Racism, sexism, colonialism, and bullying are at the centre of the children’s play Bluenose, produced by Montreal’s Black Theatre Workshop.
Written by playwright Emil Sher in 2003 for Geordie Productions, the message of Bluenose still resonates today, according to director Tamara Brown.
“There’s so many ways to look at this story,” Brown said. “I think on its surface one can look at as being a story about bigotry, or being a story about the differences between two different cultures.”
The story revolves around Ku played by Nadine Bhabha, a young but confident blue-nosed woman, who accidentally washes up on the deck of three pirates with red noses.
“She’s also the feminine character in the play,” Bhabha said.
“She does get victimized, but she doesn’t become a victim, she overcomes the hardship she endures on the ship.”
The pirates, who appear to be lost at sea, are in search of an island inhabited by an indigenous population.
That island is said to possess treasure and the pirates will do anything to get their hands on it, but Ku tries to convince them otherwise.
Bluenose is on tour through school’s in the greater Montreal area until the end of February.