THEATRE REVIEW

MAY 2025 | Volume 251

 

One of the most successful Indigenous actors in Canada, Michelle Thrush got her start in a production of The Ecstasy of Rita Joe at the Firehall in 1992. She returns to that theatre this week with an autobiographical solo show that showcases her considerable talents.

In front of a set that suggests a series of intersecting teepee frames (designed by Sandi Somers, who also did the very effective lighting), Thrush begins with a somewhat familiar tale of overcoming childhood obstacles. Both her parents were alcoholics, she reveals, but her dad did a good job of raising her, mostly on his own. Young Michelle always had an active imagination and the sense that she could be something greater, if only she could find it. 

For a while she waited for aliens to save her, then she tried finding her better self on TV. But the stereotyped Indigenous female characters provided no role models for her. With the inspiration of her grandmother—her Kookum—she eventually started acting, which allowed her to use her considerable imagination.

This storytelling is so compelling because of the quality of Thrush’s writing; the lighting, Karen Hines’ tight direction, and JP Lord’s sound design, which help to dramatize it;and Thrush’s rich, resonant voice. She is funny and quite matter-of-fact, never over dramatizing her situation. If there are profundities to be found in this part of the show, they’re in her realization that “we’re never alone.” Her grandmothers travel with her. And “we all carry stories. It just takes a lot of imagination to be able to change their endings.”

While sharing these conclusions, Thrush unobtrusively slips into the costume of an older Native woman and transforms herself into a Kookum, a wisecracking, flirtatious, take-no-prisoners grandmother who plays the audience like an instrument. This latter half of the show is hilarious and, at times, brilliant, climaxing with her teaching a few audience members to help her perform a traditional Indigenous song … You have to see it to believe it.

This is feel-good theatre with a message, and an excellent finale to the Firehall season.

 

 

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