Is a person’s worth defined by their words or their actions? That oversimplified question lies at the heart of Gordon Winter, an accomplished new play based on the life of First Nations politician David Ahenakew being put on for Prairie Scene by Saskatoon’s Persephone Theatre.
The play opens with Winter (North of 60’s Gordon Tootoosis), a former RCMP constable turned national hero, addressing a crowd of chiefs, urging them to stand up to the federal government. His exhortations go too far, however, when he blames “immigrants” and “faggots” for his people’s marginalization and name-drops Adolf Hitler; soon after, Winter is charged with inciting hatred and a young Mohawk lawyer (Jamie Lee Shebelski) is assigned to defend him.
While Gordon Winter‘s basic plot is ripped from the headlines (Ahenakew was similarly charged after promoting genocide in a newspaper interview), that’s not to say it’s simply a live-action episode of Law and Order: Freedom of Speech Unit. One of the play’s many strengths is its non-linear storytelling – in fragments, we learn how events like a childhood encounter on the Saskatchewan prairie with an escaped German POW, or a plane crash that strands him and a proud bush pilot, made Winter the bigoted-yet-principled man he is. And while the material asks a number of probing questions – like whether journalism and the legal system can be complicit in shaping our view of a person – it should be said that for all of its gravity, director Del Surjik invests the play with a surprising amount of humour and absurdity. It’s carried off admirably well, too, thanks in large part to Kim Harvey as a wry Cree radio show host and Robert Benz as a provincial judge in danger of missing a Riders game.
Kudos also to Jim Guedo for his stunning, detail-oriented set design – you know you’re in a prairie bar (which also serves as a courthouse and a plane crash site) when there’s a pair of moose antlers over the bar and the beer bottles are all Great Western. Gordon Winter runs until May 8 at Arts Court, and it’s certainly worth checking out. -Trevor Pritchard
