In association with Theatre Calgary, NAC Indigenous Theatre presents the Belfry Theatre and Savage Society production of Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer. From director and Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Kevin Loring of the Nlaka’pamux Nation comes a wickedly funny satire about power, politics, and procreation. Loring is also the artistic director of Indigenous Theatre at the National Arts Centre.
Little Red Warrior, the last remaining member of the Little Red Warrior First Nation, discovers construction has begun on his ancestral lands. In a fit of rage, he attacks an engineer, gets arrested, thrown in jail, and is assigned a court-appointed lawyer, Larry. Much to the dismay of his wife, Larry invites a displaced Little Red Warrior to stay with them. But when you invite a coyote into your coop, he might just walk away with your chickens.
Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer is onstage at the NAC from May 18–27. We spoke with artistic director and playwright Kevin Loring about how Little Red came to be, his lifelong theatre career, and his Indigenous sovereignty.
Kevin Loring. Photo: Fred Cattroll.
How did you come up with the idea for the show?
Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer started over 20 years ago while I was studying at Studio 58 Theatre School at Langara College in Vancouver.
The idea came from the previous summer. I had a job with the Siska First Nation (a Nlaka’pamux First Nations government located in the Fraser Canyon region of British Columbia), working in the gas station and arts store selling cigarettes and West Coast carvings from inmates. One day, the Nation Chief came down and asked if I wanted a gig following a logging surveying crew in the Fraser Canyon. The untouched Siska watershed gives the First Nation its name; it’s Native land. There was logging in the area, and the band wanted an Indigenous observer to follow along and record traditional land use by our people.
Loggers kept telling me there would be no cedar trees and little traditional use. But we got into the watershed, with trails and cedar trees right there… We later stopped in the middle of a cut block, and I saw all culturally modified cedar. People have been using the trees for generations. I saw bark strips pulled, and the trees were growing—a clear sign of traditional use.
I learned that the band wanted bargaining leverage and wanted the loggers to cut the trees down to get access to resources. Being 22 years old and naïve, wanting to save the valley, I was disappointed. I took that experience and started writing something. I wanted to write a play that was a comedy about land claims, a satire.
Scene from Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer. Photo: Emily Cooper.
The play talks about these things in a way that is funny, irreverent, and playful; it gets into Indigenous sovereignty. It questions what it means to be Indigenous today. When writing the play, I studied Molière and Ionesco, European absurdist satirists, and felt inspired by their avant-garde theatre works.
The play presents my lived experience, conservatory training, the idea of Indigenous sovereignty and what happens when you work with your oppressors. There’s nothing wrong with bargaining your sovereignty to gain resources and wealth, but at the same time, we’re the stewards of the land. The play questions this idea of morality. Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer wrestles with colonialism in a comedic way, and no one walks away unscathed.
What was your collaboration with Theatre Calgary on the production?
The world premiere occurred in 2022 at the Belfry Theatre in Victoria, British Columbia, a co-production with Savage Society (editor’s note: where Loring also serves as artistic director) in association with NAC Indigenous Theatre. When the artistic director from Theatre Calgary saw the production, he wanted it. We then began the planning to incorporate it into our next seasons on the larger stages. But the very first production of this play was a student production at Studio 58 in 2001! I’ve been tweaking it ever since over the last 22 years.
Scene from Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer. Photo: Emily Cooper.
How would you say this work ties into your entire theatre career?
It’s a 24-year-old play. Because of the world I grew up in, reconciliation, residential schools, land claims, and Indigenous sovereignty have been realities I’ve explored in my artistic work. Following great artists ahead of me, Little Red continues this exploration. Despite it being a quarter-century old, the themes and points of discussion are as relevant today as when I wrote it.
How did you know you wanted to go into theatre?
I was in university, wondering what to do with my life. So, I signed up for a CanLit course. I memorized a Tomson Highway monologue and delivered it to my class. Once they applauded, I was hooked—the acting bug bit me then.
What do you hope audiences will take away from the show?
I hope people will be a little bit scandalized by it, find it funny and get a kick out of it. I hope people think about things differently. There’s a clear message—land back. Indigenous sovereignty trumps all. Ottawa is unceded Algonquin territory. It was never lost in war or treatied away; we pretend that Canada can do as it does. But, when you reach the bottom of it, it’s occupied territory on Indigenous land.
Get your tickets for Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer onstage at the NAC May 18–27. You can also pick up a paperback copy of Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer at many bookshops.
