The Unnatural and Accidental Women

The Unnatural and Accidental Women is a play by Metis playwright Marie Clements about the disappearance of multiple Indigenous women[1] from the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver whose deaths of extremely high blood-alcohol levels were all caused by one man, Gilbert Paul Jordan.

The Unnatural and Accidental Women
Written byMarie Clements
Date premieredNovember 2, 2000 (2000-11-02)
Place premieredFirehall Arts Centre, Vancouver, British Columbia,  Canada
Original languageEnglish
SubjectMissing and murdered Indigenous women, Gilbert Paul Jordan
SettingDowntown Eastside of Vancouver

In an attempt to reclaim the lives and importance of the victims, which was largely ignored by press coverage of the Jordan case, Clements' play is a surrealist exploration that jumps around in time to show the women in the final days before their deaths. Through the figure of the daughter of one of the victims, who is searching for answers to her mother's disappearance, the women are brought back to life and talk about their hopes, desires, and challenges as residents of "Skid Row" in Vancouver.[2]

Characters
  • Rebecca — ages 4 and 30, Mixed blood/Native, a writer
  • Rose — age 52, English immigrant
  • Aunt Shadie — age 52, Native, later revealed to be Rebecca's mother
  • Mavis — age 42, Native
  • The Woman — age 27, Native
  • Valerie — age 33, Native
  • Verna — age 38, Native
  • Violet — ages 27 and 5, Mixed blood/Afro-Canadian
  • The Barbershop Women: a singing, dancing trio
    • Marilyn — age 25, Native
    • Penny — age 30, Native
    • Patsy — age 40, Native
  • The Barber — ages 30s and 60s, white
  • Ron — age 35, a cop

Production history

The Unnatural and Accidental Women premiered on November 2, 2000, and ran until November 25 at the Firehall Arts Centre in Vancouver.[3]

Produced by Native Earth Performing Arts at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre from November 18 to December 5, 2004.[4]

In 2019, as the first presentation of the National Arts Centre's (NAC) Indigenous Theatre department, the NAC staged The Unnatural and Accidental Women.[5] The production was directed by Muriel Miguel and starred PJ Prudat as Rebecca and Monique Mojica as Aunt Shadie. Miguel's production was the second time Mojica had played Aunt Shadie.[6] Colleen Winton, Yolanda Bonnell, Columpa C. Bobb, Cheri Maracle, Nimikii Couchie-Waukey, Lisa Cromarty, Pierre Brault, Olivier Lamarche, Jenifer Brousseau, Soni Moreno, and Kelsey Wavey also appeared in the show.[7]

See also

References
  1. Wikler, Alexandra. "The Unnatural and Accidental Women". Blogs UBC.
  2. "Unnatural and Accidental Women, The » Books » Talonbooks". talonbooks.com. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
  3. "AMMSA – Native Book Reviews – The Unnatural and Accidental Women By Marie Clements". www.ammsa.com. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
  4. "The Unnatural and Accidental Women | Native Earth Performing Arts". www.nativeearth.ca. Retrieved 2017-03-30.
  5. Saxberg, Lynn (2019-09-15). "Theatre review: The Unnatural and Accidental Women stuns with ambitious, powerful show". Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
  6. Friend, David (2019-09-03). "'It's about time': Ottawa's Indigenous Theatre prepares to launch". CTVNews. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  7. Morrow, Martin (2019-09-15). "Review: The Unnatural and Accidental Women strikes the right celebratory note for beginning of new era at Ottawa's National Arts Centre". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2022-09-08.
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