Related Information |
Carslen Center Event: Spirit Horse
Johnson County Community College
|
|
2/09/09
Story by Peggy Graham
Canadian ‘Spirit Horse’ Captures Native Traditions
Spirit Horse, a play that explores family bonds and Native Canadian traditions through an adventure-filled story, takes to the stage at 9:45 a.m. and noon Friday, March 6, in Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College, as part of the Carlsen Center ArtsEducation program.
A Native Canadian adaptation of the highly successful British play, Tir Na N’og by Greg Banks, the play tells the story of two young First Nations children and their father, making their transition to urban life in a Calgary, Alberta, apartment.
When the play opens, Jesse and Angelina, sisters who are members of the Stoney Nation, look out for each other in the city. Jesse, the eldest, lived at the reserve until her sister was born. Jesse learned her native language and had a taste of traditional life. Angelina was raised in the city and knows little of her people. She wishes desperately that she had her mother, who died at her birth.
The father has turned his back on his First Nations community and moved to Calgary, blaming his wife’s death on traditional medicine. The girls’ connection to their heritage is through their grandfather who still lives on Stoney Nation land. Grandfather discovers a Spirit Horse that mysteriously appears from under the lake near Wildwind Mountain. The adventure takes off as the girls bond with the Spirit Horse and try to keep the mysterious horse in their high-rise apartment.
This Canadian adaptation is by award-winning First Nations playwright Drew Hayden Taylor. Spirit Horse is recommended for grades 4-8. Tickets are $5, available by calling the Carlsen Center box office, 913-469-4445. Study guides are available at www.jccc.edu/CarlsenCenter.
