Welcome to It Takes Two! On this podcast, we pair five emerging artists with five professional mentors to work together on an informal mentorship process. Over four weeks, pairs will develop and create a performance piece as well as record an interview together to talk about their process.

In this episode, Mady Richard and Yvette Nolan discuss the intersection of Indigenous identity with playwriting and theatre.

Richard (she/her) is a queer Indigenous performer and creator. She is currently training at the University of Manitoba and has trained with the Village Conservatory for Music Theatre and with Ken Peter’s Dance Express. Mady’s most recent projects include Grumplestock’s (Rose Coloured Apocalypse and Eleventh Hour Productions) and Antigone Now (University of Manitoba). She spent the summer with One Trunk Theatre as part of their Resident Artist program and is looking forward to continuing her artistic journey!

Yvette Nolan (Algonquin) is a playwright, director and dramaturg. Her works include the play The Unplugging, the dance-opera Bearing, the libretto Shawnadithit. She co-created, with Joel Bernbaum and Lancelot Knight, the verbatim play Reasonable Doubt, about relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities in Saskatchewan. From 2003-2011, she served as Artistic Director of Native Earth Performing Arts. Born in Prince Albert, raised in Winnipeg, she currently lives in Saskatoon, where she is pursuing her Masters in Public Policy at Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Arts Council, as well as our producing partner the Crescent Arts Centre, in making this podcast possible.