Students at Queen Elizabeth School were able to see an old story brought to life.
Wide Open Children’s Theatre visited the school to perform I Am Thunderbird Girl. The story is written by Indigenous playwright Aaron Marie Nepoose and follows the adventures to discover her destiny.
The story is based on a traditional Cree story and features some Cree language throughout the play. Queen Elizabeth Principal Ryan Mather says they’ve brought in the company several times but this year’s story was unique.
“It’s a traditional Cree story that’s going to use puppets, humour and songs. It’s really important for our kids to experience the Cree culture and Cree language because those are the partners we have around here and to experience it in a fun and engaging way, I think, will be very powerful for the kids.”
Mather says the puppet shows and the stories often stay in the children’s minds because of the way it’s used to tell a story.
“They remember the puppets. It’s something different. It’s something fun and something engaging and inspires them in different ways to tell stories. It’s funny, after this we often have kids putting on puppet shows as well because they think it’s a cool way to tell a story.”
Wide Open is based in Saskatoon but travels around the province to perform shows.