The world premiere of Theatre Calgary’s Awoowaakii is set to bring something entirely unique to a Calgary stage, especially from one of the city’s most mainstream theatre companies.

The story of a transgender Blackfoot woman Chrissy Sipatsimo, as she navigates raising her son and the return of her estranged and seriously ill father Joseph, is a more intimate and more personal journey than some of the other selections that the company has put on in their 2024-25 season.

So too is the setting for the production, which takes audiences from the expansive Max Bell Theatre to the much more close-knit Big Secret Theatre and into—quite literally—the set depicting Sipatsimo’s Calgary inner-city apartment.

What audiences will get in return is an authentic slice-of-life family dramedy that balances humour and heart in an affirming play about finding a path that is true for both the Blackfoot and the transgender experience.

“I think it is really accessible. It’s not just about transgender, it’s not just about Blackfoot women. It’s about family. It’s about the relationship between a mother and a child, her son. It’s about a relationship between a father and a daughter. A relationship between two best friends,” said Sable Sweetgrass, who wrote Awoowaakii.

“It’s about spirituality and the home, the significance of your home, and the home that you build, whether it’s with your birth family or your chosen family. So I feel like there’s a lot happening in this play.”

Awoowaakii has its world premiere at Theatre Calgary

That richness in depth came about over 10 years of work by Sweetgrass to develop and workshop the play. That feedback provided by friends, families, and other creative people in the arts led to something uniquely authentic for the stage.

“The workshops that I did in Edmonton, Toronto, Santa Fe, and here at Theater Calgary, I got a lot of feedback from other writers, from the actors, from the director, and others on what sounds real.”

Stepping into the Big Secret Theatre and watching Sipatsimo’s family is about as close as one could get to the real experience, without actually having the play staged inside a real apartment.

Director Alanis King said that Indigenous people welcome people into their communities, to events like Powwows, and to see what life is like on reservations, but that doesn’t always go as far as into the private lives of individuals.

“We tried to make it immersive and to give them the experience of really seeing right through a private household,” King said.

“I really praise Stafford Arima, the artistic director of Theatre Calgary, for bringing this original work to the stage because not every mainstream theatre in Canada would have the courage to present something like this to their audiences. There are some vivid memory scenes and, you know, scenes dealing with a lot of dysfunction in the past.”

She said the history of having a colonial viewpoint imposed on Indigenous communities plays a big part in how identities, both Indigenous and transgender, have come into conflict.

Finding affirmation on the stage

Before settlement, Indigenous groups did not see an issue with members of their communities being transgender. Being two-spirited was seen as a positive thing, with a powerful connection to ways of being.

“Two spirit people are beginning to be embraced and even creating their own Powwows, where they can all dance as jingle dress dancers. They’re all male, but they identify as women. So, things are really changing in our own communities, the circle is growing of acceptance, and we’ve got to do that because the young children matter, and the next generations matter,” said King.

Sipatsimo is being played by Marshall Vielle, a Theatre Calgary veteran of A Christmas Carol, and who also played Chrissy during the 2021 workshop for Awoowaakii.

“I think being able to be a Blackfoot two-spirit person playing a Blackfoot two -pirit person on stage, it’s an honour. It feels incredible. It feels correct, but it’s also kind of nerve-wracking,” Vielle said.

“I’m able to come from personal experience, whereas I think any other play I’m tapping into something creatively, where I can dive into a made-up world. With this one, it is really close to home, and so it’s exciting.”

Vielle said that one aspect of the production, where a naming ceremony is held, was especially exciting given the history of Indigenous peoples not being able to practice or share their culture in Canada.

“I think that’s the best way for me to describe it is that it’s a homecoming. When you receive your name, you’re receiving your place in the world. Because it’s not just a name that you’re given, it’s the stories that go along with the name,” Vielle said.

“There are lots of people in my own community and in other native communities as well who haven’t had that, who haven’t participated in a naming ceremony. I think people being able to see that and seeing the impact that it has on the characters in the play, knowing that that is just like a small picture of how that impacts us in our real lives, I think that’s really special.”

Vielle said the call for audience members to spend their time with Awoowaakii was that the play is about a healing journey in a way that is so often not told about Indigenous people and their lives.

“I think too often we see stories about native families that talk about, they describe the destruction that they faced, or the colonial or structural violence that they’re facing as well. We don’t often get to see stories about people also thriving or surviving,” Vielle said.

“Why should people come and see the show? I think my response to that, is, why not? Why not participate in a really exciting show that was written by an incredible Blackfoot trans artist, that stars some incredible Blackfoot artists that allows the experience, or an experience to exist on stage.”

Awoowaakii runs from April 22 to May 11, at the Big Secret Theatre. For more information and for tickets, see www.theatrecalgary.com/shows/2024-2025-awoowaakii.