Notre Dame Catholic High School’s production of original play Zaagi’idiwin: Love and Little Fires in finals of Dramafest Ontario Showcase

By JESSICA SHACKLETON

Notre Dame Catholic High School will represent Toronto at the National Theatre School (NTS) Drama Festival Ontario Showcase with their original play, Zaagi’idiwin: Love and Little Fires.

Notre Dame is one of 12 secondary schools advancing to the provincial Dramafest finals taking place in North Bay from May 8 to 11.

Schools enter one of approximately 24 District Festivals across the province and are then invited to Regionals (North, East, South, West, Central, and Toronto), and two
Regional winners make it to the finals.

Dramafest is an annual event for high schools across Canada and its goal is to give students a creative, safe space to showcase original theatre productions. It was previously sponsored by Sears and the National Theatre School became the official presenter in 2017.

East Toronto’s St. Patrick Catholic Secondary School also advanced to the finals of Dramfest with its production of Mag-ina.

Notre Dame drama teacher Sara Pedrosa has been involved with the NTS Dramafest for 10 years; for four as a student and now this is her sixth play as a teacher.

The students from Notre Dame have been working together since September on Zaagi’idiwin: Love and Little Fires. The play the real story of how they crafted their production. There are many layers to the play, and it is comprised of interviews, fiction, and the writing process itself.

The story follows a high school drama club that decides to write a play about Truth and Reconciliation.

They work with knowledge keeper Nahanni Shingoose who tells them they lack Indigenous voice and offers her own family’s story. She shares the incredible life story, teachings, and music of her father, Curtis Jonnie Shingoose, a legendary singer-songwriter.

Through his story and guided by Nahanni, the students learn to decolonize their writing. It is a journey of the process of building relationships with Indigenous communities.

The Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) Indigenous Education Department connected the Notre Dame students with Nahanni Shingoose who helped them convey an important message both in the play and real life.

As student actor and writer Alex Walke explained: “(It’s) how the story isn’t just the story.”

Along with Walke, Madison Runge and Eloise Harrington are the Notre Dame students acting in the play.

They each won an award at Regionals of Dramafest. Runge is an actor and production designer and received a Distinctive Merit for Digital Media award. Harrington and Walke both received awards for Exploration of Dramatic Form.

The Notre Dame students and staff are looking forward to presenting their play to a new audience at the finals. They are especially excited to be taking part in the showcase in North Bay, which has a large Indigenous community. So far, the play has only been performed in Toronto.

Zaagi’idiwin: Love and Little Fires is ultimately about relationship between people, said Harrington, and what we can learn from the experiences of others.

“It’s the beginning of their own journey of reconciliation. Hopefully, it ignites something in them,” said Harrington, on what she hopes audiences will take away from the play.

The unique structure of the play makes it an immersive experience; telling both the story of Curtis Jonnie Shingoose and of the TCDSB students. The audience is learning about Shingoose alongside the students.

Both Runge and Harrington will be attending Western University next year and will see if they can use their production skills there.

“We’re just excited to put it on again,” said Harrington, after a week of rest from rehearsal.

Walke is in Grade 11 and already has ideas for next year, including potentially putting on an entirely silent play.

This is not the first time Notre Dame has made it to provincial finals, and they have won many awards throughout the years.

In 2023, the school’s original musical production of From The Wreckage won an Outstanding Achievement award for Best Original Music.

Since the Ontario Showcase is the final stage of the NTS DramaFest, the awards are more like the Oscars of the festival and recognize the hard work students put into the productions.

For Notre Dame, though, winning is not the biggest goal.

The students said they all learned more about Truth and Reconciliation and have become conscious of how they learn, interpret, and portray important Indigenous stories.

After doing so many plays, Pedrosa noticed that this one had different stakes for those involved.

“It felt like an act of service and a responsibility,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to show a new audience and see how it is received.”

For more information on the Dramafest Ontario Showcase, please go to https://ent-nts.ca/en/intro-nts-dramafest-ontario

To learn more about Curtis Jonnie Shingoose, please go to https://shingoose.ca/