okinum – Onishka

“Beavers are one of the only species, along with humans, that leave a trace on Earth that is visible from space.
A trace left on the Earth
A dam to protect itself,
But only visible from the star world.”

Okinum, excerpt

In the Anishnabemowin language, Okinum means dam. Inspired by the recurring dream of a giant beaver, Okinum is an intimate reflection on the notion of inner dams, an ode to the power of dreams and intuition. Speech is liberated in order to go up the river of the ancestors’ memory and to reconcile, above all, with the different facets of a multiple identity.

Multidisciplinary artist Émilie Monnet began her residency at CTD’A with an immersive experience in three languages (French, Anishnabemowin and English). She combines theater, sound and video in a unique, circular and spellbinding dramaturgy. A series of dreamlike tableaus are woven together, where space and time are not conceived in a linear way, a true testimony of an inspiring filiation.

Text, co-direction, interpretation: Émilie Monnet Co-directors: Emma Tibaldo and Sarah Williams Sound design and interpretation: Jackie Gallant Sound interpretation: Véronique Thusky, Thelesh Bégin Assistant director: Elaine Normandeau Set design: Simon Guilbault Lighting: Lucie Bazzo Costumes: Swaneige Bertrand Video: Clark Ferguson Dramaturgy Consultant: Élizabeth Bourget, Sara Dion Cultural and Anishnabemowin Language Consultant: Véronique Thusky Sound and Technical Director: Frédéric Auger Stage Manager: Gaspard Philippe / HUB Studio

PERFORMANCES

October 2 to 20, 2018 at the Centre du théâtre d’aujourd’hui, Montréal
Jean-Claude Germain Hall

October 13, 2019, Le Diamant, Québec, musical reading

April 25 to 28, 2020, Festival Les Tréteaux du Maroni,
Saint-Laurent de Maroni, French Guiana (postponed)

September 2 to 11, 2021 (in English) Théâtre du Centaur, Montreal, co-production with Imago Théâtre

September 14-16, 2021 (in English) and September 17-18, 2021 (in French), at the National Arts Centre
Babs Asper Theatre

October 4-22, 2022 at Espace Go, Montreal

November 11-12, 2022 (in English) at Muenchner Kammerspiele, München (Germany) as part of Festival “Water, Earth and I”

February 2-5, 2023 (in English) at Festival PuSH, Vancouver (BC)

February 9-11, 2023 (in English) at Boom Arts, Portland, (OR)

February, 25-26, 2023 at Centre dramatique Kokolampoe, St Laurent du Maroni (French Guyana)

March 1, 2023 in Awala Yalimapo with the kali’na Indigenous community (French Guyana)

March 3, 2023 in Sainte-Rose de Lima with the arawac Indigenous community (French Guyana)

March 23-24, 2023 at Théâtre Le Diamant, Quebec City

July 12, 2023, public reading in the Cloître Benoît XII du Palais des papes as part of Festival d’Avignon

« It's impossible not to be moved by such an undertaking of cultural reappropriation, a reconciliation of body and spirit in which the creator rediscovers the songs and words of her great-great-grandmother, reconnecting with that extraordinary cosmogony that almost eluded her, as it did us. »

“Beavers are one of the only species, along with humans, that leave a trace on Earth that is visible from space.
A trace left on the Earth
A dam to protect itself,
But only visible from the star world.”

PERFORMANCES

VISUALS

PARTNERS

“Beavers are one of the only species, along with humans, that leave a trace on Earth that is visible from space.A trace left on the EarthA dam to protect itself,But only visible from the star world.”

PERFORMANCES

VISUALS

PARTNERS

“Beavers are one of the only species, along with humans, that leave a trace on Earth that is visible from space.
A trace left on the Earth
A dam to protect itself,
But only visible from the star world.”