Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer reinvents the Queen's bench
Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer reinvents the Queen's bench
Gordon Patrick White, Shakhar Paleja and Juisa Jojic in Theatre Calgary production of Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer (Photo: Trudie Lee)
Anyone who was at opening night of Governor-General award-winning playwright Kevin Loring'sLittle Red Warrior and His Lawyer will never hear someone summon "The Queen" again in the same way after the big reveal of Friday's boisterous opening night performance.
That was the five-star theatrical moment when Little Red Warrior transformed from a somewhat stumbling sex farce to a fiercely funny political satire right in front of the audience's eyes at Max Bell theatre.
I will try not to give it away, but I grew up watching hockey in Winnipeg Arena, where a gigantic oil painting of Queen Elizabeth hung over the rink like a stern taskmaster, and Friday night, Loring – who directed his own script – liberated me from her colonial gaze, with a twist that was one of the more outrageous, funny and memorable moments ever at Theatre Calgary.
And if it felt liberating for me, it felt exponentially more liberating for Little Red Warrior (Gordon Patrick White), the last surviving member of a First Nation in a part of British Columbia that has been earmarked for condo development and a golf course.
Little Red is a solitary man who lives alone and quietly in a shack in the woods - without running water but with cable - until one day when he learns about the planned development of his people's ancestral lands and loses his temper with a construction worker (Kevin McNulty), clobbering him with a shovel.
That lands Little Red in legal hot water, and soon all he's got is Larry (Shekhar Paleja), a public defender desperate for him to recall his intergenerational traumas to concoct a sympathetic courtroom defence.
Much to Larry's chagrin, Little Red wants to challenge the merits of the case on the historical facts of his land.
It's all further complicated by the fact that Little Red moves in with the lawyer and Desdemona (Luisa Jojic), his corporate lawyer wife, an ambitious, driven alpha female craving sexual attention.
The dirty secret of this story however is that Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer is a smart, imaginative, frequently very funny political satire disguised for a while as a meh sex farce.
Canadian playwright Kevin Loring is pictured at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on Thursday, April 18, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
Loring has said Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer was inspired by the Trickster character and stories from Indigenous culture, which leans heavily towards sexual content, so I could understand what his inspiration was, but the sex farce part of this story didn't feel like it landed Friday night.
Rather, it's the window dressing intended to draw an unsuspecting audience into the story, only to have a smart, funny political fantasia pop out when you least expect it.
That is where Little Red Warrior veers into a courtroom drama about an Indigenous land claim, and Loring's script is at the top of his game here.
He uses a lot of theatrical shorthand – a lot of the lawyers' arguments are presented as modern dance – and assumes the audience is familiar with the arguments, like the part where the First Nations of B.C. never actually signed a treaty but somehow the Crown took their land anyways because, well - the Queen (Nick Miami Benz, in a memorable cameo)!
That's when a finely-calibrated sense of political outrage takes over Little Red Warrior, which is resolved in ways that are imaginative, funny and fantastic.
The ship is steered magnificently by McNulty in an assortment of roles. From the moment McNulty ambles on, collecting cans to return for the deposit, he is superb. He is relaxed and listens to the other characters and takes his time with Loring's rapid-fire dialogue – and lands every laugh.
White's Little Red Warrior starts out guileless and idealistic, and by the end of his journey, he has supplanted Desdemona as the bottom-line mogul who never met a system he couldn't bend to his will.
Paleja and Jojic have the unforgiving task of playing lawyers, and to compound matters, they are awful to each other, so don't blame them if you aren't too crazy about them!
Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer is a co-production with Making Treaty 7 and its artistic director Michelle Thrush made a speech Friday saying she hoped to draw more Indigenous folks in to see the show – including a discount code posted on MT7 and Theatre Calgary's website that offers Indigenous peoples $20 tickets to see the show.
The theatre company is also looking for Indigenous greeters to volunteer at each performance of Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer, and everyone gets a Making Treaty 7 t-shirt and free entry into the show.
A little bit Enron, Michael Healy's 1979 and Rocky Horror Picture Show, Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer is the most fun 90 minutes you'll ever spend with lawyers - and a hero named Little Red Warrior. At Theatre Calgary through Feb.19.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the vote later today on the Conservative motion calling for a new study into foreign interference will not be a confidence vote.
Gwyneth Paltrow's trial is set to begin on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by a retired optometrist who said that the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer violently crashed into him in 2016 while skiing in Utah at one of the most upscale ski resorts in the United States.
March 21 is World Down Syndrome Day and to mark the occasion a Canadian organization launched a campaign showcasing older people living with the condition.
A Virginia teacher who was shot and wounded by her 6-year-old student said it has changed her life and she has vivid memories and nightmares about that day.
A new report that looks at the prevalence of marketing to children inside grocery stores and restaurants suggests regulation is needed to help reduce unhealthy food temptations.
While the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the issues surrounding Credit Suisse have shaken investor confidence, a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis appears to be unlikely, one analyst says.
A woman who lives across from the apartment where a 16-year-old shot and killed two Edmonton police constables has multiple bullet holes in her door, with a couple piercing her doorframe.
After a large fire spread from tents to a shuttered theatre on the city’s Downtown Eastside, Vancouver’s fire chief told reporters she was “incredibly frustrated” that more isn’t being done to prevent daily fires breaking out in the area.
Vancouver council will soon vote on a policy that could slow development in the Broadway Plan, one of the most significant long-term projects underway in the city.
New Brunswick's finance minister is scheduled to table a provincial budget Tuesday as the government grapples with problems in health care and housing and the effects of a population surge.
Two staff members and a student -- who is also the suspect -- have been injured in a stabbing at a high school in Bedford, N.S., according to the Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE).
The president of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU) is weighing in after two staff members and a student, who is also the suspect, were injured in a stabbing at Charles P. Allen High School in Bedford, N.S., Monday morning.
Doctors, patients and advocates are uniting for a reminder to older British Columbians to request a free colon cancer screening test – as we mark National Colon Cancer Awareness month.
A 31-year-old neuroscientist is believed to be among the six people missing after a massive fire in Old Montreal last week. An Wu was staying at the heritage building on Place d'Youville to attend a conference, according to friends and family.
Rescuers have yet to recover any additional bodies from the wreck of a fire in Old Montreal last week. As of Tuesday morning, there were still six people missing. The body of one victim, a woman, was extracted on Sunday.
Quebec Finance Minister Eric Girard is scheduled to table the first budget of the Coalition Avenir Québec's second mandate this afternoon. Girard broke with tradition on Monday — instead of buying new shoes ahead of the budget, he announced a $5,000 donation to a Quebec City community centre.
A member of the city of Ottawa's board of health is speaking out about body shaming after receiving a letter that said she shouldn't serve on the board because of her weight.
Several parents are questioning the filtering process of eBooks available to students at the Waterloo Regional District School Board (WRDSB) after they say their children were able to access eBooks that are not age appropriate.
Gwyneth Paltrow's trial is set to begin on Tuesday in a lawsuit filed by a retired optometrist who said that the actor-turned-lifestyle influencer violently crashed into him in 2016 while skiing in Utah at one of the most upscale ski resorts in the United States.
Three misdemeanour charges were filed Monday against the son of Philadelphia Flyers interim general manager Danny Briere after a video posted on social media showed him and another Mercyhurst University athlete pushing an unoccupied wheelchair down a staircase.
Mixed reviews continue to roll in days after Experience Regina delivered new campaign slogans that lean into the double entendre of the capital city’s name.
Saskatchewan RCMP said themselves and Combined Traffic Services Saskatchewan (CTSS) arrested and charged 138 motorists around the province under the criminal code for impaired driving in January and February.
The coming 2023 federal budget will 'exercise fiscal restraint' while also making 'significant' investments in health and building Canada's clean economy, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said Monday.
Gordon Patrick White, Shakhar Paleja and Juisa Jojic in Theatre Calgary production of Little Red Warrior and His Lawyer (Photo: Trudie Lee)
Canadian playwright Kevin Loring is pictured at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa on Thursday, April 18, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
