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Join us for this live, online discussion with author Yolanda Bonnell (Ojibwe/South Asian) to discuss her play bug.

About this Event

Join us for this live, online discussion with author Yolanda Bonnell (Ojibwe/South Asian) in conversation with researcher and theatre-worker Jill Carter (Anishinaabe/Ashkenazi) to discuss our January Indigenous Book Club selection bug. The event will be broadcast on Facebook Live. Register to receive reminders and the link.

Our Stories: Indigenous Book Club series is a partnership between the National Arts Centre’s Indigenous Theatre and the Ottawa Public Library.

A separate book and author event will be announced each month.

About the play bug

The Girl traces her life from surviving the foster care system to her struggles with addictions. She fights, hoping to break the cycle in order to give her daughter a different life than the one she had. The Mother sits in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, recounting memories of the daughter that was taken from her, and the struggles of living on the streets in Northern Ontario. They are both followed by Manidoons, a physical manifestation of the trauma and addictions that crawl across generations.

bug is a solo performance and artistic ceremony that highlights the ongoing effects of colonialism and intergenerational trauma experienced by Indigenous women, as well as a testimony to the women’s resilience and strength.

About the author

Yolanda Bonnell (She/Her) is a Queer 2-Spirit Ojibwe/South Asian performer, playwright and poet from Fort William First Nation in Thunder Bay, Ontario (Superior Robinson Treaty Territory). She is now based in Tkarón:to. Yolanda’s Dora-nominated solo show bug had its world premiere at the Luminato Festival in 2018, followed by a national tour and a remount at Theatre Passe Muraille in February 2020. She was also a part of Factory Theatre’s The Foundry, a creation program for new career writers, where her play Scanner continues to be developed towards production.