Spark Theatre stages ‘Rez Sisters’ by renowned playwright Tomson Highway

Theatre director Roxanne Dicke has always wanted to stage a production of 1986 play The Rez Sisters, by First Nations playwright Tomson Highway, and on Thursday night she’s getting her wish.

“This was on my bucket list,” said Dicke, artistic director of Prince Albert’s Spark Theatre theatre company.

“I just got tired of saying ‘It’s going to be done.’ It just had to be done.”

The Spark production of the play runs from Thursday, March 23 to Saturday, March 25 at the E.A. Rawlinson Centre. A Friday afternoon performance is already sold out. The play tells the story of seven women from a fictitious Ontario reserve who travel to Toronto to take part in the “biggest bingo in the world.” Dicke describes it as “a powerful, comedic, well-crafted dramatic comedy” that “explores some really heavy issues and it couches it in humour.”

“I think that people hear the name Rez Sisters and they don’t necessarily know what that means, what they’re in for. This play, I want to emphasize, is for our community and I mean that as the whole,” Dicke said.

“I think it’s really important for people to understand that we live in a community with an incredibly high indigenous population and this piece is about all of us. I see a lot of segregation in our community. This piece is about … bringing us together.”

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Got to go:

What? Spark Theatre production of The Rez Sisters by Thomson Highway

Where? E.A. Rawlinson Centre

When? Thursday, March 23 to Saturday, March 25. Doors at 7 p.m. show starts at 7:30 p.m.

Admission? $20 for students, $32 for adults, $25 for seniors