Music, staging, visual\u00a0arts\u00a0and stories all come together in one artistic stew this month on the John Hirsch Mainstage at the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.\u00a0This makes the\u00a0show\u2019s title, Rubaboo (the\u00a0Michif\u00a0word for \u201cleftovers stew\u201d)\u00a0an apt one for\u00a0creator and star Andrea Menard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe name came first,\u201d smiles Menard. \u201cI 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 \u2013 earth, wind, water, fire \u2013 I went, \u2018Boom!\u00a0I\u00a0get\u00a0it!\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Crafting a celebration\u00a0<\/p>\n
With that inspiration, Menard, along with\u00a0longtime collaborator and\u00a0music director Robert Walsh, set to work creating songs that would fit with each of the sacred elements.\u00a0\u201cPart of the process was going, \u2018What songs have we written\u00a0that would really work in the show that will do the job that we\u2019re trying to convey?\u2019, and then, \u2018What have we not written?\u2019,\u201d says Walsh.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
As much as Rubaboo is a collaborative celebration, stage director Alanis King adds that Menard is the driving force behind the show. \u201cI really feel that Rubaboo is her tour de force,\u201d she says, \u201cbecause she\u00a0has to\u00a0for 90 minutes carry the show. Although she has three\u00a0musicians helping her,\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0the 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Just as it\u00a0contains\u00a0many artistic elements, Rubaboo also holds different stories. This includes Menard\u2019s personal journey but also the creation of the world\u00a0that reinforces a connection\u00a0shared by all peoples between the land and each other.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWho I am at heart is someone who wants to bring people together,\u201d says Menard. \u201cI 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn that way, our world view is the very\u00a0diametric opposite\u00a0of the dominant world view,\u201d adds King, \u201cwhere we put all life before us, and then last in the order of life is the human.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A stew for Treaty 1\u00a0<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0King notes that the length of the show\u2019s 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\u00a0particular story.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had the vision quite a while ago,\u201d says King, \u201cthat wouldn\u2019t 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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For Walsh, the opportunity to perform in Winnipeg\u00a0represents\u00a0a crystallized opportunity to create reconciliation through art. \u201cFor me personally as a white Canadian, it\u2019s a chance to be part of the solution,\u201d he says. \u201cBeing aware of some of this history, you feel it in your bones walking around Winnipeg. To me,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0so present and powerful… and I feel very emotional being here, to be honest.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0so important for us to bring this show here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n