During her senior year, Howe Sound Secondary student Ashleigh Giffen wrote a script that was chosen for the Arts Club Theatre鈥檚 playwriting mentorship program.
One of her hopes was that she could have it performed in Squamish, and this Saturday that will happen, with a reading of the play, KamWatan Nipe (Quiet Water), at the Eagle Eye Theatre.
The play is set in 1998 in Saskatchewan, when an aboriginal teenager, Kimberly Francis, is abducted by several men, raped and thrown in the local river while walking home from her restaurant job.听
The case is investigated briefly but abandoned. Eighteen years later, a journalist named Michael Bayton is assigned to do a story on missing and murdered aboriginal women, following the latest Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report.听
He interviews Kimberly鈥檚 family, friends and community members who are still trying to cope with her murder.听
Through these interviews, Michael meets Kimberly the way her family describes her passions and good nature.听
鈥淭his is a fictional story, but it is based on many, many stories,鈥� said school district principal for aboriginal education Susan Leslie, who helped arrange the reading.
Last fall, Giffen applied to the Arts Club Theatre鈥檚 Learning Early About Playwriting (LEAP) program and was accepted after sending in a sample of her writing and a submission on why she wanted to take the program.听
Through the process, she workshopped her script with other students and a mentor.听
鈥淲e talked a lot about race and the story about race with the mainstream media,鈥� Giffen said.听
As part of the LEAP process, there was a reading in the spring.
鈥淚t鈥檒l be the same actors as the Vancouver reading,鈥� she added.
One thing she wanted to ensure was that she could work with aboriginal actors to read the aboriginal roles.
Along with the Arts Club, Giffen credits Leslie for helping make the reading happen at her old school.
Leslie, though, does not want to take the credit for the event.
鈥淭his is purely Ashleigh鈥檚 initiative,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 really excited to be able to support Ashleigh鈥檚 work.鈥�
Such initiative allowed Giffen to work on the script as well as get ready for graduation and be involved with other projects such as Sea to Sky Aboriginal Youth Leadership鈥檚 24-Hour Drum event in the spring.
Leslie thinks the play will be a great inspiration to aboriginal leadership students returning to class this fall.
鈥淚t will be a wonderful way to start off a year,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e want all students to feel like they have a voice.鈥�
Although Giffen is moving to start school at UBC Okanagan to study indigenous studies, she will be back in town for this weekend鈥檚 reading.
The reading for KamWatan Nipe (Quiet Water) will take place on Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. Donations will be taken at the door.听
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Note: The play contains graphic content and may not be suitable for children.
