illioo Native Theatre is happy to present a work-in-progress reading of their new play BlueJay’s Canoe, at Artists Repertory Theatre, June 1 and 2, 2025.
Readers and actors needed for ten roles, including Indigenous, Latinx, LGBTQIA and other characters. All are welcome!
Readers will receive honorariums. BlueJay’s Canoe is supported by a Creative Heights Grant from Oregon Community Foundation. (More about this project below.) This reading is co-sponsored by Portland State University and Native Arts and Cultures.
AUDITIONS:
WHEN: Monday, Feb. 24, 2025
TIME: 5pm – 7:30pm
WHERE: Portland State University, Lincoln Hall Room 7
To get to Lincoln Hall 7, enter through the double glass doors at the corner of SW Broadway and SW Market Street. (Room 7 is the ground floor acting studio.)
PLAN: arrive between 5 and 7pm; plan to stay about 30 min. We will provide parts from the play BlueJay’s Canoe to read.
REHEARSALS & PERFOMRANCES: Those cast must be available for evening rehearsals during the week of May 25-31, and performances on June 1 (3pm matinee) and June 2 (7pm evening show). (see below for rehearsal schedule)
QUESTIONS: If you can’t make Monday Feb. 24, but still want to try out, or have questions, email Theresa at
tmay33@uoregon.edu SYNOPSIS and CHARACTERS:
BlueJay’s Canoe weaves Native stories with recent & timeless history into a contemporary tale of healing, recovery and resilience. The story takes place in the Pacific Northwest during the uncertain times of 2020-21 as sixteen-year-old XAK lands an internship at KMAS Indigenous radio where he meets the brash Indigenous radio host, BLUEJAY/qisqis, and his Auntie GOLDIE, a storyteller. Why did BLUEJAY abandon the canoe he was building years ago? Together with XAK’s family and the mysterious HERON, we learn the key to BLUEJAY’s past and witness the healing of a river and a family. Moving across time and space from the covid pandemic and Oregon wildfires into the landscape of stories and back again. Filled with humor, history and Indigenous life-ways of Oregon, BlueJay’s Canoe is a story about the power of stories, and responsibility for the places we inhabit, and our connection to the people, creatures, lands and waters we share.
Characters:
(Note that Indigenous language names are not capitalized because capitalization is a function of English translation and is not found in Indigenous languages except as part of phonetic spellings.) (We prioritize proactive representation; however, actors do not need to have specific heritage/identity of the characters they play.)
BLUEJAY/qisqis (M 40s)(Takelma/Kalapuya/Chinook), radio host, music buff, ITEK knowledge holder, and everyday philosopher.
GOLDIE (W 70s) (Kalapuya/Chinook), BlueJay’s Auntie, tribal elder, storyteller.
HERON/yuŁqat-tHiya?wit (W 17),(Takelma/Chinook/Kalapuya), a spirit person and the force that weaves the play together.
XAK (M 15-16) (Klamath-Modoc/Chumash/Mexican American); eager.
CASCADIA (W 30s), (Klamath-Modoc), XAK’s mom, an emergency room doctor; also works 2 days a week at Indian Health Services.
RAMÓN (M late 30s/early 40s) (Chumash/Mexican American), XAK’s father; hydraulic engineer; teaches high school in Act 1.
HAZEL (W late 70s), (white/Irish settler heritage), CASS and RAMÓN’s neighbor, married to Chuck, a grass seed farmer, though the family has been involved in several regional industries including gravel and timber.
CRICKET (gender fluid 16-17) (white or multiracial) HAZEL’s grandchild, XAK’s friend.
About illioo Native Theatre & BlueJay’s Canoe
iIlioo means “joyful” in the language of the Kalapuya people, on whose land we are honored to live, work and play. Founded in 2020 by Marta Lu Clifford (Chinook, Cree, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde), Theresa May, and Lori Tapahonso (Diné, Acoma Pueblo), illioo Native Theatre celebrates and showcases Native/First Nations/Indigenous dramatists and artists through productions, concert readings and workshops. illioo honors the spiritual importance of traditional performance forms, including storytelling and song in the development of new works that tell stories that need to be told.
BlueJay’s Canoe, by Theresa May & Marta Lu Clifford (Chinook, Cree, Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde), has been developed with the support of Oregon Community Foundation’s Creative Heights Grant. The play tells stories of Indigenous Oregon as two families navigate the challenges of recent years, including the pandemic and fires. A story of healing, filled with humor, this is a play about the power of stories in everyday life, or as the play says, “sometimes stories save your life.”
Rehearsal & Performance Schedule for ART reading June 1, 2, 2025
Rehearsals on zoom the week of May 26-30 (evening; we may not use all these dates):Monday, May 26, evening rehearsal / zoom
Tuesday, May 27, evening rehearsal/ zoom
Wednesday – May 28 – hold open for possible evening zoom
Thursday May 29 – hold open for possible evening zoom
Rehearsal in person at ART Portland:
Friday May 30 – OFF
Saturday May 31 – in person day-time rehearsal, Portland (probably at PSU)
Sunday, June 1, Performance; 12:30 pm actor call at ART for rehearsal; 3pm Matinee, followed by talk-back
Monday, June 2, Performance; 6 pm actor call; 7 pm performance
