Deer Woman is premiering for the first time ever as a part of Kia Mau Festival. Tara Beagan is the writer and she also directs with Andy Moro. The show features music by Lacey Hill. It is labelled as “an act of righteous vengeance”; there is no doubt in my mind that that is true.

Cherish Violet Blood delivers almost two hours of monologue. Her character, Lila, is a lesbian ex-army Blackfoot woman living in Canada. Cherish has been performing since she was 12. As an indigenous performer she cannot even recall how many times she has died on stage. As a two-spirited person herself, it is also her first ever lesbian role. Her investment in the story is clear throughout her performance. 

The show is welcomed by Hone Kouka and Mīria George for Kia Mau Festival. I wonder if the challenge of communicating the text for Aotearoa’s audiences will be large. While the style and content are clearly foreign, there are also several themes that are relatable, especially for Māori theatre audiences. Deer Woman sits well amongst the diverse range of content. 

What I particularly enjoy is the way Cherish plays with the crowds. There are several moments where her monologue pulls us in to a heartfelt hush. Soft gasps and empathetic sighs can be heard from the audience. Cherish pulls at our emotions then directs them back at us with a heavy chuckle.

Her chuckle is directed at the sympathies of a passive audience who will likely leave a show and reflect no more on the realities within, and the one-dimensional portrayals of indigenous women. It is a reminder that for once, it will be the indigenous woman who controls her own story. This is something rarely seen outside of a theatre company such as Article 11.

Watching Deer Woman, I feel closer to reality than to theatre. At no point during the performance can I distance these words, written on paper and then spoken to us, from the social and political reality of the content. Deer Woman is a reaction to the ongoing murder, abduction and human traffiking of indigenous women: a situation that is often denied or covered up by the authorities in colonised Canada. As an indigenous woman myself, I become uncomfortable when realising the realities that this show references.

Deer Woman is a vengeful reaction: it is playful but is absolutely not polite. Whilst remaining tight-lipped, I must promise you that the final minutes of the show are truly unforgettable.

The audience seems to leave buzzing, with many a thoughtful face to be spotted in the crowd. I can only hope that this play will have a similarly succesful reaction in Canada. 

(Trigger warnings: The show contains some violence and references to sexual abuse.) 

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