A musical theatre production scheduled to be held at the 快盈v3 Arts and Cultural Centre was set to play for one show only on April 5.

It didn't get the chance because of the power outages that evening.

Children of God was set to perform its only stop in Yellowknife and with no power for several hours, the decision was made to pull the plug. NACC stated it would be offering refunds to those who had purchased tickets for the show.

Ahead of the show, 快盈v3 got the chance to talk with Corey Payette, director, writer and composer of the production.

He described the show as a look at the indoctrination faced by those who were forced into residential schools.

鈥淚n that indoctrination, there was something so sinister involved,鈥� he said.

鈥淚t has a sort of double meaning, that if we are all children of God, then how could this possibly have happened? And so, specifically it's really meant to shed light on the hypocrisy of the church and to really recognize that if these horrific histories have taken place, what is the church doing now and what are the communities doing to repair that?鈥� Payette said, adding that the question he wants to leave the audience to ponder is, 鈥楬ow do we all move forward?鈥�

When he first started writing the show 15 years ago, Payette said the entire country was in a different place in terms of its acknowledgement and recognition of the residential school history.

鈥淎nd so, I think it's been a really great touch point to see how this story resonates within different communities, because everyone is at a different point in their own reconciliation within their community,鈥� he said.

Story of pain and resilience

Children of God is a fictional production set in the 1950s and the 1970s about an Oji-Cree family in 快盈v3 Ontario and tells the story of the children, Tom and Julia, who were forced to go to residential school. It delves into the trauma the children suffered while attending the school as well as the resiliency of spirit.

In writing the musical, Payette said to tell the story, he knew he had to be the one to do the research, to meet with various survivors, Elders, and his own family to talk about their history.

鈥淎 lot of the stories had gone unspoken for generations, and to really start to unearth those wounds, what became very clear to me was that the best way to share some of that pain was through music, through songs,鈥� Payette said of the decision to create a musical production.

鈥淵ou know, in my community, Elders have said you cannot share a story without that story having a song, and without that song having a dance, and that dance telling a story, so it's really a circle.

鈥淎nd so for me, musical theater really supports that - that way of storytelling, because it's able to express emotions that are beyond words.

鈥淎nd that really was what the experience was, having a sense of voicelessness, and in that voicelessness, I think that we can have a deeper understanding of the inner life of these characters through song,鈥� Payette said.

One of his goals in developing the production was to create a space for sharing such stories and having a broader conversation about how the story and the history of residential school resonates in present day.

鈥淚n coming to every different community that we've gone to, the performance is followed by a conversation, and that conversation is about, 鈥榃hat can we do in our own personal lives to contribute to reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people?鈥�

鈥淏ecause Indigenous people can't carry this alone. We need it to be everyone.鈥�

Creating a safe space

Tanya Snow, program coordinator with Atti! Indigenous Artists Collective, said having such a major production about the residential school topic performed at NACC is like 鈥渙pening a door to our community鈥�.

鈥淲hat we want to do is encourage our community to come and tell their stories, to sing their songs, to do their dance. Because, you know, NACC is on the same lot as a former residential school,鈥� Snow said of the location of the theatre in Yellowknife.

鈥淭here are a lot of folks who are survivors that have so much knowledge to share, and those stories are not going to come out unless we create safe spaces.

鈥淪o having the Children of God production come up here, it's kind of it's encouraging other Indigenous peoples to come and tell their story.鈥�

Supportive environment

Payette said because it is a harsh and intense subject matter, they offer emotional support at the performance.

鈥淎nd I'm welcoming audiences to come in at whatever level they're at, you know, even if they don't know enough and they just want to learn more, or if they've been studying this for the last, you know, 20 or 30 years. I think all of those voices are certainly welcome to be a part of this experience of Children of God.鈥�