lively satire, giving a glimpse of a life not often staged or seen.
Written by Frances Koncan and directed by Nolan, Women of the Fur Trade begins previews Saturday.
“It's largely about who gets to tell the stories of this country, who gets to tell the histories, what is actually remembered,” Nolan explained to StratfordToday. “And you know, we're in a big time of re-examining our histories right now … Canadians are having to re-examine what they've been taught about our history on this land and Women of the Fur Trade, it talks about that a lot but in a really entertaining, satirical kind of way.”
Customarily Indigenous theatre has been very serious, Nolan said, but because Koncan is a next-gen Anishnaabe playwright, they are coming at it from a millennial perspective, adding humour and anachronistic references to keep things modern, fast-paced, and enjoyable.
That doesn’t dilute the overall message of the play but rather enhances it, argued Nolan.
“If people are laughing,” she explained. “They throw their heads back and they laugh and while their mouths are open, and their eyes are closed, the medicine can go in.”
Nolan became aware of the play when it premiered at her alma mater, the Royal Manitoba Theatre Company. When asked to direct the play in Stratford, she jumped at the chance.
This is Nolan’s Stratford debut, a long time coming after having a relationship with the Festival for over a decade.
Not only are many of the cast Indigenous, but many of the creatives behind the curtain are also Indigenous. Nolan said that changes how the room works as they are informed by an Indigenous practice.
“We're both able to do that here, with all the resources, but also to be modelling for Stratford what it's like to be working in this way, to be working in an Indigenous way.”
Nolan explained the practice as a worldview in which everything is connected. Practically that means that her door is always open to anyone.
The cast is small, with five principal actors, and the production is lucky that they are all only in this show. As quite an intimate production, playing in the smaller-scale Studio Theatre, Nolan said that she and the cast are motivated to create a community with the audience.
As a comedy, Nolan reiterated the old adage that comedy is more difficult than drama. Praising her cast, she said that with the right team, the work is much easier.
The biggest hurdle right now is that running through the material again and again means that what was once gut-wrenchingly funny loses its edge, she said.
“We're like, ‘are we even funny?’ You don't want people to be trying too hard. So when our lighting designer, Michelle Ramsay arrived last week we did a run for her. Immediately she was laughing.”
Understanding that though they are hearing and saying these jokes again, for the audience they are experiencing this for the first time, has been key to their rehearsal process. Nolan told the cast on the first day when everyone was still laughing to remember what it's is like and to keep that energy as they head into previews and their eventual premiere.
“At this point, I'm just hungry for the audience,” Nolan said. “I think they'll be surprised by what they didn't know or maybe by what they did.”
Women of the Fur Trade runs at the Studio Theatre until July 30, opening on July 15.
For more information, visit the Festival’s website.
Director’s Notes is an ongoing series from StratfordToday, featuring interviews with Stratford Festival directors; discussing their project, their scope, and their goals for this year’s production.
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