UFV and Stó:lō team up to offer staged reading of The Berlin Blues

The University of the Fraser Valley Theatre department, Stó:lō Nation, and the Stó:lō Research & Resource Management Centre are co-presenting staged readings of Ojibway playwright Drew Hayden Taylor’s play The Berlin Blues as part of Stó:lō Culture Days 2014. Performances will be on Sat, Sept 27 at 7:30 pm and Sun, Sept 28 at 2 pm at the Stó:lō Resource Centre, 10-7201 Vedder Road in Chilliwack, BC.

In The Berlin Blues, a consortium of German developers shows up on the fictional Otter Lake Reserve with a seemingly irresistible offer to improve the local economy: the creation of Ojibway World, a Native theme park designed to attract European tourists to this new destination resort, causing hilarious personal and political divisions within the local community. The wildly funny play — involving a musical revue of Dances with Wolves and a 44-metre laser-beam dream-catcher — will also raise provocative questions about cultural tourism and how far economic development should go.

This staged reading marks the second year of a partnership between the University of the Fraser Valley Theatre department, Stó:lō Nation and the Stó:lō Research & Resource Management Centre. This partnership is intended to create opportunities for aboriginal performance in the Fraser Valley by providing opportunities for university and community-based collaboration. Everyone is welcome to join us for the readings and for a discussion with the actors after each reading. Tickets are free and available at the door half an hour before performances begin.

The event is part of BC Culture Days.

For more information, please contact:

Heather Davis-Fisch of UFV Theatre (Co-producer)
heather.davisfisch@ufv.ca
604-792-0025, local 2564

or

Francine Douglas (SN Events Planner)
francine.douglas@stolonation.bc.ca
604-798-8143

or

David Schaepe (Co-producer)
Dave.schaepe@stolonation.bc.ca
604-819-1467