Red Sky production a plea for the Earth

Two years ago when Red Sky Performance swooped into St. Albert with Tono, the company completely mesmerized audiences.

The Toronto-based group dedicated to furthering indigenous cultures returns to the Arden Theatre on Sunday with The Great Mountain.

While Tono was a dance-heavy theatrical show, The Great Mountain is a play aimed at young audiences. Wrapped around a young girl with a special gift, the play combines a quest and a powerful plea for environmental awareness.

Directed by Alan Dilworth, the story follows Nuna (Allison Pratt), a young city-dweller disturbed by sounds and cries only she hears. Realizing she has inherited the ability to hear and see the spirits of rushing rivers and soaring mountains, Nuna’s grandmother Mika (Nicole Joy Fraser) takes her to a river and entrusts her to a boatman (Meegwun Fairbrother). He brings her to where a glacier is melting and a great mountain weeps.

“In this incarnation, The Great Mountain represents Mother Earth, the state of Mother Earth and that we have to do something. This show gives children and families a language to deal with global warming,” says artistic director Sandra Laronde.

She also believes that on a deeper, personal level this story affects us all.

“We all have a metaphor mountain to climb. We all have obstacles to climb. We all have fears to conquer. We all come in contact with fears that seem unearthly and more powerful than ourselves.”

Written by Tracey Power, this show was inspired by a traditional Northern Plains story of Jumping Mouse, a coming-of-age tale of courage.

“Jumping Mouse leaves his patch because he hears rushing sounds. By going out and facing obstacles Mouse transforms his vision and himself through sacrifice.”

The idea for this production really gelled when Laronde visited the Rocky Mountains and was awed by the beautiful spine of Rundle mountain. She gave the traditional story to Power and the playwright ran with it, creating a contemporized three-hander with 12 different characters.

“Tracey is a very clear writer. I knew she could deliver the dialogue.”

Numerous theatrical elements such as dialogue, dance and mask are used. And the set of towering mountain peaks and stone circles represents the power and unity of native medicine wheels.

Ultimately it’s the main message about being good stewards for our planet that stands out.

“It (global warming) weighs heavily on our minds even when we don’t think about it. The 2012 Mayan prophecy suggests the way we view our world has to change. We have to transform ourselves. It’s important for children to feel they can be catalysts of change – that they don’t have to inherit a flawed viewpoint. They can be more connected to nature. And when we think of it that way, it’s exciting.”