The Canadian Theatre Review features thought-provoking plays and articles on current issues and trends in Canadian theatre.

“Camas Lilies and Lysistrata” was published in the Views and Reviews section of Canadian Theatre Review, CTR 181, edited by Kimberly McLeod. The 2020 Nathan Cohen Award for Outstanding Critical Essay was judged by New York City-based critic Jose Solis.

Lysistrata was adapted for Bard on the Beach in 2018 by UBC Theatre BFA Acting and MFA Directing Alumna Lois Anderson and Jennifer Wise. In this article, Anderson discusses how the production, which was performed in Vanier Park on the unceded traditional territory of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Squamish nations, had to open up to include the voice of Musqueam actor Quelemia Sparrow.

“I have always been fascinated by an actor’s capacity to give life to a writer’s spell through the magic they convey onstage. What this breathtaking essay revealed was that there is also alchemy in the process, as the actor transforms life experience into heartbreaking gold.” -Jose Solis, Nathan Cohen Award judge

Sparrow, an Indigenous actor working in Canadian theatre, writes about finding agency working in Canadian colonial culture. She shares the truth about the erasure of sən̓aʔqw which is now called Vanier Park.