''The Unnatural and Accidental Women'' is a play by Metis playwright

Marie Clements Marie Clements (born January 10, 1962) See p. 147. is a Canadian Métis playwright, performer, director, producer and screenwriter. Marie was founding artistic director of urban ink productions, and is currently co-artistic director of red diva pr ...

about the disappearance of multiple Indigenous women from the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver whose deaths of extremely high blood-alcohol levels were all caused by one man,

Gilbert Paul Jordan Gilbert Paul Jordan (born Gilbert Paul Elsie; December 12, 1931 – July 7, 2006), known as The Boozing Barber, was a Canadian serial killer who is believed to have committed the so-called "alcohol murders" in Vancouver, British Columbia. Backgrou ...

. In an attempt to reclaim the lives and importance of the victims, which was largely ignored by press coverage of the Jordan case, Clements' play is a surrealist exploration that jumps around in time to show the women in the final days before their deaths. Through the figure of the daughter of one of the victims, who is searching for answers to her mother's disappearance, the women are brought back to life and talk about their hopes, desires, and challenges as residents of "Skid Row" in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Characters

* Rebecca — ages 4 and 30, Mixed blood/Native, a writer * Rose — age 52, English immigrant * Aunt Shadie — age 52, Native, later revealed to be Rebecca's mother * Mavis — age 42, Native * The Woman — age 27, Native * Valerie — age 33, Native * Verna — age 38, Native * Violet — ages 27 and 5, Mixed blood/

Afro-Canadian Black Canadians (also known as Caribbean-Canadians or Afro-Canadians) are people of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent who are citizens or permanent residents of Canada. The majority of Black Canadians are of Caribbean origin, though t ...

* The Barbershop Women: a singing, dancing trio ** Marilyn — age 25, Native ** Penny — age 30, Native ** Patsy — age 40, Native * The Barber — ages 30s and 60s, white * Ron — age 35, a cop

Production history

''The Unnatural and Accidental Women'' premiered on November 2, 2000, and ran until November 25 at the

Firehall Arts Centre The Firehall Arts Centre (also called the Firehall Centre for the Arts) is an arts centre in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The building also falls within the borders of Gastown. Firehall is a small building, original ...

in Vancouver. Produced by

Native Earth Performing Arts Native Earth Performing Arts is a Canadian theatre company located in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1982, Native Earth is Canada's oldest professional Indigenous theatre company. Native Earth is dedicated to developing, producing and presenting pro ...

Buddies in Bad Times Theatre Buddies in Bad Times Theatre is a Canadian professional theatre company. Based in Toronto, Ontario and founded in 1978 by Matt Walsh, Jerry Ciccoritti, and Sky Gilbert, ''Buddies in Bad Times'' is dedicated to "the promotion of queer theatrical ex ...

from November 18 to December 5, 2004. In 2019, as the first presentation of the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) (french: Centre national des Arts) is a Arts centre, performing arts organisation in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre build ...

's (NAC) Indigenous Theatre department, the NAC staged ''The Unnatural and Accidental Women''. The production was directed by

Muriel Miguel Muriel Miguel (born August 15, 1937) is a Native American director, choreographer, playwright, actor and educator. She is of Kuna and Rappahannock ancestry and was born and grew up in Brooklyn, New York. In 1976, Miguel founded the Spiderwoman ...

and starred PJ Prudat as Rebecca and

Monique Mojica Monique Mojica ( Kuna and Rappahannock) is a playwright, director, and actor based out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She was born in New York City, but came to Canada as founding member of Native Earth Performing Arts. She has appeared in several ...

as Aunt Shadie. Miguel's production was the second time Mojica had played Aunt Shadie. Colleen Winton,

Yolanda Bonnell Yolanda Bonnell is a Canadian actress and playwright. She is most noted for her play ''Bug'', which was a Governor General's Award nominee for English-language drama at the 2020 Governor General's Awards. Early life and education An Anishina ...

, Columpa C. Bobb,

Cheri Maracle Cheri Maracle is an Aboriginal Canadian actress and musician of Mohawk-Irish descent. Early life Maracle graduated in 1989 from Prince Rupert Secondary School. At seventeen, she moved to Vancouver to study theatre at Capilano University and the ...

, Nimikii Couchie-Waukey, Lisa Cromarty, Pierre Brault, Olivier Lamarche, Jenifer Brousseau, Soni Moreno, and Kelsey Wavey also appeared in the show.

References

Plays based on actual events Plays set in Canada Canadian plays Works about violence against women Downtown Eastside Vancouver in fiction Violence against Indigenous women in Canada {{Vancouver-stub Works about crime in Canada Crime in British Columbia

Characters

Production history

See also

References