Description:
Cottagers and Indians explores the politics and issues surrounding a real-life event still occurring in the Kawartha Lakes region of Central Ontario. An Indigenous man, Arthur Copper, has taken it upon himself to repopulate the nearby lakes with wild rice, known amongst the Anishnawbe as Manoomin, much to the disapproval of the local non-Indigenous cottagers, Maureen Poole in particular. She feels the plant interferes with boating, fishing, swimming, and is generally an eyesore that brings down the property values of her cottage and those of her neighbours. Drew Hayden Taylor's thirty-second play is a powerful dramatization of contemporary confrontations taking place between environmentalism and consumerism, Indigenous and non-Indigenous sensibilities.
Cast of 1 Indigenous Man and 1 non-Indigenous woman
Brief description:
Drew Hayden Taylor is an award-winning playwright, novelist, journalist, and filmmaker. Born, raised, and living on the Curve Lake First Nation in Ontario, he has done everything from performing stand-up comedy at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, to serving as artistic director of Canada's premiere Indigenous theatre company, Native Earth Performing Arts. He is the proud recipient of three honorary doctorates and the author of numerous plays and novels.
Review Quotes:
"A deft touch for mixing comedy and commentary in an entertaining all-Canadian form of social satire."
--Vancouver Sun
"Hayden Taylor's play provides a powerful argument that relations between Canada and Indigenous people can become a life-giving force. However, the terms of this relationship must be based on Indigenous sovereignty over land."
--Canadian Literature
"Vibrant and immediate." --Craig Thornton, WWNY