HUFF by Cliff Cardinal (Native Earth Performing Arts). At Young Centre for the Performing Arts (50 Tank House). Runs to October 28. $35, stu $20. nativeearth.ca. Rating: NNNN
Audiences are lucky to have another chance to see Cliff Cardinals award-winning, hard-hitting and endlessly creative solo show that shines a light on the disturbing realities of life on a reservation. Told from the perspective of Wind, a boy dealing with his mothers suicide, Cardinal crafts a dream-like narrative where this vibrant young imagination, racing a-mile-a-minute, is entangled in poverty, solvent abuse and horrific violence.
An extremely talented writer and storyteller as well as an engaging, instantly affable performer, Cardinal conjures a dizzying array of well-defined characters in Winds world: his womanizing father, carefree step-mother, protective grandmother, unstable older brother and innocent younger brother. He also plays a skunk and its anthropomorphized smell, which scores some of the biggest laughs. Beginning with the plays unforgettably harrowing opening scene, Cardinal cleverly engages the audience, occasionally regarding them as part of a hallucination or vision, so its intriguingly unclear if the fourth wall is ever broken.
Cardinal effectively blends intensely distressing aspects of Winds day-to-day existence with the jokes and games that he and his little brother turn to for escape. Very funny stories, observations and physical comedy co-mingle with desperate acts and nightmarish revelations. In one scene, Wind and his younger brother excitedly mimic the countdown of a space launch while choking each other into unconsciousness playing something they call the blackout game.
Director Karin Randoja makes inventive use of the minimal set and props, nicely enhancing Cardinals heady mixture of wondrous imagination and hostile social environment. Beer bottles become different students at the reservations troubled school an overturned milk crate serves as a convenience store counter.
Despite Cardinals knack for well-placed humour, the story may still prove too upsetting for some who have experienced physical or sexual violence. That said, Huff urgently calls attention to serious problems Indigenous people face every day, and does so with the subtly of a hurled brick crashing through a window. Its too soon to label Huff a masterpiece, but it seems to be on its way, and Cardinal is a huge young talent brimming with potential. Everyone who feels able to deal with the subject matter should take the opportunity to experience this play.
