Pavilion stage has been the heartbeat of Canada’s Expo presence

by Sean Coombs
Expo Reporter

OSAKA, Japan — The performance stage has been one of the defining features of the Canada Pavilion at Expo 2025, with a stream of performers providing audiences with a different take on Canada.

As Japanese children return to school and the scorching summer heat tones down, the pavilion and the entire Expo itself can look back on the memorable summer that played out.

While the infamous heat and the brief hiccups with the subway system may dominate the memories of some visitors, the memories of Canada Pavilion visitors are likely to be directed more towards the variety of Canadian performers who graced the stage of the Pavilion.

The final August performances at the Canada Pavilion exemplified those memories, with Newfoundland and Labrador-based band Fortunate Ones and Yukon-founded theatre company Open Pit Theatre dominating the event schedule.

Like many Canadian bands that have graced the Pavilion stage, Fortunate Ones represented their home province well with ballads and folk tunes that introduced Japanese audiences to a different side of Canada.

The band performed some of their hit songs including Heavy Heart and Anchor from their 2022 album That Was You and Me.  They also performed some songs from their latest album Resin, which just so happens to be Japanese inspired.

While their album Resin shows that the indie band duo Andrew James O’Brien and Catherine Allan have a good understanding of Japanese culture, their brief stint in Japan has still been revealing for them.

“The fans out in the crowd have been wonderful you know, without prompting they’ve been clapping along,” Allan said. “There’s certainly a language barrier, but I think people have been enjoying it. I’ve only learned a handful of words, but I’ll say them again and again on stage and I learn a lot from what the audience says back.”

Fortunate Ones Members Andrew James O’Brien and Catherine Allan Pose for a photo after one of their shows. [Photo © Sean Coombs]

As their performances have been preceded by showings of Anne of Green Gables films to performances by east-coast Inuit artists, the band is proud to join the list of Maritime representation at the Pavilion.

“We don’t explicitly talk about Newfoundland necessarily in our songs, but I do feel like our songs and life stories have been greatly shaped by where we come from,” O’Brien said. “We’re walking in some big footsteps here, and we’re very proud of where we come from and we’re proud to represent our home wherever we roam.” 

The musical duo has had quite a busy summer of concerts around Canada and the world, but they were more than eager to get back to Canada and sing closer to home.

“It’s amazing to get to travel to all these beautiful places and obviously Osaka is high up on that list,” Allan said. “But home is home, there’s no place like it, so as much as we’ve had to have wonderful time here, we’re looking forward to getting back. and I always carry Newfoundland with me.”

Genevieve Doyon and Jessica Hickman, founding Open Pit Theatre Company members and co-creators of the show “Radio Silence” being played at the Pavilion echo Fortunate Ones in their passion for telling the stories of their homelands.

Their show is a unique story about a Yukon bush pilot family’s journey through the Yukon wilderness in their plane, with lots of spills and thrills that include some cute critters they meet along the way.

The show is played by Doyon, Hickman, and other performers who both dress up as the characters in puppet style costumes and portray the story as silent narrators who guide the audience through the story.

It’s a play whose interpretation transcends language and backgrounds, which to Hickman makes it a perfect medium to present the stories of the Yukon to Japanese audiences.

“A conventional show would need subtitles to communicate with a foreign audience, but we have no need for that,” Hickman said. “Our show was designed to be barrierless so that children can watch it, so we’ve had no problems doing it here.”

The shows were interactive too, with Hickman and Doyon moving throughout the audience with puppets and props that children and adults alike could reach and touch.

“We’ve met so many kids during these shows, and it’s wonderful to see them react to the puppets,” Hickman said. “We’re doing our best to stay on top of our game for them, even though this heat is insane.”

But despite the heat and the tight schedule at the pavilion, the two were still happy to put on a show for whoever attended the Pavilion stage.

“I think we feel very humbled and honoured and also a sense of responsibility to be kind of representing Yukon and also just the North in general,” Doyon said.” “I think there is a little bit of misconception that it’s starting to change, but for a long time, people didn’t even know that theatre was coming out of the territories. So, we’re pretty proud to be able to put Yukon on the map with the show.”