Kim Harvey and Billy Merasty shine in Where the Blood Mixes

Credit: David Cooper

A River Runs Through Us

Success lies Where the Blood Mixes

At first glance, Kevin Loring’s Where the Blood Mixes may seem like a tough go: an aboriginal-penned play about residential school survivors coming to terms with years of abuse and cultural decimation. But one of the most surprising things about the Belfry’s revival of this award-winning 2008 work is just how darn funny it is. True, much of the audience will find themselves in tears by the end of this 90-minute, no-intermission piece—a fact which speaks to the emotional truth at the core of Loring’s remarkable script—but still, it’s funny. Very funny. Laugh out loud funny…which, when you consider the Belfry’s track record with comedies (not always their strongest point), is really saying something.

We first meet Floyd (Bill Merasty) and Mooch (Ben Cardinal) at the local saloon, where bartender George (Tom McBeath, ironically the only white actor in this show) is serving up wry humour along with pitchers of beer. It’s a very Canadian scene, all pull-tabs, Mac jackets and blue-collar laughs, with Floyd and the aptly named Mooch—who has once again swiped money from his long-suffering girlfriend June (Margo Kane)—coming off as an aboriginal Kramden and Norton. But it’s not long before the serious subtext appears in the form of Floyd’s estranged daughter Christine (Kim Harvey), who was long ago seized by the government after the death of Floyd’s wife and is now looking to reunite with her father. Her appearance uproots never-really-buried memories and forces the various characters to come to terms with the individual paths they were all forced to take en route to this spot where the rivers meet, where the blood mixes.

In the hands of a less-accomplished playwright, this could indeed be heavy-handed stuff; but Loring—who picked up the 2009 Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama for this piece—has a remarkable ear for subtlety; it’s simply amazing this is his first play, despite the fact the 36-year-old is an acclaimed actor in his own right.

Wonderfully directed by Glynis Leyshon who, after decades of work at the Belfry, has a virtuoso’s touch with this space, and is reunited here with key players (the outstanding Merasty, Cardinal and Kane) from her original mounting of this show. Not only does this experience shine in the cast’s roundly excellent performances, but Leyshon’s ability with the quiet moments—a silent Floyd sitting downstage during a long scene between two other characters, or a shining piece of cloth that transforms from a baby to an escaping salmon—equals her skill with the more overtly dramatic points. As with any survivor’s tale, the key is to balance the comedy with the nightmare, creating a frighteningly real portrait of loss, longing and possible recovery, both personal and cultural.

With live music accompaniment by composer-musician Jason Burnstick (whose guitar strains work much better here than did a similar device in 2007’s Mesa) and a simple but engagingly surreal set by Robert Lewis, Blood has a fresh, timeless look, thanks in large part to the shifting, swirling projections by Jamie Nesbitt (Brilliant!) of visual artist Carl Stromquist’s designs, and Itai Erdal’s (My Three Sisters) atmospheric lighting.

A suitably modern piece addressing a very contemporary issue, Where the Blood Mixes should be mandatory viewing for anyone seeking an understanding of the longterm effects of the sins of our collective fathers, anyone involved with aboriginal affairs on a governmental level or those simply willing to be engaged by an excellent cast performing a damn good piece of theatre.

Where the Blood Mixes
To February 21
The Belfry, 1291 Gladstone
Tickets $23-$38 • 250-385-6815

Note: The February 9 performance is a pay-what-you-can benefit for the Tsow-tun Le Lum Society and playwright Kevin Loring is speaking up at UVic this week (see Words). Also, Billy Merasty does a star turn in the lead role of Elijah Harper in the Canadian film Elijah, which is currently available for rent at Pic-a-Flic.