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Unikkaaqtuat

Produced by The 7 Fingers, Artcirq and Taqqut Productions

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Jan. 9-12, Babs Asper Theatre, National Arts Centre

Reviewed Thursday

Unikkaaqtuat, the first presentation of 2020 for the National Arts Centre’s new Indigenous theatre department, is a feast for the senses, not only beautifully executed and gracefully performed, but also important because it provides an eye-opening perspective of life in the Far North, where people had the unimaginable task of having to hunt rabbits in the dark to provide food for their families.

The darkness is a pervasive element, a stark reminder of the Arctic’s long winter nights, and the play opens with a long stretch of it. Just when it starts to get uncomfortable, the lights shine on a hospital scene.

A young Inuk man, confined to a hospital bed for two weeks, receives a cassette tape to pass the time, and begins listening to a recording of an elder telling some of the old stories in Inuktitut, tales that have been passed down for generations.