A miracle birth and media bedlam kick off Persephone Theatre’s The Herd
Photo credit: (from left) Deneh’Cho Thompson, Danny Knight, Kathleen MacLean, Tracey Nepinak and Amanda Trapp run through a scene from The Herd during a media call at Persephone Theatre. The Herd, which runs until Feb. 26, tells the story of the various conflicts that come to light when twin white bison calves are born into a First Nation’s herd in Saskatchewan
The Herd runs at Persephone Theatre until Feb. 26.
The presence of the bison is never far in Kenneth T. Williams’s The Herd. During Persephone Theatre’s production, its form looms large at the back of the stage.
In a less literal sense, it hangs over the work itself — the story of what happens when all of the animal’s different meanings come into conflict.
The show, on until Feb. 26, is about the media bedlam that hits a First Nation in Saskatchewan when twin white bison calves are born to its herd.
In Indigenous spirituality, the birth is a miracle and the hearkening of a prophecy. For the band’s chief, the attention it brings could help his community. For others still, the calves are seen as a hot commodity.
