In 1970s Calgary, a little girl with brown skin lies in a field with her packed suitcase, waiting to be beamed up by aliens.
This is how we meet Gemini award-winning Cree actress, Michelle Thrush, in her one-woman show, Find Your Own Inner Elder. The all-ages show is coming to Kelowna next week, on January 24 and 25, as part of the Living Things International Arts Festival.
“I would describe this show as ‘tears, delirious laughter, & dancing toward Reconciliation’,” says Neil Cadger, founder and artistic director of the Living Things Festival.
Written in 2011 by Thrush and described as “a rollercoaster of emotion”, Find Your Own Inner Elder is a journey through the storyteller’s own memories and the impact that her Kookum (grandmother) had on her. As we traverse Thrush’s memory lane, she begins the transformation from child to mischievous old Cree woman, Kookum Martha.
Of the show’s appeal, Cadger says, “Every performance of this show is different, depending on the audience, but the crowd is always wiping away tears of laughter by the end.”
Michelle Thrush is best known for her dramatic and dark roles, including CBC's North of 60 and Arctic Air, and the hit Blackstone, for which she won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role. But it is her comedic turn in Find Your Own Inner Elder that will leave Kelowna audiences dazzled.
Through comedy, humour, and an artful blend of Bouffon and Indigenous clowning, Thrush breaks down barriers and dishes out sage advice to audience members as they look for their own "Inner Elder."
Find Your Own Inner Elder will play at the Mary Irwin Theatre in the Rotary Centre for the Arts on January 24 and 25 at 8:30 PM. The January 24th performance will be followed by a Talkback, allowing audience members to ask Michelle Thrush questions and discuss the show. Tickets for this all-ages show are $20-30, plus taxes and fees, and can be purchased at the Rotary Centre for the Arts box office or online at RotaryCentrefortheArts.com/living-things-festival.