National Arts Centre - Centre national des Arts Canada is our stage. Le Canada en scène.

Sustainable theatre practices in Frances Končan's Women of the Fur Trade

Subtitles available in English French

The team behind Frances Koncan’s Women of the Fur Trade share their reflections and recommendations for sustainable production in theatre creation. Listen to NAC Indigenous Theatre’s Artistic Director Kevin Loring, Native Earth Performing Arts’ Artistic Director Joelle Peters, NAC Indigenous Theatre’s Production Manager Spike Lyne, and Sustainability Consultants Ian Garrett and Laura Phillipps reflect on the process and share their tips for how theatres can incorporate environmental sustainability in new theatre productions. The sustainable creation of this production was made possible through the 2023 Ray Ferris Innovation and Sustainability Grant awarded to Native Earth Performing Arts.

This production of Women of the Fur Trade was a co-production between NAC Indigenous Theatre, The Great Canadian Theatre Company, and Native Earth Performing Arts, and it ran at the National Arts Centre in January 2024.

Learn more about

Frances Končan
Frances Končan

Frances Končan (she/they) is an Anishinaabe and Slovene playwright currently living in Vancouver, British Columbia, within the shared, unceded, ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Originally from Couchiching First Nation, they grew up on Treaty 1 territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba and attended the University of Manitoba (BA Psychology) and the City University of New York Brooklyn College (MFA Playwriting). They are currently Assistant Professor of Playwriting at the University of British Columbia. Select plays include Women of the Fur Trade, Space Girl, and zahgidiwin/love.

Dramaturge d’ascendance anishinabe et slovène, Frances Končan (elle/iel) vit à Vancouver, en Colombie-Britannique, sur les territoires ancestraux non cédés et partagés des Nations xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) et səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh). Originaire de la Première Nation de Couchiching, Frances Končan a grandi sur le territoire du Traité n^o 1, à Winnipeg, au Manitoba. L’artiste est titulaire d’un baccalauréat en psychologie de l’Université du Manitoba et d’une maîtrise en écriture dramatique du Brooklyn College de la City University de New York. Frances Končan enseigne également la dramaturgie à l’Université de la Colombie-Britannique. Parmi ses œuvres, citons Women of the Fur Trade, Space Girl et zahgidiwin/love.
NAC media featuring Frances Končan
- Podcasts
- Videos
- Stories
Close
Artistic Director, Indigenous Theatre Nlaka'pamux nation, B.C. Kevin Loring
Artistic Director, Indigenous Theatre Kevin Loring

Kevin Loring is an accomplished Canadian playwright, actor and director and was the winner of the Governor General’s Award for English Language Drama for his outstanding play, Where the Blood Mixes in 2009. The play explores the intergenerational effects of the residential school system. It toured nationally and was presented at the National Arts Centre in 2010, when Loring was serving as the NAC’s Playwright in Residence.

A Nlaka’pamux from the Lytton First Nation in British Columbia, Loring created the Songs of the Land project in 2012 in partnership with five separate organizations in his home community. The project explores 100-year-old audio recordings of songs and stories of the N’lakap’amux People. Loring has written two new plays based on his work with the community including Battle of the Birds, about domestic violence and power abuse, and The Boy Who Was Abandoned, about youth and elder neglect.

A versatile artist and leader Loring has served as the co-curator of the Talking Stick Festival, as Artist in Residence at the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre, as Artistic Director of the Savage Society in Vancouver, as a Documentary Producer of Canyon War: The Untold Story, and as the Project Leader/Creator, and Director of the Songs of the Land project in his home community of Lytton First Nation.

Dramaturge, acteur et professeur canadien accompli, M. Loring a remporté le Prix du Gouverneur général pour la dramaturgie de langue anglaise, en 2009, pour sa pièce remarquable intitulée Where the Blood Mixes. L’œuvre se penche sur les effets intergénérationnels du régime des pensionnats autochtones. La pièce a été présentée en tournée dans tout le pays, et notamment au Centre national des Arts en 2010 alors que M. Loring y était l’auteur dramatique en résidence.

Nlaka’pamux de la Première Nation Lytton en Colombie-Britannique, M. Loring a créé le projet Songs of the Land en 2012, en partenariat avec cinq organisations distinctes de sa collectivité natale. Cette initiative puise dans 100 ans d’enregistrements sonores des chants et récits du peuple N’lakap’amux. M. Loring a écrit deux nouvelles pièces basées sur ce travail avec la collectivité : Battle of the Birds, sur la violence familiale et l’abus de pouvoir, et The Boy Who Was Abandoned, sur la négligence à l’égard des jeunes et des aînés.

Artiste et leader polyvalent, Kevin Loring a œuvré comme coorganisateur du Talking Stick Festival, artiste résident au Vancouver Playhouse Theatre, directeur artistique de la Savage Society à Vancouver, producteur du documentaire Canyon War: The Untold Story, et fer de lance, créateur et directeur du projet Songs of the Land dans sa collectivité natale de la Première Nation Lytton.
NAC media featuring Kevin Loring
Close
Joelle Peters
Joelle Peters

Joelle Peters (she/her) is an Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) award-winning playwright and actor from Walpole Island First Nation in Southwestern Ontario. A graduate of Seneca College’s Acting for Camera and Voice Program, Joelle has appeared on Shoresy (Crave/Hulu), Web of Lies (Discovery+), and in the film In Her City (Raven West Films Ltd).

Selected theatre credits: Dreary and Izzy (Theatre Northwest), The Election (Nightwood/Theatre Direct/Commonboots/Passe Muraille), Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth (Western Canada Theatre/Thousand Islands Playhouse), Two Odysseys: Pimooteewin (Signal/Soundstreams).

She is also the Artistic Director of Native Earth Performing Arts.

In 2020, Joelle was named the Siminovitch Prize Protegee for Playwriting by Laureate Tara Beagan. Joelle’s plays include Frozen River (co-written by Carrie Costello and Michaela Washburn, winner of the 2021 Sharon Enkin Plays for Young People award), Niizh (commissioned by the Blyth Festival, premiered at Native Earth Performing Arts), and Do You Remember? (commissioned by Burnt Thicket Theatre, supported by Punctuate!/Pemmican Playwrights Unit) which is available for listening on Spotify and Apple Music.

Instagram: @joellepeters.jpg

Twitter: @j0ellepeters

Joelle Peters (elle) est une dramaturge et actrice Anishinaabe (Ojibwé) primée, originaire de la Première Nation de l'île Walpole dans le sud-ouest de l'Ontario. Diplômée du programme de théâtre et de voix pour la caméra du Collège Seneca, Joelle a joué dans Shoresy (Crave/Hulu), Web of Lies (Discovery+) et dans le film In Her City (Raven West Films Ltd).

Parmi ses crédits théâtraux sélectionnés, citons Dreary and Izzy (Theatre Northwest), The Election (Nightwood/Theatre Direct/Commonboots/Passe Muraille), Only Drunks and Children Tell the Truth (Western Canada Theatre/Thousand Islands Playhouse), Two Odysseys: Pimooteewin (Signal/Soundstreams).

Elle est également la directrice artistique de Native Earth Performing Arts.

En 2020, Joelle a été nommée protégée du Prix Siminovitch pour la dramaturgie par la lauréate Tara Beagan. Les pièces de Joelle incluent Frozen River (co-écrite avec Carrie Costello et Michaela Washburn, lauréate du prix Sharon Enkin Plays for Young People en 2021), Niizh (commandée par le Blyth Festival, première au Native Earth Performing Arts) et Do You Remember? (commandée par Burnt Thicket Theatre, soutenue par Punctuate!/Pemmican Playwrights Unit), disponible à l'écoute sur Spotify et Apple Music. Instagram : @joellepeters.jpg Twitter : @j0ellepeters
NAC media featuring Joelle Peters
- Videos
Close
Ian Garrett
Ian Garrett

Ian Garrett is Associate Professor of Ecological Design for Performance at York University; director of the Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts; and Producer for the mixed reality production company Toasterlab. He maintains a design practice focused on ecology, technology and scenography and he is currently working with Rulan Tangen on Groundworks, looking at native lands in Northern California through the collaborations with artists from Pomo, Wappo, and Ohlone communities; and with Swim Pony Performing Arts in Philadelphia on Story Trails focusing on the trails in watershed areas of Philadelphia through geolocated immersive audio. Other projects include the mixed-reality geolocated project Transmission (FuturePlay/Edinburgh and Future of Storytelling Festival/New York), the set and energy systems for Zata Omm's Vox:Lumen at the Harbourfront Centre and Crimson Collective’s Ascension, a solar 150’ wide crane at Coachella. With Chantal Bilodeau, he co-directs the Climate Change Theatre Action. His writing includes Arts, the Environment, and Sustainability for Americans for the Arts; The Carbon Footprint of Theatrical Production in Readings in Performance and Ecology, and Theatre is No Place for a Plant in Landing Stages from the Ashden Directory. He serves on the Board of Directors for Associated Designers of Canada.

Ian Garrett est professeur associé de Ecological Design for Performance à l’Université York; directeur du Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts; et réalisateur pour la compagnie de production de réalité mixte Toasterlab.Il mène une pratique de design axée sur l’écologie, la technologie et la scénographie, et travaille présentement avec Rulan Tangen sur Groundworks, examinant les terres autochtones dans le nord de la Californie par l’entremise de collaborations avec des artistes des communautés Pomo, Wappo, et Ohlone. Il collabore également avec Swim Pony Performing Arts à Philadelphie sur Story Trails, portant sur les sentiers dans les bassins versants de Philadelphie à travers d’audio immersive géolocalisée. Parmi ses autres projets, on retrouve le projet de réalité mixte géolocalisé Transmission(FuturePlay/Edinburgh et Future of Storytelling Festival/New York), le décor et les systèmes énergétiques pour Vox:Lumende Zata Omm au Centre Harbourfront et Ascension ipde Crimson Collective, une grue solaire de 150’ de largeur à Coachella. Avec Chantal Bilodeau, il co-dirige the Climate Change Theatre Action. Il a notamment signé Arts, the Environment, and Sustainability pour Americans for the Arts; The Carbon Footprint of Theatrical Production pour Readings in Performance and Ecology, et Theatre is No Place for a Plant pour Landing Stages from the Ashden Directory. Il est membre du conseil d’administration d’Associated Designers of Canada.
NAC media featuring Ian Garrett
- Videos
Close

Was this information helpful?