New play light change of pace

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British Columbia theatre group Spirit Song's latest production "Shape Shifter" is taking Native theatre in a new, light direction.

Director Ronnie Way says he wasn't interested in doing a play with a moral, as many Native playwrights feel obliged to.

"Too many plays have a message to tell," says Way, "I just wanted to do a play that people could enjoy."

Shape Shifter is a collective work written by Way and students who attended Spirit Song's annual theatre school last year. This year the play is performed by professional actors. Darrell Dennis, teen heart throb of CBS Northwood show, does a good portrayal of a the main character John opposite Dean Aylesworth, an aspiring Vancouver actor and playwright, who plays Jim.

The plot is about two friends who are forced to sleep in a cave overnight after a day fishing trip goes awry. However, it it no ordinary cave, it possesses mystical powers to steal human souls.

The audience is treated to special effects ranging from trickling water, talking cave walls and shifting rocks, all which give the effect of an Egyptian tomb. The eerie atmosphere is constant throughout the storyline and adds to much of the play's popularity.

Spirit Song is successful in creating a cave setting. A tye-dyed parachute, strategically placed, makes the audience feel they are sitting within the place of action. Shape Shifter is definitely entertaining and leaves a feel-good impact on an audience.

"I see Native theatre moving away from didactic messages and relying more on the mysticism and beauty of Native culture," says Spirit Song Administrator Wayne LaRiviere. "Still, I don't mind a play that is able to raise questions within a viewers mind."

Shape Shifter was among 22 plays to participate in the First Annual Men's Festival in Vancouver last April. Starting in June the play will tour throughout B.C.

The one-time small Native acting community in Vancouver is slowly growing and LaRiviere claims it's great to have a bigger selection of actors to choose from.

"Having a known TV actor like Darrell Dennis attracts a bigger audience," says LaRiviere. "I think it also shows that Natives are no longer beginners in the acting field. Someday names like Graham Greene and Russell Means will be as common as Tom

Cruise or Jack Nicholson and I fee that time is not far off."