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this modern adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s 'Little Eyolf' explores the uneasy intersection of privilege and birthright

Gloria May Eshkibok, Jennifer Copping; Photo by Tim Matheson.
Indian Arm

Indian Arm

By Hiro Kanagawa

Rita and Alfred Allmers live in an isolated family cabin on native leasehold land overlooking Indian Arm, a still untamed glacial fjord just north of Vancouver, BC. With Alfred—a formerly promising novelist—now struggling with his latest work, Rita has been tasked with caring for their adopted son Wolfie, a sensitive First Nations teen who has been designated as “special needs” for much of his life.

Rita’s resentments and frustrations are further embittered by her younger half-sister, Asta, a constant reminder of the innocence, idealism, and sexual allure Rita once had and yearns for again. The fragile impasse of their lives is torn asunder by the appearance of Janice, the surviving member of the Indigenous family who leased the land to Rita and Asta’s reclusive and mysterious father over fifty years ago. With the lease now expired, they are all engulfed by the secrets and contradictions of their lives and of the land itself—in both the past and the present—and their stories are drawn inexorably toward an unspeakable tragedy.

Production History

Awards

  • Winner of the 2015 Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding Original Script

  • Winner of the 2017 Governor-General’s Literary Award for Drama

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