Music, staging, visual arts and stories all come together in one artistic stew this month on the John Hirsch Mainstage at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre. This makes the show’s title, Rubaboo (the Michif word for “leftovers stew”) an apt one for creator and star Andrea Menard.
“The name came first,” smiles Menard. “I always say that I get the downloads, the inspiration from the grandmothers… and then, when they gave me that a rubaboo needs the four sacred elements – earth, wind, water, fire – I went, ‘Boom! I get it!’.”
Crafting a celebration
With that inspiration, Menard, along with longtime collaborator and music director Robert Walsh, set to work creating songs that would fit with each of the sacred elements. “Part of the process was going, ‘What songs have we written that would really work in the show that will do the job that we’re trying to convey?’, and then, ‘What have we not written?’,” says Walsh.
As much as Rubaboo is a collaborative celebration, stage director Alanis King adds that Menard is the driving force behind the show. “I really feel that Rubaboo is her tour de force,” she says, “because she has to for 90 minutes carry the show. Although she has three musicians helping her, she’s the one who drives the in-between, the monologues, the set-up, the historical or cultural or personal significance of each song the audience is about to hear.”
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Just as it contains many artistic elements, Rubaboo also holds different stories. This includes Menard’s personal journey but also the creation of the world that reinforces a connection shared by all peoples between the land and each other.
“Who I am at heart is someone who wants to bring people together,” says Menard. “I want to bring people home to themselves, to their compassion, because our world will be a better place to live for all if we can activate that beautiful part of our nature.”
“In that way, our world view is the very diametric opposite of the dominant world view,” adds King, “where we put all life before us, and then last in the order of life is the human.”
A stew for Treaty 1
Although Rubaboo has toured throughout Canada over the last number of months, the creative team has very much looked forward to these performances on the national homeland of the Red River Metis. King notes that the length of the show’s run (spanning 21 performances) is a rare run time for a stage production in Canada, and it shows the value that the RMTC has placed on sharing this particular story.
“We had the vision quite a while ago,” says King, “that wouldn’t it be nice if we could somehow play in Winnipeg… and I think that connection, to actually realize that is such a satisfying feeling that all of us have the opportunity now to sing to this very land base.”
For Walsh, the opportunity to perform in Winnipeg represents a crystallized opportunity to create reconciliation through art. “For me personally as a white Canadian, it’s a chance to be part of the solution,” he says. “Being aware of some of this history, you feel it in your bones walking around Winnipeg. To me, it’s so present and powerful… and I feel very emotional being here, to be honest. It’s so important for us to bring this show here.”
Rubaboo runs at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre’s John Hirsch Mainstage until May 23. Tickets and more details can be found at the company’s website.