The Firehall Arts Centre brings a slice of Canadiana to the stage with its presentation of Frances Koncan’s Women of the Fur Trade from February 8th to 23rd.
Set in eighteen hundred and something-something, somewhere upon the banks of a Reddish River in Treaty One Territory, during a pivotal moment in Canadian history three very different women find themselves stuck in a fort having tea and sharing their views on the world around them; men, newcomers, the fur trade, life, love, and Louis Riel.
Produced and presented by Firehall Arts Centre, Donna Spencer directs performers Danica Charlie, Kaitlyn Yott, Kate Besworth, Wayne Lavallee, and Evan Rein in Playwright Frances Koncan, of Couchiching First Nation, 2020 acclaimed work. Shifting the focus of the powerful satire from the male gaze on history to the power of women and their place in the rapidly changing world of the Canadian fur trade with dialogue switching between the 19th century and the women’s penchant for 21st century slang .
“I am truly excited to be producing the West Coast premiere of this work,” says Firehall Arts Centre’s Artistic Producer Donna Spencer. “Frances Koncan’s satirical look at the lives of women during the time of Louis Riel and the colonization of Canada is a very clever way of illustrating the dismantling of the traditional lives of Métis and Indigenous people of the time. Mixing contemporary references with historical actions allows the story of the play to be told in a manner that takes us from the present to the past and back again.”
Frances Koncan’s Women of the Fur Trade runs from February 8 to 23, 2025 at Firehall Arts Centre, 280 East Cordova Street. For show details and tickets, visit firehallartscentre.ca