Sinking Neptune

By Carolyn Sloan

Spectator

NovaNewsNow.com



Thought of as ‘Canada’s first play,’ the 1606 masque written by Marc Lescarbot and performed by the French settlers of Port Royal will be unearthed and deconstructed upon the 400th anniversary of theatre in our nation.

On November 14 at King’s Theatre, Montreal’s dramatic collective, entitled Optative Theatrical Laboratories, will provide the local audience a new look on our past with the production of “Sinking Neptune� – a deconstruction of Lescarbot’s masque and the Eurocentric historical perspective it has helped to instill over the last 400 years.

This is not your typical “Heritage Minute,� says group member Donovan King, explaining that re-enactments of the masque to date have yet to look at the play critically and instead, have celebrated the birth of theatre with glory and fanfare.

As a group interested in theatre as an agent for social change, the OTL’s production brings attention to the colonialist agenda advanced by the play, which frames the aboriginal people solely as the subservient, noble savages.

King says that while Port Royal is considered to be the birthplace of poetry and drama in North America, it would be more accurate to say that it is the birthplace of Eurocentric poetry and drama, as the First Nations people have their own history of such performance that goes back thousands of years. More to the point, he adds, one could even say that it is the birthplace of cultural genocide and the kind of racism that is still prevalent in our society today.

“This first piece of art, or whatever you want to call it, set the way for how they (the Europeans) wanted to do business in Canada,� says King, adding that it is not unusual for a colonial power to use theatrical performance as a way to solidify their power and the structure they are imposing upon the native inhabitants.

King’s Theatre general manager, Geoff Keymer, says that the upcoming production of “Sinking Neptune� will give the audience an intellectual reaction to the historical play and hopefully stimulate some discussion surrounding our local history.

“It’s very important that King’s Theatre celebrate the first theatre in the New World,� he says. “Sometimes history haunts us… A lot of times we just sort of take things at face value.

“This is a critical look [at history] with 21st century eyes…I think people will find this is provocative in a positive way.�

“Sinking Neptune� starts at 8 pm on November 14th. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for youth.