Museum
On Nov. 19 Yukoners can grab a drink and a snack at the Yukon Transportation Museum and hunker down for a favourite Yukon pastime: telling stories of backwoods adventures.
The event, called Tales of the Trails, will feature Yukon storytellers Sharon Shorty, Ruth Carroll and David Neufeld among others, as well as music by Sally Lutchman. Local comedian George Maratos and Gwandaak Theatre President Melaina Sheldon will be MCing the event. The evening is a fundraiser for Gwaandak Theatre.
“The theme Tales of the Trails makes a lot of sense because it’s a fundraiser for Map of the Land, Map of the Stars which is all about stories from the land,” says Marjolene Gauthier, general manager for Gwaandak Theatre. “It’s really linked to what we do (at Gwaandak).”
Map of the Land, Map of the Stars is Gwaandak Theatre’s current on-going project, a collaborative, indigenous-centred, interdisciplinary theatre workgroup focused on traversing the rivers and lands of the Yukon. The project, which began in the summer of 2015, will feature a workshop at the upcoming Magnetic North Festival in June as the next part of its development.
This is the third fundraiser Gwaandak has held in as many years. Tales from the Trails is a follow up to last year’s Tall Tales from When They Were Short event, which focused on Yukoners telling stories from their youth, says Gauthier.
“We’re really proud of the event this year,” Gautheir says. “It’s part of (Gwaandak Theatre’s) mandate to empower First Nations storytellers and this year most of the tellers are First Nation.”
Aside from the main event, there will be a cash bar, door prizes, appetizers and an open mic session for people who want to share stories of bush adventure.
“People are welcome to come and tell their own stories,” she says. “We hope it will be funny and encourage people to try new things.”
Doors open at 7 p.m., storytelling begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at Well Read Books.
