THE CANADIAN EXPERIENCE
Experience Canada's Myths and Legends in a Dramatic New Light
Hull, Quebec, July 4, 1996 -- Canada's history comes alive this summer with The Canadian Experience, a unique theatrical and multimedia production at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. The evening begins with a spine-tingling 'ghost walk' through the darkened streets of the Canada Hall, and ends with a performance in The Grand Hall that combines state- of-the-art sound-and-light technology with the ancient legends and rhythms of aboriginal peoples.Canada's more recent history is told in The Ghost Walk, a unique exploration of one of the Museum's most popular attractions, the Canada Hall. Audiences follow Sam, a 'spiritual guide' who, as an explorer in his previous life, is the perfect escort to the "other world". Together, they slip into the shadow of the massive Basque whaling ship, and begin a walk through Canada's history, recounted in whispers by ghosts of the past.
The 'phantoms' are members of the Museum's resident theatre company, Dramamuse. Artistic director Richard Léger is one of the creators of The Ghost Walk. "The stories told during The Ghost Walk are based on our stories. Hearing them, seeing them acted out, is a way that people can learn about their Canadian heritage: not from a strictly historical point of view, but from adaptations of Canadian legends and myths."
One of the tales the actors bring to life is the popular French-Canadian legend "La Chasse-Gallerie". A group of lumberjacks make a deal with the Devil -- he'll take them home from an isolated lumber camp for 'le Reveillon', the New Year's Eve celebration. They must meet certain conditions, however, or the Devil will take their souls. The audience gathers 'round a fire at the camp to listen to one of the lumberjacks tell what happened that fateful evening.
"Jean-Pierre Chrestien, one of the Museum's historians, helped with a lot of the research," says Léger. "But I remember, as a kid, listening to my father and his brothers tell stories of their childhood on the farm: of the ghostly lights no one could explain; the voices only certain people would hear. I'd get shivers up my spine listening to them. That's the kind of atmosphere we have created on The Ghost Walk. Members of the company have even spooked themselves. A few things have happened during late-night rehearsals at the Museum that we can't explain. Who knows what ghosts are here?"
The Canadian Experience continues as night falls and everyone gathers for a spectacular multimedia performance amidst the village totem poles and beachfront of the Grand Hall. The hour long performance is called The People of the Salmon, and tells Native legends and stories of our earliest history in word, song and dance.
For Dr. George MacDonald, the Museum's Executive Director and the Producer/Director of The People of the Salmon, this production has been nearly 25 years in the making. The Grand Hall was, in fact, conceived with performances like this in mind.
"It actually goes back to 1972," says Dr. MacDonald, "when the Museum brought in Tsimshian-speaking people -- the Gitksan from the West Coast -- for a theatrical performance. There was no place in the old museum building where we could stage such an event, so we rented space at the National Arts Centre. It was so popular that we started to think about one day having our own theatre. We built the Grand Hall with that in mind. From the beginning, it was meant to be a performance space."
The People of the Salmon draws on common mythological themes among the First Peoples of the Northwest Coast, and stresses the intimate relationship that has existed over tens of thousands of years between them and the salmon. They believe they share souls with the salmon, and live alternate lives as salmon and human beings.
From the Salish to the Kwakwaka'wakw to the Haida, stories are told of how the world came to be: of the Thunderbird and Whale, the Lords of the Upper and Undersea Worlds; and the Man-Eater-at-the-North-End-of-the-World. A transformation of audience and performer occurs with the telling of these tales, and the action shifts in the second half of the performance to Tsimshian dancer, David Boxley. He and his company of masked dancers relate, in dance and word, the story of the first great feast, known as The Potlatch. The show's finale brings the entire Grand Hall alive with dramatic lighting effects and authentic Native rhythms. It's a magical experience unlike any seen before at the Museum.
Dr. Margaret Stott, an anthropologist from the Pacific Coast, worked in close collaboration with David Boxley, Dr. George MacDonald, and Gloria Cranmer Webster -- a Kwakwaka'wakw from Alert Bay, British Columbia and a Member of the Museum's Board of Directors -- to develop the storyline and script for The People of the Salmon.
The Canadian Experience opened July 3 at the Canadian Museum of Civilization, and runs Tuesday through Friday until August 30. Departures for The Ghost Walk are scheduled every fifteen minutes between 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Seating for the Grand Hall multimedia sound-and-light show, The People of the Salmon, will begin at 9:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the Museum Box Office.
Media contacts:
Media Relations Officers
(819) 776-7167
(819) 776-7169
