ON STAGE
What: Bury the Hatchet
Where: The Belfry Theatre, 1291 Gladstone Ave.
When: Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Tickets: $30 from tickets.belfry.bc.ca
The abundance of creativity on display during Bury the Hatchet means the event will get underway well before attendees enter The Belfry this weekend.
Those who take in the community-based cultural offering from members of the local Indigenous community will meet in the Fernwood courtyard outside the theatre, one hour prior to each performance. Coming ashore protocols (a tradition during which visitors asking permission to “come ashore”) will be in place for this event, after which representatives from the Songhees First Nation will welcome guests inside the building.
Once inside, patrons will be met with a transformative art exhibit, Spirit in the Fringes — one of many multi-layered pieces that will unfold through the course of the production.
The Culture Den, the production team of primarily Indigenous women that is behind Bury the Hatchet, has partnered with The Belfry for this event, and has the full run of the space. That the host venue is a former church was not lost on artist Sarah Rhude, who created the sights, sounds, and smells of Spirit in the Fringes as a bridge between cultures.
“It’s being called an art intervention, because The Belfry is a former church” said Jody Bauche, a performer with the Visible Bodies Collective who is participating at the event. “It’s a momentary pause of consideration before going into the performance.”
Myriad forms of art — music, visual art, dance — were brought together under the Bury the Hatchet umbrella by storyweaver Lindsay Delaronde, a guiding force of the project who was the City of Victoria’s Indigenous artist in residence from 2017-2019. It was Delaronde’s decision to have the eight local groups participating create their pieces independently of each other. Bauche, Rhude, and Delaronde were joined by more than a dozen collaborators, including the Lafayette String Quartet, during the process.
“It has only been in the last month that we started group rehearsals and were able to see each others’ performances,” Bauche said.
Delaronde wasn’t haphazard in her approach. Bauche said Delaronde facilitated rehearsals with some overarching goals in mind, including peace and restoration but also justice and resolution.
“Lindsay’s performances that she put together are life-transforming, for the people who are participating in them as well. We’ve all grappled with burying a hatchet in our lives, in some way, shape, or form. With what’s happening in the world right now, we are stronger when we are together in this, but some people are feeling really anxious. This is an invitation to have a conversation about working together.
“I know that sounds like rose-coloured glasses, but there is an element of justice to it. We can’t have peace without justice, so that needs to be acknowledged.”
