I’ve heard a lot of good things about Barrie’s Talk is Free Theatre so I was very happy to be able to catch one of their shows on tour in Toronto.  The show is Tales of an Urban Indian and it’s playing in the basement of Hope United Church on the Danforth.  I think the show originally toured on a converted bus which would explain the set up; which is a narrow space with a row of chairs either side (actually two rows on one side) so the space seats about thirty five.  It’s been around since 2009 and has toured across Canada, the US and overseas nad, despite the things that have happened on the “Reconciliation” agenda since then it still feels fresh and timely.

It’s a one man show written by Darrell Dennis, directed by Herbie Barnes and performed by Nolan Moberly.  It’s the autobiography of a young Indigenous man; as a child on the bReservation, moving to Vancouver with his (single) mother, moving back to go to high school in the “near by” (an hour away) white town and back to Vancouver where he gets involved in urban Indian street culture.

There’s drinking, drugs, suicide and murder mixed in with the usual adolescent issues; complicated here by the “who am I’s?” involved in being deracinated. Our “hero”, Simon, finally ends up in rehab; which is rather more positive ending than most of the other people we meet along the way.  It ought to be relentlessly grim but it’s not.  The script riffs of every Settler prejudice about “indians” and vice versa and it’s performed with terrific energy and great comic timing by Moberly;l who plays a wide variety of characters as well as Simon.

I’ll just pick out two scenes as examples.  In one, Simon finds himself in the Native Friendly Social Centre (that may not be quite right) in Vancouver’s east End which he finds is very unfriendly and split by tribal affiliation; right down to urinals in the Gents being reserved for particular groups.  His epiphany comes when God appears to him and calls him a Scmuck for believing in someone else’s God;l he needs to find his own!  Trust me, it’s funnier than I’ve made it sound.

It’s ninety minutes of fast paced, very physical theatre that eems to go by fast.  It’s darka nd funy at the same time and it doesn’t have a comfortable, pat ending.  And Moberly is terrific.

Tales of an Urban Indian continues at Hope United Church until June 1st.

Photo credits: Dahlia Katz