CULTURE GECKO
Burnt Thicket Theatre’s The Unplugging is an Indigenous feminist prairie post apocalyptic survival story
By Ezekiel McAdams
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February 27 2025
Live Five’s newest production of its twenty first season is Burnt Thicket Theatre’s The Unplugging.
The Unplugging runs from February 27-March 8th 2025 at La Troupe Du Jour’s Studio 914. The original venue was The Refinery, which is the prominent location for Live Five productions.
Written by playwright Yvette Nolan and directed by Roxanne Dicke and starring Lisa Bayliss (Bern), Patsy Tuba (Elana) and Liam Johnston (Seamus).
The Unplugging is a post apocalyptic indigenous prairie tale focusing on two women exiled from their village after no longer being child bearing age. The duo is forced to survive in a harsh landscape and use their knowledge and wits and deal with a charismatic stranger that descends into their life. The play deals with themes of environmental issues, feminism and survival.
Burnt Thicket Theatre was founded in 2007 in Calgary by James Popoff and Stephen Waldschmidt.
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Popoff stepped down with Waldschmidt becoming the new artistic director in 2017 while also moving the company to Saskatoon where it is currently located.
The Unplugging has been an arduous journey for Dicke who has been trying to mount the production for several years.
"I first picked up the play quite a few years ago and I was going do it with my theatre company in Prince Albert at the time, Spark Theatre. And things just didn’t work out that year to be able to do it. And then after that, there were a couple other permutations, other companies were going do it, then covid, we had an unfortunate situation with an actor that couldn’t continue and it just keep getting thwarted somehow” Dicke said.
Dicke is the former artistic director of Spark Theatre in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.
Dicke held the position from 2016 until recently succeeding Jennifer Dawn Bishop as artistic director of Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre. Bishop has been artistic director since 2017. Bishop is currently directing the company’s upcoming production of A Sea Most Cruel in conjunction with the company’s Circle of Voices program.
However, it is the themes of Nolan’s play that really resonates with Dicke. “It’s an intimate play, I really love the theme, it sounds very dire, its post apocalyptic of course. The whole world has shut down because electricity is gone and everything that goes with it and also the implication that there’s environmental disaster and leaders that have risen up that are more like feudal lords then real leadership. And the sense of community is shattered and broken. What really resonated with me was that, there are two women in the play who are exiled from their so called community because they’re past child bearing age and there deemed not as useful to the community. That really resonated with me, I’m at that point of my life and I think what incredible power there is in the knowledge and teaching that women have. And in particular, the way that these two women survive goes back to Indigenous ways of knowing, really living the land and surviving an old way in a new world. That’s exactly why I’ve been hooked on it for so long.” she laughed.
Dicke is elated how the set designed created by the company’s artistic director, Stephen Waldschmidt presents a unique visual world on stage. “Stephen did that, the set design is quite beautiful. He’s so artistic, he’s created us a painted canvas on that projects some of the projections that Judith Schultz created. It has this beautiful painted floor with hints of petroglyphs poking through. It’s a demanding and creative set in the sense that there’s multiple locations, we’ve used a large black scrim where projections go and separates the world for the audience when we’re in different locations.”
It is not only the script and set design that captivate the director, she marveled about the cast assembled for the project, particularly relative newcomer, Johnston.
“Liam is a young emerging artist here in Saskatoon. Absolutely fantastic, Indigenous, Métis and he’s so incredibly hungry and engaged with the experience. He has a great sense of imagination and has brought so much to the piece and so incredible respectful, young actor to work with. He just captures this charm and innocence of Seamus, which is really important and contrast to the two older women.” Dicke said.
For Dicke, she believes it is the two female leads, Bayliss and Tuba that transform and captivate the audience, turning the production into something really special.
“Lisa Bayliss is a very well known actor here in Saskatoon and beyond. Going from a highly polished character in 18 Jews Order Chinese Food to a woman who is out foraging in the trees and an example of Lisa’s talents how she can tackle any kind of character.” Dicke said.
Bayliss recently finished a run on Persephone Theatre's 18 Jews Order Chinese Food.
For Tuba, Dicke is excited to introduce her to Saskatoon audiences. “Patsy Tuba has done theatre in Prince Albert and has done film and tv out in Victoria and is a very fresh face to Saskatoon audiences and really brings a lot of heart and indigenous perspective to the piece.”
Live Five’s The Unplugging by Burnt Thicket Theatre is running from February 27 to March 8th 2025 at La Troupe Du Jour’s Studio 914. Tickets can be bought online here, On The Board’s box office or at the venue itself.
“Our world has gone through many things in the last few years, when it comes to technology, the use of it, how it splits community, how it creates community but we’ve also gone through the isolation of coming a pandemic, a huge political shift, south of the border particularly but we’re seeing it in Canada too. I think what I would encourage people to do is come out and see something live! Be part of a really immersive experience.”