Status
Available
Call number
Call number
822 H55R49 1988 c.2
Local notes
Shelved in Aboriginal Collection
Description
Tomson Highway's classic drama now available in a Spanish language translation. The Rez Sisters is Tomson Highway's classic two act play, first performed in 1986. It focuses on the hopes and dreams of a group of seven women on the Wasaychigan Hill Indian reserve. This play has been published in English and Cree and will now be available in a new Spanish edition.
Genres
Publication
Saskatoon : Fifth House, 1988.
Original publication date
2010
User reviews
LibraryThing member wenzowsa
I read this play with my grade twelve students, and we absolutely loved it. Highway does an excellent job at bringing some of the "rez" issues, surrounding Aboriginal women , to life, while incorporating lots of humour. Excellent!
LibraryThing member Bcteagirl
This is an important first nations play. Part satire, part commentary on the social and financial conditions on reserves, this play is very humorously told. The story is told from the point of view of several women living on a first nations reserve. Other characters include 'Nanabush' an First
While life continues on the reserve, the women hear news of 'The Biggest Bingo in the World!!!' taking place in Toronto. Clearly the prize has to be huge. Just think what you could get with that! Working washers, driers, fridges and freezers! The girls go into fundraising mode and pull together to try to get there. This play was shown all over Canada and in the United States. It is not a long play, and I recommend you give it a read. :)
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Nations mythological character/trickster who is only seen by the child and one character with Cancer.While life continues on the reserve, the women hear news of 'The Biggest Bingo in the World!!!' taking place in Toronto. Clearly the prize has to be huge. Just think what you could get with that! Working washers, driers, fridges and freezers! The girls go into fundraising mode and pull together to try to get there. This play was shown all over Canada and in the United States. It is not a long play, and I recommend you give it a read. :)
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LibraryThing member MeditationesMartini
I found this exhausting with all the picaresque. I liked all the Cree, and the effacing the difference between traditional and avant-garde. Lots of these lines have astonishing possibilities for delivery and I think this would come out great on stage (we arrived late and Douglas College sold our
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tickets! Suck it, Douglas College!). The most magnificent scene was where the sisters are arguing about going to the Biggest Bingo in the World in Toronto and circling each other spitting insults in this really intricate, contrapuntal, but also hilarious way. The line between bawdy fun and tired hurr-hurrery may have been crossed a few times too many though, and the flip side of "potential for delivery" is "flat on the page." But man there's a lot of pain here, leavened with laughter, waiting for the right First Nations actors to bring it to life. I would have liked to see if Douglas College was up to the challenge. Show Less
LibraryThing member Cecilturtle
This was my first incursion into Highway's fiction and I very much enjoyed the variety of characters, each with her character, problems, particularities and obsessions. Although I expected to have a clearer idea of the some of the challenges that Native women have to go through, I did glimpse into
Finally, I loved the mix of Cree and Ojibwa which gave the text such poetry - I would love to hear it on stage.
A beautiful mix of cultures and perspectives.
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the obstacles, and joys, of life on the reserve. I enjoyed the fact that Highway speaks of life outside of the reserve through Ellen, of the cultural gaps when talking about Raymond and Emily's former life in Fresco and of life on the reserve: Zhaboonigan and her horrible ordeal, the tensions with the Chief and the men in general but also the love of the land and of the community. Nanbush was a curious character for me: seeing him on stage might have given me a better understanding of his role and symbolic nature - I'm sure he has a very strong presence which flits and swoops as emotions and drama unfold.Finally, I loved the mix of Cree and Ojibwa which gave the text such poetry - I would love to hear it on stage.
A beautiful mix of cultures and perspectives.
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LibraryThing member b.masonjudy
"The Rez Sisters" is a fine juggling act by Tomson Highway, including seven women whose characters all emerge and develop as unique forces in the drama. The times the dialogue feels meandering is offset by the humor and the huge level of personality at play. And though there is much play there are
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some stark revelations that reveal the struggle of the characters. While this tension could have been teased out a bit more it is primarily left simmering under the surface of the conflict and the journey. The inclusion of Nanabush is excellent and helps to bolster the surreal/mythic elements of the play. Show Less
LibraryThing member macleod73
Highway is the Canadian Shakespeare we need. His characters are vibrant, his narrative is multi-layered and he makes the experience of Indigenous people come to life in a way that challenges the stereotypical assumptions of non-Indigenous audience members. There are reflections of Campbell's Hero
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with a Thousand Faces and I'll be searching for a live production of this play to see how the text translates into live performance. Show Less
ISBN
092007944X / 9780920079447