The Toronto Fringe Next Stage festival opened on Wednesday evening at Buddies in Bad Times with Keir Cutler’s Civilized.  It’s a one man tour de force in which John Huston plays a senior bureaucrat from Indian Affairs during the Laurier government who has returned from the dead to explain to contemporary Canadians why the Residential School System was entirely necessary and a Very Good Thing.

It doesn’t pull any punches.  It’s largely based on contemporary government documents and it’s absolutely clear that the government of the day knew exactly what was going on in the schools.  Their only real concern was that any revelations might result in adverse publicity.  Two examples will suffice I think though I could have picked many more.  The first concerns the government’s behaviour, the second the real nature of the schools.

So in 1907 the Federal Medical Officer of Health produced a report claiming that the schools were detrimental to health; largely due to malnutrition and overcrowded living conditions.  His report was published, minus its recommendations; the principal of which was that the government should take over running the schools which was, of course, rejected on grounds of cost.  The government’s principal reaction was simply to abolish the post of Medical Officer of Health and carry on as before.

The second concerns the treatment of pupils who committed the ultimate crime of speaking their own language.  Not only was this punished by confinement, deprivation of food and beatings but, upon a third offence, piercing the tongue with sewing needles.  I can’t get that image out of my mind.

So how did a Laurier era bureaucrat justify cultural and physical genocide to himself and, he hopes, to us?  By claiming the Bible gives man (civilized white man of course) dominion over the earth and a duty to make it fruitful.  And the “red man” was getting in the way of that noble end and so had to go, or at least be assimilated.  And the real horror of course is that they were quite sincere as such people always are.  Hannah Arendt was right in pointing out that Evil is Banal but we never learn.  You can pick your own contemporary examples.

Cutler’s writing is really sharp and Huston’s high energy physical and vocal acting is impressive.  The set up is partially “in the round” to create a traditional story telling circle and Huston riffs off the audience and its reaction.  If you go, I strongly recommend sitting as close as possible.  The net effect is 60 minutes of deeply disturbing theatre.  I didn’t sleep much last night…

Civilized continues at Buddies in Bad Times until October 27th.