Kevin Loring’s Where the Blood Mixes, winner of the 2009 Governor General’s Literary Award, has an intriguing simplicity in its outlook. Although the Teesri Duniya Theatre production foregrounds a realism with its sharp humour, Lib Spry’s direction helps the performance segue into the poetic.
The sombre play about the haunting legacy of Canadian First Nations residential schools is gradually infused with poignancy, as it depicts the reality of what the first peoples have gone through—and continue to experience—as a community.
The story is set in a First Nations community “where the two rivers meet, where the wind sings songs of the dead,” and where in the local bar, Floyd (Jeremy Proulx) and Mooch (Charles Bender) also meet as old drinking partners. From what seems like an elegantly simple scene, the play proceeds to unveil a layered depth. We soon discover that both characters are residential school survivors—an experience which neither has outlived as they continue to lead troubled lives. Mooch regularly steals money from his girlfriend, June (Emilee Veluz), to fund his drinking habits, while Floyd’s bitter disposition manifests itself in his refusal to reminisce with Mooch, even about the few good memories that they once shared.
Although the play frequently moves backwards in time, the characters’ wounded past is never directly addressed. Paradoxically, a play driven by series of anecdotes is characterized by a reluctance to speak—or perhaps even a deliberate evasion of speaking—at least initially. This apparent stasis is finally broken when Floyd’s daughter Christine (Alarey Alsip), whom the state placed in the care of foster parents when she was still an infant, manages to get in touch with her father and decides to visit him. What follows is an outpouring of soul-wrenching confessions, a detailing of losses and reconciliations that are set off—with great surprise—by a deluge of tears from Floyd, who, prior to his daughter’s arrival, remained callously stoic.
This act of storytelling provides the platform for healing and connecting. If Floyd and Mooch were to stay silent, their stories would die with them, and so would history. Throughout the play, numerous instances of comic dialogue ease the audience into emotionally-wraught situations, while several heartfelt scenes provide the piece with a beauty that saves it from being all too distressing. Though the content of the play may seem like a melancholic endeavour to watch, it ultimately ends in hope as the community discovers the voice of common humanity.
Artistic Director Rahul Varma described it as a “message that needs to be heard over and over again.” The message is one that is both touching and valuable, highlighting Canada’s First Nations cultural heritage, one which should never be forgetten.
Teesri Duniya’s production of Where the Blood Mixes runs Wed-Sat at 8pm, with weekend matinees at 2pm, until Sept. 30th, Centre Culturel Calixa-Lavaleé (3819 Calixa-Lavaleé). Student tickets are $12.
