CULTURE GECKO
Rubaboo is Celebratory Feast for the Soul Anchored by a Commanding Performance from Andrea Menard
By Ezekiel McAdams
March 13 2026
*Author’s Note – I write this review as a white man that has had incredible privilege growing up on and living in Treaty 6 Territory. I’m not as well versed on Metis and Indigenous culture as I’d like to be. There may be many things in this production that I was ignorant or not fully understanding the significance of. I strive to learn, be better. If there are any misunderstanding, inaccuracies, please reach out so I can learn and edit to make it better.*
Persephone Theatre’s newest show of their season is Rubaboo A Metis Cabaret. The production is a partnership between Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre (GTNT) and the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre.
The production is created, written by and features Andrea Menard accompanied by Robert Walsh, Nathen Aswell and Karen Shepherd. Alanis King directs.
Rubaboo runs from March 11th to the 22nd 2026 at Persephone Theatre, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Ruboo first premiered in 2023 at the Grand Theatre in London Ontario. The first iteration was a partnership between Arts Club Vancouver. The production has subsequently toured throughout Canada.
To call Rubaboo an event or a concert would be an understatement but more apt is to call it what it is, a cabaret. This is a cabaret that is both a celebration of Métis culture, music, and heritage but also a reconciliation and understanding of the past and our history.
What Mernard and company have created is no small feat, a harmonious buffet where each dish and morsel is intermixed with truth, knowledge, appreciation, acceptance with thematic backdrops of the four elements throughout and lively, stylized art canvas inspired by artist, Leah Dorion.
The Cabaret does have a theme that is interwoven throughout the production and that is of the four elements of fire, water, air and earth. Menard, sings, teaches and tells stories that come across so nonchalant and naturalistic that are akin to getting together with friends or family.
King’s direction is nuanced, you can sense a collaborative spirit and pull throughout the production but also a steady hand guiding allowing every element and minutia to soak into the production’s foundation.
Menard is an effortlessly commanding, magnetic, humorous, relatable presence and performer. Menard’s energy and passion shines throughout whether she is singing whimsical folk songs like “Memmere’s Rubaboo” to powerful visceral ballads like “Where is God in this Place”.
Menard brings a multilayered energy with her physicality whether it’s joyful romps in her moccasins or feeling the weight beneath as she embodies the powerful element of wind or the frankness of the Metis history and culture that is truly evocative, mesmerizing and indefinable.
Walsh is both performer and the production’s music director evokes a gentile yet compassionate and loyal support throughout. Walsh plays guitar and plays backup or indulges Menard and is an essential ingredient to the stew that Menard is sharing with the audience.
Aswell brings introspection along with his unique Chapman’s Stick. Aswell conveys an old soul quality whether he is the background playing, singing with Menard and Walsh or joining on the sojourns presented throughout the show.
Shepherd is the quiet stillness that completes the foursome. Shepherd is like a secret weapon that comes out of nowhere and leaves you awestruck with her incredible fiddle playing that is truly immersive and transformative.
Cimmeron Meyer’s set design transports to you a different time and place where the world in Ruboo feels intimate, familiar yet unique,
Samantha McCue’s costume design are traditional, colorful, simple and expressive all at once. Each of the performer’s outfits and designs are just as much a character in the production as the performers and rest of the production are.
Mary Jane Coomber’s sound design is riveting, raw whimsy with a dash of ethereal
Finally, Katie Schmidt as stage manager, Katie Blackburn-Dust as assistant stage manager and Summer Bressette as indigenous cultural consultant are all integral in helping this production run smoothly and shine the way it does.
Simply put, Rubaboo is in a category all on its own. It’s truly a captivating event and experience that is unforgettable.
Persephone, GTNT and Royal Winnipeg Theatre have collaborated and facilitated something truly special here that deserves to be seen by as many people as possible.
Menard, King, Walsh and the rest of the cast and crew have conjured a miraculous hybrid that is needed not only in the theatre space but within the art community, our cultures and the world at life. Rubaboo is music, life, love, laughter, celebration, remembrance all marinating at perfect temperature in this unforgettable feast.
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Rubaboo A Metis Cabaret from Peresephone Theatre in partnership with Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre and Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre runs from March 11th to the 22nd 2026 on Persephone’s Main Stage in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Tickets can be bought online here, the box office or the venue itself.
Emile Trimbee’s lighting design operates in unison with Menard and the themes and symbolism perfectly.