“This is a great honour and I feel very humbled to be in the room here with so many amazing people. For us, for our little company to be recognized, in this way is beautiful. I’d like to thank [Dr.] Kathy Walker and everyone at the Office of the Treaty Commissioner and to MCoS for the gift of these awards and this recognition as well as bringing all these people together,” Steven Waldscmidt said in Burnt Thicket Theatre’s acceptance speech of the Leading Together Award
“There are so many collaborators who helped bring this to reality, I want to thank all of them.”
Burnt Thicket Theatre accept the 2024 Leading Together Award
Waldscmidt, in his speech, personally thanked over 50 artists, actors, musicians, board members, staff, partners, community collaborators, and funders who were pivotal in the creation and dissemination of We Treaty People, for which the theatre company based out of Saskatoon was recognized for.
“We Treaty People was one way we found to respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commissions Calls to Action … in creating this series we were also experimenting in trying to find a process to tell these stories in a good way, not just tell good stories.
“We aim to honour the 49 artists involved to bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists, in friendship as well as collaboration and we sought to enact the Truth and Reconciliation that we know these stories themselves can be.”
He noted that when doing a live show, they always hold talkbacks; an opportunity for the audience to interact with the cast. But during COVID-19 and with audio plays, they instead recorded talkbacks and published those interviews online.
“We are very grateful for this challenging and compelling … podcast that all these artists created with us and we’re thrilled about the ongoing relationships [and] conversations that we see emerging from this work.”
“The lessons we learned through We Treaty People continue to inform all that we do as a company and we remain committed to working humbly towards healing between all peoples and reconciliation with this beautiful land that we share.”
To Learn more about the We Treaty People production, watch the Leading Together nominee video HERE or visit Burnt Thicket Theatre’s website HERE.
-All photos taken by Regina photographer Danielle Tocker.
