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The Gift finds its voice in performance

John Aitken offers story as a bridge to healing
The Gift
Shelley MacDonald and John Aitken perform The Gift at Presentation House Theatre this weekend.

The Gift, Feb. 19-21 at North Vancouver's Presentation House Theatre. Evening performances: 8 p.m. Matinee performances: 2 p.m. Tickets: $28/$20/$15. phtheatre.org

"These are my memories. This was my experience and understanding," says Coast Salish artist and activist John Aitken, describing The Gift, an autobiographical work of physical theatre that he both co-wrote and is co-starring in that opens today at Presentation House Theatre.

In the piece, Aitken offers insight into his personal journey towards finding his voice, all the while hoping to act as a bridge between indigenous and non-indigenous communities, as well as serve as a conduit to healing.

"It is a difficult story to tell but it is ultimately a story about overcoming adversity, overcoming a lot of violence, dysfunction. I didn't speak until I was 18 and here I am today at 48, speaking for 30 years.. .. How do I fit into society? How do I fit in with my native community and how do I fit in with the non-native community too? With my activist hat on I think how this is what we need to do, all of us, is start working together."

Aitken co-wrote The Gift with fellow Mayne Island resident Gail Noonan, an animator, the result of a casual conversation between the pair while riding on BC Ferries. He had offered insight into his past, his late father's challenges with alcoholism and mental illness, and ultimately the effect posttraumatic stress disorder had on him as a young boy, keeping him silent.

"When she heard that from me, it got her attention," says Aitken. Noonan called him a couple of days later and asked whether he would be interested in collaborating on a theatre piece. Expressing his willingness, what followed was a flood of strong memories from his childhood: growing up with six siblings and, "the death of mom when I was seven, the death of dad when I was 13 and then all the violence with dad beating my mom. Those were pivotal points," he says.

Slowly the work, Aitken's first, grew to its current form as a 60-minute piece. The Gift doesn't include any dialogue, in light of his own silence for so many years, rather the story is presented through drumming, singing, vocal sounds, humour, mask, movement and dance. For the physical components of the piece, Aitken drew on his experiences as a dancer with an amateur company in Victoria when he was in his late-teens and early-20s.

Joining him for the North Vancouver performance is Shelley MacDonald, a friend and former Presentation House board member.

"It's always been really important for me as an indigenous person to work with non-indigenous people," says Aitken.

Writing and performing The Gift has proven helpful for Aitken's own journey of healing. When he originally started collaborating with Noonan, he thought the process would run smoothly, that he was in a good place, however the more they delved into the process, the more he realized he still had a lot of work to do.

"At this point, after five years, what I need to do to perform this so many times is I put my professional theatre hat on and I become just an actor. It's not me, but it is me," he says.

To help others on their respective journeys of healing, The Gift is concluded with a talking circle.

"Gail and I felt that we needed to be responsible as artists to permit people an opportunity to share what they were feeling and to ask questions to fill in some of the gaps," he says.

The intense and emotional piece is making its North Shore debut this weekend, running through Sunday at Presentation House. So far The Gift has been performed only in the Gulf Islands and at William Head prison on Vancouver Island.

Aitken hopes to tour the work provincially, nationally and internationally. While its message is of course of interest to indigenous people, it's also universal in nature. He has received positive feedback to that effect with audiences expressing their take that, "this isn't about colour, this isn't about a specific culture. This is what many of us need to talk about -the violence, the alcoholism, the struggles, the demons," he says.

Made possible thanks to a Canada Council grant, The Gift is the first of what Aitken hopes will be many works presented by his company, Surrounded by Owls Productions.

"I chose that (name) because I was told when I was a kid that when Coast Salish people pass away, that we all come back as owls. Being called Surrounded by Owls Productions just means that whatever I'm doing, I'm surrounded by my family, I'm not doing anything alone," he says.

Future projects include a solo show for himself that explores his being of mixed ancestry - Coast Salish and Scottish. He's also working on a documentary related to residential schools.

When asked how he continues to stay positive in the wake of what he has overcome in his life and where his motivation towards helping others is derived, Aitken says, "What I fill myself with is gratitude, that for whatever reason I did survive all that and here I am. How could I be anything but grateful? Every day I give thanks."