Sir John A At The Blyth Festival
Most theatre companies in Canada give a nod to the righteous anger of the country’s indigenous (or First Nations) population by opening every show with a performative and, to my mind, meaningless “land acknowledgement.” The Blyth Festival has a history of placing the issues underlying those acknowledgements front and centre for their audiences to chew on. Sir John A: Acts of a Gentrified Ojibway Rebellion by First Nations playwright Drew Hayden Taylor is a case in point.
Sir John A is a dagger to the heart of the “settler” conscience wrapped in a velvet sheath of humour and satire. As he demonstrated in Cottagers and Indians, it’s a form at which Taylor excels.
For the benefit of my fellow Americans, I should note that the Sir John A of the title is John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister and the “Father of Confederation.” His accomplishments were considerable and, until recently, he has been held in high regard by most Canadians. Well, most white Canadians.
Among Canada’s First Nations population his legacy is considerably darker. He instituted racist policies that have targeted the First Nations peoples of Canada until the shockingly recent past. Among those policies was the system of residential schools that tore children from their homes in an effort to “civilize” them and erase all vestiges of their native culture. The abuse that occurred in those schools was horrific and many children died. The last of these so-called schools closed in 1997.
It is in the grim shadow of that history that Taylor’s rollicking comedy Sir John A begins.
Bobby (Richard Comeau) is a serious young man who lives on a reservation (another legacy of Sir John A), where he hangs around with his friend Hugh (James Dallas Smith).
Hugh is a bit of a goofball, an antic spirit who is a karaoke whiz and a virtuoso on the air guitar. When we first meet him he is rocking out to the Romantics’ “What I Like About You” (get it?). Hugh’s frequent karaoke performances are one of Sir John A’s most inspired elements.
Bobby is brooding over what happened to his beloved and recently deceased grandfather, a victim of the residential school system. When his grandfather was dragged from his family, his medicine pouch, an intimately personal object of deep cultural and religious significance to native peoples, was taken from him.
Bobby has learned that the pouch has found its way into the collection of the British Museum, where it sits in some drawer, unseen and probably forgotten. (Yes, I know that’s wildly improbably, but suspend a little disbelief why dontcha? It’s a comedy.) He is obsessed with getting it back so it can be buried with his grandfather as is the custom of his people.
His brilliant plan is to dig up the bones of Sir John A in Kingston, Ontario, where the Father of Confederation is buried, and hold them hostage to force the repatriation of his grandfather’s pouch. It takes some doing, but he convinces Hugh to join him on this grand adventure.
Taylor’s clever conceit is to juxtapose this story with Sir John A himself (Randy Hughson) welcoming us into his personal library to tell his side of the story.
Set designer Steve Lucas, who also did the lighting, has created a library dominated by an immense nineteenth century map of Canada flanked by bookshelves and an ample supply of ardent spirits. Sir John A we learn, and this is apparently historically accurate, was a legendary drinker.
Sir John A becomes increasingly tipsy as he defends and justifies his record. If you don’t know any of this history, you will by the time Macdonald is falling down drunk. Along the way you will be treated to some dyspeptic ruminations on Canada’s neighbour to the south.
Periodically, Macdonald’s self-serving apologia pro vita sua is interrupted as the map opens up to allow us to follow Bobby and Hugh on their adventure.
Along the way, in a McDonald’s (“How ironic,” remarks Hugh), they encounter Anya (Madeline Kennedy), a young Caucasian woman who finds herself abandoned and penniless after a lover’s spat. As fate would have it she’s from Kingston. Hugh prevails upon a reluctant Bobby to give her a lift.
As they get to know one another Anya and Bobby get into a spirited and often quite funny discussion about the issues at the heart of Canada’s current efforts at Truth and Reconciliation.
Eventually, Bobby and Hugh arrive, in the dead of night, shovels in hand, at Sir John A’s grave. I won’t reveal what happens except to say that more than a few surprises are sprung before the show ends in a rousing karaoke extravaganza that has the entire audience singing and clapping along.
It helps a great deal that director Vinetta Strombergs has assembled an exemplary and appealing cast. She is a frequent collaborator with Taylor, which no doubt explains her sure touch with his sense of humour.
Hugh is the emotional heart of the play and James Dallas Smith brings him to endearing life and, while I’m thinking of it, Lucas’ rock star lighting during Hugh’s karaoke outbursts is top-notch.
The protean Randy Hughson, who has done such sterling work at Blyth in recent seasons, scores another knockout as Sir John A. It’s a masterclass in how to play a man descending ever deeper into the bottle and, not to ignore the evils of demon rum, it’s very, very funny.
Comeau and Kennedy have less showy parts perhaps, but their earnestness and empathy as they grope their way to their own truth and reconciliation is palpable.
Sir John A was originally produced in 2017, commissioned by the Canadian National Arts Center to mark the 150th anniversary of Canadian confederation. As far as I have been able to tell, subsequent productions have been surprisingly, indeed shockingly sparse, which makes the current run at the Blyth Festival all the more important.
I come from a country where foreigners who voice their opinion about sensitive internal matters are disappeared by masked thugs, so perhaps I should tread carefully here.
Sir John A is a play that deserves, indeed demands to be seen across Canada by as many people as possible. The fact that august institutions like the Stratford Festival have not mounted it gives their ubiquitous land acknowledgements a particularly hollow ring.
Enough. I’ll get off my imported soap box and simply encourage you to see Sir John A during its too brief run at the Blyth Festival. Bring your friends and family.
Sir John A continues at the Blyth Festival through August 3, 2025. For more information and to purchase tickets visit the Blyth Festival website.
[image by Brenda Lee Garratt courtesy of the Blyth Festival.]
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