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The Unnatural and Accidental Women
The Unnatural and Accidental Women
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Author: Marie Clements Publisher: Talonbooks (cover image may change) Format: Softcover # of Pages: 127 Pub. Date: 2005 ISBN-10: 0889225214 ISBN-13: 9780889225213 Cast Size: 11 female, 2 male
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About
the Play: The Unnatural and Accidental Women is a full-length drama
by Marie Clements. Over 20 years in the "Skid Row"
area of Vancouver, ten women, most of them Indigenous, died of high
blood-alcohol levels after being seen in the company of a local
barber. All were ruled as "unnatural and accidental"
deaths. Using humour and deeply rooted ancestral knowledge to tell
their stories, The Unnatural and Accidental Women courageously
demands that we never forget the continuing crisis of Missing and
Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls across Canada.
The Unnatural and Accidental Women shares the stories of 10
women who were targeted by a serial killer in Vancouver's notorious
East Hastings area. All the victims were found dead with a
blood-alcohol reading far beyond safe levels, and all were last seen
in the company of Gilbert Paul Jordan, who frequented the city's bars
preying on primarily middle-aged Indigenous women. The title is taken
from the coroner's reports on several of these women, which listed
their deaths as "unnatural and accidental," even though
evidence pointed the finger time and again at Jordan. Known as the
"Boozing Barber," he remained on the loose for more than 20
years before he was caught and convicted in 1988. Marie Clements
was driven to write the play after seeing a multi-page newspaper
spread about Jordan that included just a quarter-page or so about his
victims. That imbalance prompted her to start researching the women
and that led to the play, which brings the spirits of 10 murdered
women together in support of Rebecca, the daughter of one of the
victims. She was a child when her mom went for a walk and never came
back; she grew up assuming she had been abandoned. The Unnatural
and Accidental Women reconstructs the lives of these women as
shaped by lost connections – to loved ones, to the land, to a way
of life – lives of at times desperate, at times tender yearning for
ties of communication, belonging and shelter gone dead.
The Unnatural and Accidental Women premiered in 2000 at the
Firehall Arts Centre in Vancouver, 15 years before the federal
government launched the national public inquiry into missing and
murdered Indigenous women. Subsequently produced in 2004 by Native
Earth Performing Arts at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in Toronto and
revived in 2019 to begin the Mòshkamo Indigenous Arts Festival at
the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa.
Cast: 11 female, 2 male
What people say:
"One would think that a play
that is based on a true story that is both enraging and terribly sad
would be hopelessly dark, depressing and bleak. But Clements has
written dialogue that is playful and engaging, even spurring laughter
in the audience." — Raven's Eye
"Poetry, multi-media,
inventive staging, and arresting choral works honour the women's
lives and seek empowering narratives beyond the victimizing tropes of
the media." — Canadian Literature
About the Playwright:
Marie Clements is an award-winning Métis/Dene performer,
playwright and director whose work has been presented on stages
across Canada, the United States and Europe. She writes, or, perhaps
more accurately, composes, with an urbane, incisive and sophisticated
intellect deeply rooted in the particulars of her place, time and
history. Marie Clements is also a regular contributor on CBC
Radio. The world premiere of Copper Thunderbird is the first
time Canada's National Arts Centre has produced the work of a First
Nations playwright on its main stage.
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