Native Earth Performing Arts’ Smash Hit HUFF Goes on National Tour January – March 2016

Toronto, ON – Native Earth Performing Arts today announced details for their national tour of the critically acclaimed, Huff, written and performed by award-winning Indigenous playwright Cliff Cardinal.

From January to March, Native Earth will take the darkly comic one-man tour-de-force to audiences from Quebec City to Victoria. The production, directed by Karin Randoja, opened Native Earth’s 33rd season with a successful three-week run in October 2015. Critics called the play “must-see theatre” Paula Citron; Judith

Thompson called it “one of the top five theatrical experiences” of her life; and audiences urged others to “run to see this show.”

The nine-city tour will kick off at the High Performance Rodeo, Calgary’s International Festival of the Arts (January 19 – 22). Celebrating its 30th year, the HPR is the largest event of its kind in Western Canada. Week two in Alberta, sees Huff featured in Edmonton’s 7th Rubaboo Arts Festival (January 27 – 30), a celebration of First Nations, Inuit and Métis art and the only Indigenous performing arts festival in Alberta.

In February, audiences can catch Huff at one of Vancouver’s signature events, the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. Among artists and companies from Australia, Canada, Denmark, England, France, Japan, Lebanon, and the United States, Huff runs February 2 – 6.

Audiences in the Greater Toronto Area who missed Huff during its Toronto run will get another chance to see it in a limited run at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. Native Earth will present Huff from February 10 – 12 in partnership with North York Arts.

The second half of February sees Huff making two stops in Quebec: first a week of performances in Quebec City at Théâtre Périscope (February 16 – 20) before moving to the MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels) for four nights in Montreal (February 24-27).

Before returning West, Huff will travel to Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve located on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. Here the Debajehmujig Theatre Group will present two performances of Huff to one of the ten largest First Nation communities in Canada (March 3-4).

The tour will wrap up with two final stops in British Columbia; first in Kelowna at the Rotary Centre for the Arts on the University of British Columbia’s Okanagan Campus (March 11-12), then in Victoria at the Belfry Theatre’s SPARK Festival (March 15-19), an annual festival of new plays.

Cliff Cardinal (Playwright, Performer), who made his acting debut in Freeman’s Wake (Native Earth) by Yvette Nolan in 2005, portrays over a dozen characters in this solo show. Recent credits include The Saskatchewan Rebellion (Video Cabaret), Three Little Birds (Workshop West Theatre) and Tales Of An Urban Indian (Green Thumb Theatre) for which he was nominated for a Jessie Richardson Memorial Theatre Award. Cliff’s debut as a playwright, Stitch, premiered at SummerWorks Performance Festival in 2011, winning the Theatre Passe Muraille Emerging Artist Award for a notable artistic impression.

Karin Randoja (Director) is an award-winning director, actor, singer/composer and teacher and has been creating devised theatre for over 25 years. Karin was a founding member of Primus Theatre and is a member of The Independent Aunties. She has performed and/or directed at Cleveland Public Theatre, La Mama (New York), The Caravan Farm Theatre and The National Arts Centre. She teaches at Humber College and numerous other schools and theatres. Karin has worked across Canada, the US, Europe, Japan and Mozambique. She is a graduate of the acting program at The National Theatre School of Canada.

Native Earth Performing Arts is Canada’s oldest professional Indigenous theatre company. Currently in their

33rd year, Native Earth is dedicated to creating, presenting and producing professional artistic expressions of the Indigenous experience in Canada. Through stage productions (theatre, dance and multi-disciplinary art), new script development, apprenticeships and internships, Native Earth seeks to fulfill a community of artistic visions.

HUFF

A Native Earth Production Written by and Starring Cliff Cardinal

Directed by Karin Randoja

Set & Costume Design by Jackie Chau | Lighting Design by Michelle Ramsay Sound Design by Alex Williams | Stage Managed by Jennifer Stobart

NT5