Finding love and self following the aftermath of Road Allowance Métis displacement.
Apples and Train Tracks
by Arnolda Dufour Bowes
April 30-May 10, 2026 World Premiere
co-produced by Burnt Thicket Theatre and Gordon Tootoosis Nikaniwin Theatre
Directed by Roxanne Dicke with dramaturgy by Daniel Macdonald
Inspired by the playwright's father, who lived as a Road Allowance Métis haunted by memories of his community being forced into railcars and shipped away. Charlie wrestles with the consequences of intergenerational trauma as he fights to forge a new legacy of love with his wife, Rose. In 1940, the government of Tommy Douglas began a campaign to eradicate Métis Road Allowance Communities, sending their residents to remote Rehabilitation Farms in northern Saskatchewan.
Now in his mid-thirties, Charlie finds himself at a crossroads in his work, his purpose, and his marriage. Bewildered by flashbacks of his mother, Bella, and haunted by the riddles of a seemingly homeless yet mystical woman, Charlie searches for what he's been chasing—or running from: his uncertain future and the community home he lost.
Performances April 30th - May 10th, 2026 - World Premiere
at The Refinery Arts & Spirit Centre (609 Dufferin Ave, Saskatoon SK, S7N 1C4)
Opening Night nearly SOLD OUT!
All Tickets Pay-What-You-Choose $10+
Reserve at OnTheBoards.ca or contract the Box Office: boxoffice@ontheboards.ca or call 306.653.5191
High School Student Matinees SOLD OUT: 1:00pm on May 6th-8th
Audience Advisory: This production was not created for young audiences, although children are welcome to attend at the discretion of their parent or guardian. Contains some coarse language and mature themes.
Cast
Jennifer Dawn Bishop - Bella
Shawn Cuthand - Gerald
Andrea Folster - Rose
Sean Hoy - Mr. Gossick, Tommy Douglas
Danny Knight - Charlie
Leze Pewapsconias - Cart Lady
Cheyenna “Shy” Sapp - Cst. Erin, Cst. Black
Creative Team
Arnolda Dufour Bowes - Playwright
Roxanne Dicke - Director
Daniel Macdonald - Dramaturg
Darius Kiskotagan - Assistant Director
Dannyll Challis - Set & Prop Design
Brooklynn Bitner - Props Assistant
Rachel Walliser - Costume Design
Grahame Kent - Sound Design
Donny Parenteau - Composer & Musician
Grant Sotnikow - Composer & Musician
Charlie Peters - Lighting Design
Scott Duffee - Dance Choreography
Ed Mendez - Fight Choreography
Aaron Shingoose - Stage Manager
Ian Ninnie - Assistant Stage Manager
Calvin George - Stagehand
Jonathan Cestnick - Production Manager
Special Thanks to: The Tootoosis Family, On the Boards Staging Co., Johanna Arnott, Rebecca Spilchak, Rowan Pantel, Emmanuel Anglican Church, Battlefords Community Players, Broadway North Theatre Company, Craig Langlois, USASK School for the Arts, Gabriel Dumont Institute, LeeAnn Gervais, David Morin, McNally Robinson, Persephone Theatre, The David Edney Fund for Theatre, David Stobbe, Nicole Stevenson, Damien Kent, Catelyn Allard, Bo Shingoose, & Hailey Verbonac
About the Playwright
Arnolda Dufour Bowes is a Cree-Métis mother of three, visual artist, emerging playwright, screenwriter, and multi-award-winning author of multiple books and stories. Her work 20.12m: A Short Story Collection of a Life Lived as a Road Allowance Métis inspired this play, which explores a fictionalized account of her Kokum and father's experiences when the 1946 Saskatchewan government imposed the Métis Rehabilitation Farms and forcibly removed families from Road Allowances to Green Lake in the north. Development of this new script has been supported by GTNT's New Voices writers-in-residence program and Burnt Thicket Theatre.
20.12m Short Story Collection & Art Installation
Arnolda Dufour Bowes' award-winning book 20.12m: A Short Story Collection of a Life Lived as a Road Allowance Métis (available now at bookstores) birthed both the play Apples and Train Tracks and her multi-sensory Art Installation of the same name, featured recently at Wanuskewin and Batoche National Historic Site, which is now on exhibit at Gabriel Dumont Institute until May 22 (contact Gabriel Dumont Institute at 306-657-5712 for viewing details).
Many thanks to our Sponsors
Season Sponsor: SK Arts
Production Sponsor: Dakota Dunes Community Development Corporation
Saskatoon Community Foundation & David Edney Fund for Theatre
SaskCulture
Creative Saskatchewan
Canada Council for the Arts
Multicultural Council of Saskatchewan
Riversdale Neighbours Church
Stobbe Photo, Saskatoon
Globe Printers, Saskatoon