Riel Study Guide (Final)

- Study Guide -
Louis Riel
a comic-strip stage play
based on the graphic novel by Chester Brown
adapted & directed by Zach Fraser
performed in English & French
February 25 - March 5, 2016
Thursday to Saturday + Tuesday to Saturday @ 8pm
Saturday, March 5 @ 4pm + 8pm
Weekday matinées available upon request.
With the generous support of:
In partnership with:
Development assisted in part by:
BOX OFFICE
514.843-7738 / [email protected]
SYNOPSIS
Riel sits in a courtroom; a judge will soon sentence him to death by hanging. He must plead his case
and we, the audience, get to see an important piece of Canadian history. Louis Riel : A Comic-Strip Stage
Play, is a bold portrayal of a young Canada going through some of the most difficult growing pains ever.
Based on the acclaimed graphic-novel, Louis Riel : A Comic-Strip Biography by Chester Brown, this puppet
adaptation is a theatrical bonanza as we gallop into our past.
In this version of events we, the audience, get to see Louis Riel become the leader of the Métis people of
the Red River Settlement. He speaks both French and English, he is part Aboriginal, he is Catholic and he
is educated and literate. His people are worried their land will be taken away by the English from the East
and he sets off to negotiate with the ‘intruders’.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald is busy worrying about a potential threat from the
United States who might want to annex the ‘untamed’ western lands that have not yet been fully settled by
Europeans. He wants to see his dream of an expanded Canada all the way to the western frontier realized
and the Métis of the Red River Settlement will prove to be a real obstacle.
Over several years, negotiations continue between the settlers and the government in Ottawa. The Métis
begin to organize themselves around Louis Riel and form their own provisional government. Pretty soon, as
tempers flared and each side felt either betrayed, ignored or bothered by the other, battle lines were drawn.
Louis Riel and his Métis followers arm themselves and the Royal Canadian Mounties are sent to the
settlement to suppress a rebellion. Macdonald’s railway becomes the Mounties’ vehicle for moving west and
eventually blood is spilled.
Several battles leave Métis and Mounties dead and eventually the embattled Riel is brought to trial.
Despite having been elected to parliament twice by his people, despite his efforts to find a politically
negotiated agreement, despite all that Riel believed as a devout Catholic, he is met with serious accusations
and is eventually tried for treason.
His punishment – death by hanging.
Jump to today and Riel’s legacy is still rather
conflicted. He is considered a father of Manitoba
complete with a statue in front of the legislature
but for others he is still a rebel. As conflicted as
the story is, it speaks to a uniquely Canadian
dilemma, where a hero to some stands as a rebel
to others; in the end we are left with a compelling
Canadian tale.
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CHESTER BROWN (Graphic Novelist)
Chester Brown was born in Montreal and grew up in the nearby suburb of Chateauquay. Brown has gone
through several periods in his comics work. In the 1980s, he gained notice in alternative comics circles for
the improvised, surreal, scatological Ed the Happy Clown. He followed this with revealing, confessional
autobiographical comics in the early 1990s. In 1991, he signed on with Drawn & Quarterly, which has since
come to be recognized as an internationally renowned publishing house of literary graphic novels and art
books from around the globe. Brown's historical-biographical graphic novel of rebel Métis leader Louis Riel
was a surprise mainstream success in the early 2000s. In 2011, he released his controversial pro-prostitution
polemic, Paying For It. Expected in 2016: Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus, the retelling in comics form of nine
biblical stories that present Chester Brown’s fascinating and startling thesis about biblical representations
of prostitution.
THE GRAPHIC NOVEL
Louis Riel : A Comic-Strip Biography won Harvey Awards for Best Writer and
Best Graphic Album for its compelling, meticulous, and dispassionate
retelling of the charismatic,and perhaps mad, nineteenth-century Métis
leader. Louis Riel was also nominated for Eisner, Ignatz, and Libris Awards;
featured on the Globe and Mail’s list of the 100 best books of the year, and
Quill and Quire’s list of the five best Canadian non-fiction books of the year;
and excerpted in the comics issue of McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern.
RUSTWERK REFINERY
RustWerk ReFinery was founded in 2007 by Zach Fraser and Attila Clemann. Both playmakers work in all
aspects of theatre, as directors, designers, teachers, performers and writers. RustWerk ReFinery is Zach and
Attila’s forum for a rough and frayed theatrical aesthetic that reveals the glow of the inner human condition.
The company has toured the festival hit …and stockings for the ladies extensively since 2007, most recently playing
at the Toronto Centre for the Arts. The play was presented at several venues throughout eastern and central
Canada, as well as New York. Louis Riel : A Comic-Strip Stage Play is the company’s 2nd full-length production.
ZACH FRASER (Director)
Zach is a Montreal-based director, actor, puppeteer, puppet maker and teacher. Directing credits include an
original adaption of José Saramago’s Blindness for John Abbott College, The Aeneid and Coma Unplugged (Talisman
Theatre), ...and stockings for the ladies (RustWerk ReFinery). Puppet designs include The Nisei & the Narnauks
(Persephone Productions) for which he recently won a META (Montreal English Theatre Award), MacBeth Walking Shadows (Shakespeare in the Ruff, Toronto), The Aeneid (Talisman Theatre), and The Heretics of Bohemia
(Scapegoat Carnivale/Segal Centre). Performances include Province (Talisman Theatre/The Other Theatre), The
Game of Love & Chance (Canadian Stage/Centaur Theatre), Trench Patterns (Infinithéâtre), Mémoire de Lou (Théâtre
de l'Avant-Pays) & L’hommencolère (Le Bureau - firme théâtrale). As a movement coach, Zach worked on Sherlock
Holmes (Segal Centre) and Kafka’s Ape (Infinithéâtre). Zach teaches mask and movement in the Theatre
Department at John Abbott College.
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STYLE of THEATRE
Puppets are not just for kids
RustWerk ReFinery likes to use physical theatre and
puppets to tell true stories about Canada. Our aim is
to use creative ways to tell fascinating stories; stories
we think need to be told but that also deser ve
something lively in their telling.
We chose to use puppets in this adaptation because we
think puppets are a kind of natural extension of the
graphic-novel or comic-strip world. Puppets create
pictures for the audience; pictures that we can
manipulate and move. Puppets allow a freedom for the creators to jump through time; to change
locations very quickly; to use fun character voices; to change perspectives much like we see in film
or animation. We also wanted our puppets to be inspired by the original source, Louis Riel : A
Comic-Strip Biography by Chester Brown. It’s a beautifully crafted graphic-novel with lots of fun
details we could use as inspiration for the play.
THE CREATIVE TEAM
Adaptation, Direction & Puppet Design - Zach Fraser
Dramaturge & Collaborator - Attila Clemann
Original Music - Tristan Capacchione
Set Designers - Romain Fabre
Lighting Design - Luc Prairie
Performers - Charles Bender, Jimmy Blais,
Jon Lachlan Stewart, Anne Lalancette + Cat Lemieux
“There were two societies who treatied
together. One was small, but in its smallness
had its rights. The other was great, but in its
greatness, had no greater rights than the
rights of the small.”
- Louis Riel
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TEACHABLE TOPICS
Before the play
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Review the events of the Red River Rebellion & the North-West Rebellion.
Review caricatures of Sir John A Macdonald.
Review the history of the Canadian Railway.
Review the treaties between the First Nations & the Government of Canada.
After the play
Here are some questions to provoke discussions based on the production and the content.
Responding to Content
• What was the most interesting or surprising thing you learned about Louis Riel?
• What did you think about Canada in 1885? Would you have liked to live in that time?
• To this day, Louis Riel is considered by some people to be a hero while others think he was a
traitor. Did you feel the play tried to portray Louis Riel as a traitor or as a hero?
Responding to the Theatre
• What did you expect when you heard there were puppets in the show?
• What did you think of the style of the piece?
• Did anything happen on stage that made you think you would like to take part in theatre?
ACTIVITIES
1. Make History Alive!
• Why does history have a reputation of
being boring or dry?
• What would make it more interesting to
you?
History doesn’t come from books!
• Try to make a list of 20 ways we might
learn something about an historical event.
(songs, novels, poems, photos, the internet,
letters, newspapers, etc)
• Now pick a way that sounds fun and different; something that excites you.
• Pick a historical figure and use your chosen media to create something about that person. It could
be a song about a famous person. It could be a drawing of a map with details of famous events. It
could be a dance that shows how some event occurred. Remember; even if it does not use words,
people need to understand what you mean.
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2. Political Satire
There is a long tradition of making fun of
political leaders through puppets and cartoons.
You can find some examples of caricatures
from the time of Sir John A Macdonald and
other characters mentioned in the play here:
https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/sir-john-amacdonald/023013-7040.1-e.html
Can you create your own political cartoon?
• Create a caricature of a politician; larger
than life, a kind of cartoon version of the
real politician.
• What features could you exaggerate?
• What themes associated with that politician might you make fun of ?
3. Graphic Novels
Chester Brown is part of a growing trend of graphic novel artists who use historical events in their
art. What would it be like to try your hand at creating a cartoon based on history?
Create you own short graphic novel
• Pick an event you are passionate about or interested in researching.
• Try to reduce your research down to the 8 most important moments and give a title to each
moment.
• Draft out two pages with four squares on each page.
• Try to draw the eight moments you chose.
Try to not forget to fit in all the important details. Give your characters something to say. Make it
both short but filled with details. Don’t worry if you are not a great drawer, use cartoon language
and logic to make the story clear, you are inventing your own style.
USEFUL LINKS
• Louis Riel - http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/louis-riel/
• Red River Rebellion - http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/red-river-rebellion/
• Nor’West Rebellion - http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/north-west-rebellion/
• Métis Nation of Canada - http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_metis/fp_metis1.html
• HBC - http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/hudsons-bay-company/
• CPR - http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/canadian-pacific-railway/
• 2 Views on Treaties - http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_treaties/fp_treaties_two_views.html
• Graphic Novels - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphic_novel
• Victorian Toy Theatre - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toy_theater
• Shadow Theatre - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadow_play
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THE VENUE
La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines
3700, rue Saint-Dominique
Montréal (QC) H2X 2X7
(Between Pine Avenue & Prince-Arthur.)
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Thursday, Feb 25 - Saturday, Feb 27 at 8pm
Tuesday, March 1 - Saturday, March 5 at 8pm
PRICING
Regular : 29$
Discount : 25 $
(under 30 / professional artists)
GROUP RATES
Groups of 10 or more : 20$
To reserve group tickets, please contact the
La Chapelle box office at 514-843-7738.
[email protected] • www.lachapelle.org
Members of the creative team will be available for audience talkback sessions upon request.
RustWerk ReFinery is also available for pre-show & post-show school visits. www.rustwerk.ca
“…a gripping story…
LOUIS RIEL is comix history in the making,
and with it, history never looked so good.”
- The Globe & Mail
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