About the Play:

Finalist for the 2018 Governor General's Literary Award for Drama (Canadian equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize)

This Is How We Got Here is a full-length drama by Keith Barker. A mother, father, aunt, and uncle are stumbling in the dark one year after a tragic loss. They struggle to find each other again, when a mysterious fox shows up with a curious gift. Simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming, This Is How We Got Here is a complex and hopeful story of letting go.

This Is How We Got Here follows a close-knit family as they deal with an unexpected loss. Meet Lucille, Paul, Liset and Jim. Best friends, sisters, spouses who must learn how to move forward after the trauma and re-learn how to interact with one another with forgiveness, humour, and love. It's been a year since Paul and Lucille's son Craig died by suicide, and their once-solid family bonds are starting to break down. While the now-separated couple tries to honour their son, Lucille's sister Liset and her husband Jim refuse to discuss their nephew. The ties that keep the four together as sisters, best friends, and spouses are strained by grief and guilt… until a visit from a fox changes everything. This traditional family drama is a stunning and hopeful look at how we help one another through life's challenges.

This Is How We Got Here premiered in 2016 at Factory Theatre in Toronto as part of the SummerWorks Performance Festival.

Cast: 2 female, 2 male

What people say:

"While the material of This is How We Got Here is deep, the show didn't leave me feeling anything dark. Instead, I was happy to have experienced the talent of everyone involved, and to have gained perspective on what I felt were honest and true reactions to the tragedy of suicide." — Mooney on Theatre

"…a down-to-earth drama that is as hopeful as it is mournful, full of life and lovable characters." — The Globe and Mail

"The dextrous telling of a familiar story... how reconnecting is not only possible but necessary." — Now Magazine

About the Playwright:

Keith Barker is a member of the Métis Nation of Ontario. A graduate of the George Brown Theatre School, he was the recipient of the SAT Award for excellence in playwriting, and the Yukon Arts Audience Award for Best Art for Social Change. In addition to his work as an actor, playwright, and director, he has served on the Toronto Arts Council Theatre Committee and the board of the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance. In 2017 he was named the Artistic Director of Native Earth Performing Arts, Canada's oldest professional Indigenous theatre company.