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 women, 2 men

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.