Songs of Love and Medicine

Songs of Love and Medicine, one work comprised of two plays with music, offers a First Nations perspective on the war of the sexes.
Playwright Daniel David Moses', a coroner of the theatre who slices open the human heart to reveal the fear, hatred and love that have eaten away at it, according to the Globe and Mail's Kate Taylor (in response to The Indian Medicine Shows), dives into the great divide and comes up with these non-identical twins, twins, a dark farce and a bright tragedy.

The Ballad of Burnt Ella re-imagines a too familiar story by trying to answer the question - What if Cinderella had been a Mohawk girl with a prince of a guy in her heart and Country and Western music on her mind?

A Song of the Tall Grass expands an old Lakota ghost story, using a contemporary First Nation a cappella singing style that has roots in powwow, jazz and spirituals, to find healing for the wounds our wild hearts cause us.

Phil Kalmanovitch, Amber Mills, and Robin Willis
working with Daniel David Moses (playwirght)
and Colin Taylor (director).

Mother Mary played by Claire Wynveen is comforted Mariette played by Amber Mills and Ella Smoke played by Kat Sandler

Mariette played by Amber Mills and Marilyn played by Robin Willis

Handsome Cloud Woman in mourning

Dancing Grass watches Yellow Face dance "The Something like Dragonflies Song"

The lovers, Quick Thunder and Yellow Face, under the full moon's light

White Turtle Shell Woman and Hollow Horn Woman tends Dancing Grass' wounds after his sun dance at the end of the play

White Turtle Shell Woman has a vision of the ghost of Yellow Face embracing Quick Thunder

The Ballad of Burnt Ella

EDDY STONE-------------------------------Phil Kalmanovitch

MISTER MARION--------------------------------------Tim Fort

MARIETTE------------------------------------------Amber Mills

MARILYN---------------------------------------- Robin Willis

ELLA SMOKE-------------------------------------Kat Sandler

MOTHER MARY----------------------------Claire Wynveen

A Song of the Tall Grass

DANCING GRASS---------------------David Condren

HOLLOW HORN WOMAN-----------------Robin Willis

HANDSOME CLOUD WOMAN---------------Amber Mills

WHITE TURTLE SHELL WOMAN-------------Claire Wynveen

YELLOW FACE------------------------Kat Sandler

QUICK THUNDER-----------------------Phil Kalmanovitch

CHORUS----------------------------Lesley Robertson

-----------------------------------Courtney Evans

-------------------------------------Meghan Ward

------------------------------------Caroline Smith




by Daniel David Moses directed by Colin Taylor in 2005
Director's Notes \| Drama Festival '05 Drama Home \| Production Library


	Designed by Xiaoyan Wu, July 2006