This summer, Reconciliation Theatre is taking its first original play, Nice While it Lasted, on the road and telling audiences to “reconcile your Canada Day” with its upcoming “tour of nations.”
Hitting up Snuneymuxw territory (Nanaimo) this weekend from June 28 to July 1 at the OV Arts Centre, Nice While it Lasted — written by Reconciliation Theatre’s co-founder Dan Puglas — will also travel to K’ómoks territory (Courtenay), Wei Wai Kum territory (Campbell River), Qualicum First Nation and Lekwungen traditional territory (Victoria).
“The basic premise is that you have a guy who left his hometown to go on a journey of self-discovery and he doesn’t discover the things that he wants to,” says Puglas.
The main character Hunter, played by Puglas, then returns to his hometown to try and make amends with the people he cut out of his life and try to reconnect with his culture and spirituality, “but he doesn’t really know how to do that, because he lost his grandma, who is his main connection to his culture.”
Though he admits with a laugh that he personally never “ditched out on anybody,” he can relate to the character of Hunter, says Puglas.
“He’s dealing with the repercussions of his actions, realizing that there’s a lot of different ways that his life could have played out if he had just stayed close with the people that he cares about,” he says.
Shenanigans ensue as Hunter brings his “bad influence” friend Eli (played by Jesse Wilson) along on his journey, during which Hunter reconnects with old friend Willow (played by Whitley Dunn) against the looming backdrop of a quickly-approaching forest fire.
The somewhat semi-autobiographical story also touches on Puglas’s experiences around the loss of his grandmother, respected Kwakwaka’wakw Elder Gla tle gla tle tlo se la o gwa (Sally Williams).
“When I originally wrote the first draft, I was fresh out of dealing with the passing of my Auda and felt very emotionally volatile, so I figured, what better outlet than to write it down into a play?” he says. “But then after I wrote it, I kind of let it sit on the shelf because it’s a very personal thing for me.”
After showing the script to some friends and people within the local theatre scene, they convinced Puglas to put the play into production and show it to other communities.
Since founding Reconciliation Theatre out of a playreading group he started with Tom Rokeby in 2018 (who directs and does set and sound design on Nice While it Lasted), the company has put on a number of other shows including its first production, True West, in 2022 and last year’s The Berlin Blues by Drew Hayden Taylor.
Nice While it Lasted plays at the OV Arts Centre in Nanaimo from June 28 to 30 at 7:30 p.m. and tickets are available in advance by e-mailing reconciliationtheatresociety@gmail.com. There is also a free July 1 Canada Day performance at 2 p.m.
The tour then stops in Courtenay at the Sid Williams Theatre on July 4, at Campbell River’s Rivercity Stage on July 13, at Qualicum First Nation’s QFN Hall on July 4, in Duncan on July 20 and in Victoria at the Langham Court Theatre from Aug. 1 to 4.
