Okinum

In french (with anishnabemowin and english)

In Anishinaabemowin, Okinum means dam. In deciphering a recurring dream about a giant beaver, writer, co-director and performer, Émilie Monnet, discovers how to break down interior barriers and trust in the power of dreams and intuition. Okinum is an ode to reclaiming language and reconnecting to one’s ancestors.

A captivating combination of performance, live sound, and visual storytelling, the play is a circular and immersive experience that interweaves three languages: English, French and Anishinaabemowin. Featuring a score performed live by musician Jackie Gallant, this captivating monologue deftly combines elements of autobiographical fiction and documentary theater. Throughout the performance, dreams and memory flow into one another across time and space.

An Onishka production in collaboration with Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal.

Emilie Monnet BIOGRAPHY
At the intersection of theatre, performance and sound, Émilie Monnet’s work is most often presented in the form of interdisciplinary theatre or performative installations. Her artistic approach favors collaborative and multilingual creative processes, and explores themes of memory, history and transformation. A committed interdisciplinary artist, she founded Onishka Productions in 2011 in order to forge links between artists from different Aboriginal communities, regardless of their discipline. Since 2016, she has presented Indigenous Contemporary Scene / Scène contemporaine autochtone, a nomadic platform for the dissemination of Aboriginal performing arts. Five editions have been created to date. She has also recently premiered her new creation, Marguerite: le feu (2022), after Okinum (2018) and Kiciweok: Lexique de treize mots autochtones qui donnent un sens (2019). Émilie is of Anishnaabe-Algonquin and French descent and currently lives between the Outaouais and Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyaang / Montreal.