meet the team

manidoons collective is a circle of artists creating Indigenous performance.

The artistic leadership includes Yolanda Bonnell (Ojibwe-South Asian) and Cole Alvis (Métis) both based in Tkarón:to. manidoons collective recognizes the importance of collaborating with Indigenous communities, specifically Indigenous women, 2-Spirit, trans and non-binary storytellers.

Their first production bug, created and performed by Yolanda Bonnell, was nominated for four Dora Mavor Moore awards and has toured across Turtle Island. The play is published by Scirocco Publishing and was nominated for a 2020 Governor General’s Award for English-language drama.

Their current production White Girls In Moccasins by Yolanda Bonnell has been developed in residency, and will premiere as a coproduction with, Buddies In Bad times Theatre and manidoons collective in Spring 2022.

MARCH 9 - 20, 2022 - live presentation
March 26 – April 8, 2022 - Digital Broadcast

A MANIDOONS COLLECTIVE + BUDDIES IN BAD TIMES THEATRE PRODUCTION

Gi-bgizoomgad epiichi biinjii’yii debwewin-nim — you swim in your truth —

Miskozi goes on a search for herself and her culture, accompanied by her inner white girl, Waabishkizi, and guided by Ziibi, a manifestation of an ancestral river.

An irreverent reclamation story, White Girls in Moccasins world-hops between dreams, memories, and a surreal game show as Miskozi grapples with living her own truth in a society steeped in white supremacy.

We invite guests to our show to make donations to Toronto Indigenous Harm Reduction.

 


White Girls In Moccasins

pictured (left to right): Rihkee Strapp, Ada Aguilar, Kay Chan, Ravyn Wngz, Yolanda Bonnell, Elizabeth Staples, Trevour Schwellnus, Samantha Brown, Echo Zhou, Maddie Bautista, Cole Alvis

creative team

Yolanda Bonnell // playwright, choreographer & performer

Cole Alvis + Samantha Brown // co-directors

Elizabeth Staples // performer

Ravyn Wngz // performer

Trevor Schwellnus // set & projection design

Rihkee Strapp // animation & associate video design

Echo Zhou // lighting design

Sruthi Suresan // associate lighting design

Maddie Bautista // composition and sound design

Rachel Forbes // costume & props design

Asli Ozuak // associate costume design & set + props coordinator

Natércia Napoleão // associate producer

Steph Raposo // production manager

Dylan Tate-Howarth // production stage manager

Ada Aguilar //rehearsal stage manager

Sheila Demerah // moccasins

Mary Magiskan // belt

Aqua Nibii Waawaaskone // drum

Nathenia Bonnell // drum painter

Mary Bonnell // gramma’s hands

Pauline Shirt // knowledge keeper

Amy Ireland + Natasha Bacchus // Deaf interpreters

Lena Recollet + Sally Atchitawens-Recollet + Roger Roulette // Anishinaabemowin language keepers

Cover animation by Rihkee Strapp. Performance recorded March 18, 2022.

Digital Broadcast Team

Justin Moy // video recording and editing

Courage Bacchus + Amy Ireland // Deaf interpreters

Carmelle Cachero + Marcia Martins // ASL interpreters

Alexa Hickox // ASL interpretation editing

Theo Belc + Kay Chan + Sally Roberts // captioning support

Rogue Benjamin + Rich Manilla + Aneesa Mustafa // ASL support

Jac Costa + Steph Raposo + Rachel Shaen // rehearsal recording

Press

“White Girls in Moccasins is a deep introspective reflection across time about what it means to be an Indigenous woman or women of colour living in a white supremacist society. It’s a representation of stories that could never be told before because it wasn’t for who was the norm or who was the standard. It also reflects the resilience of Indigenous women surviving and the restoration of something inside of us that was never lost because we carry the blood memory of our ancestors before us.”
— Erica Commanda (Muskrat Magazine)

Yolanda Bonnell on how we are never truly lost

By Erica Commanda March 19, 2022

“Of all the productions I’ve seen in the staggered theatre reopenings during the pandemic, this is the show that has best understood the possibilities and the potential of the art form. This is theatre as ceremony, as ritual. The efficiency and ease with which the creative team fill in Miskozi’s story are impressive, whether it’s presenting the young girl watch her Gramma bake (that white flour becomes very symbolic) or seeing her witness abuse and then enter abusive relationships herself.”
— Glenn Sumi (NOW Magazine)
“Bonnell’s storytelling feels audacious in the best ways: She shows stories that most First Nation, Métis and Inuit people experience in one way or another but don’t often speak publicly about. It’s an unusual way to see ourselves and be seen. For me, it’s as if I were watching my own story.
”
— Robin Grant-Moran (Globe and Mail)