![]() Rita Joe was born on Main Whycocomagh, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. His home was turned into the George Ryga Centre, an arts and cultural centre (closed 2012).Rita Joe was a Mi'kmaw poet and songwriter, often referred to as the Poet Laureate of the Mi'kmaq people. He died in Summerland, British Columbia in 1987. In 1971, the work was performed as a ballet by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. It was performed in Vancouver, at the National Centre in Ottawa, and in Washington State. The work, considered by many to be the most important English-language play by a Canadian playwright, is the story of a young native woman arriving in the city who finds that she has no place with either her own people or the white man. He achieved national exposure with The Ecstasy of Rita Joe in 1967. Ryga’s first play, Indian, was performed on television in 1961. While living in Edmonton, he published his first book, Song of My Hands (1956), a collection of poems. The following year he returned to Canada. In 1955, he travelled to Europe, where he attended the World Assembly for Peace in Helsinki and worked for the BBC. George continued to study, taking correspondence courses, and winning a scholarship to the Banff School of Fine Arts. Unable to continue his schooling past the sixth grade, he worked at a variety of jobs, including radio copywriter. George was born in Deep Creek, near Athabasca, Alberta to poor Ukrainian immigrant parents. George Ryga (J– November 18, 1987) was a Canadian playwright and novelist with a broad international reputation. A poetic drama of enormous theatrical power, The Ecstasy of Rita Joe had a major influence in awakening consciousness of the “Indian problem” when it was first performed in Canada’s centennial year and has since become one of the most contemporary Canadian plays. Rita Joe is a young Native woman who leaves the reservation for the city, only to die on skid row as a victim of white society’s violence and paternalistic attitudes toward First Nation peoples. For more clarity, do refer to the Study Guide issued by The National Arts Centre English Theatre Programmes for Student Audiences.Īmazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon India | Kobo | B&N It makes the audience feel uncomfortable through its display of violence, distortion, and exaggeration. I could imagine what an impact it would have had on me had I watched it sitting in a theatre as it played out along with direct interaction with the audience. A play which will rankle long after it ends. A story of displacement, unfulfilled aspirations, lost identities, about how working in the city doesn’t guarantee happiness while staying in the Reservation doesn’t satisfy one’s growing ambitions seeing that there are not many opportunities there. Through a myriad of characters, Ryga powerfully describes the situation which brought tears to my eyes and filled my heart with fury. What happened with Rita Joe is an eye-opening take on the injustices that the Reservation people have to face at the hands of the White people. More than the form, the play is a means to the end for the message that it seeks to convey. The play reads like a modern fable, with hidden meanings that bring forth the plight of the characters. First is the White man’s prerogative of how she should look, dress, act, have an accent! The second being that she’s at a disadvantage in even her own community for being a woman. Another one is the feminist angle, which made me think of double discrimination which women from Rita’s community have to face. The two major themes are the Canadian White’s ignorance towards the Native Canadians, often acting as the latter’s saviours. I once warmed up to the magistrate who was hearing Rita’s case, but he too makes the law a reason with which to further increase Rita’s suffering. The play then uses the weather and the memories of Rita’s lover, Jaimie Paul, and her sister, Eileen to move the narrative forward in a beautifully haunting way. It follows a couple of other false charges that have been piled upon her by the police. ![]() In the mid-1960s, the play opens on a courtroom scene where Rita Joe is being charged with vagrancy. ![]() But instead, she has to suffer at the hands of the state and the system, ultimately leading to her tragic demise. It chronicles the life of a woman from the First Nation, Rita Joe, who reaches the city in search of work. ![]() A play in two acts, The Ecstasy of Rita Joe is the best known Canadian play. ![]()
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