Research summary
In the 1960s, the experiences of Indigenous people in Canada became a subject for plays being performed in Canadian theatre—and by the 1990s, they were a part of mainstream theatre in the country. As Canada Research Chair in Land-based and Relational Dramaturgies, Dr. Lindsay Lachance is supporting Indigenous theatre-making by exploring land-based approaches to contemporary theatre.
Her research examines land-based and relational dramaturgies. These may involve physical interactions with land and water, or may be invoked philosophically in developing a process’s framework (or practitioners may look to create stories and language structures as land-based resources). These processes are important for thinking through the political iterations of Indigenous people who practise theatre in Canada despite their historical exclusion from it. Lachance is developing a research collective with theatre artists and academics that will result in an educational document, a monograph to fill a gap in the field’s scholarship, and an anthology and podcast based on the collective’s findings.