A love story rising from the aftermath of Métis displacement.
Apples and Train Tracks
by Arnolda Dufour Bowes
World premiere co-produced with Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre
Haunted by memories of being forced into a cattle railcar and shipped away as a child, Charlie wrestles with consequences of trauma as he fights to forge a new legacy of love with his wife, Rose. It happened the year after the Nazis were defeated, when the government of Tommy Douglas tried to eradicate Métis communities by sending them to remote Rehabilitation Farms in Saskatchewan.
Charlie, a now mid-thirties man, finds himself at a crossroads with his work, purpose, and his spouse. Bewildered by flashbacks with his mother, Bella, and the riddles of a seemingly homeless yet mystical woman, Charlie hunts for all he's been chasing, or running from, his uncertain future, and the Road Allowance Community he lost.
Inspired by the life of the playwright’s father.
Content warnings, age recommendations, and student matinee times coming soon.
About the playwright
Arnolda Dufour Bowes is a creative artist, emerging playwright, and multi-award winning published author. Arnolda’s book 20.12m: A Short Story Collection of a Life Lived as a Road Allowance Métis inspired this play. Particularly its fictionalized account of her kokum and dad's experience when the 1946 Saskatchewan government imposed Métis Rehabilitation Farms and forcibly removed families from Road Allowances to Green Lake in the far north.
Inspired by the life of the playwright's father, this new script's development has been supported by GTNT's New Voices writers in resident program. Read Arnolda Dufour Bowes' award-winning book 20.12m which birthed Apples and Train Tracks and see her multi-sensory art installation showing at Batoche National Historic Site until Sept. 1.