Rise, Red River

The map of the land is in our blood.

A woman trawls the bottom of a riverbed with a makeshift plough, hoping to dislodge something--anything. The world has drastically changed: rivers run dry, rampant bushfires leave little left to burn. Still she persists searching for the stories of her loved ones, maybe even her own. She is not alone--an ancestor watches nearby. This desolate landscape is about to unearth its long-held secrets.

Inspired by the grassroots organization Drag the Red, which searches for evidence of missing Indigenous women, girls, and 2 Spirit people in the Red River of Treaty One Territory, this ethereal and engrossing drama is a profound offering to those who persevere in spite of sorrow. Told in Anishinaabemowin, English, and French, Tara Beagan’s prophetic play draws a direct connection between the treatment of Indigenous peoples and the abuse inflicted on the land. Fluid and majestic like the river itself, Rise, Red River is an invocation, a revelation, and a call to action.

Tara Beagan is a proud Ntlaka’pamux and Irish ＂Canadian＂ halfbreed. She is cofounder/director of ARTICLE 11 with Andy Moro. A11 has worked in Aotearoa, Australia, and Edinburgh. Beagan has served as artistic director, community liaison, and co-artistic associate of Native Earth Performing Arts. Residencies include Cahoots, NEPA, the National Arts Centre, Berton House, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Banff Playwrights Lab, and, in 2024, New Harlem Productions. Nine of her thirty-seven plays are published, and two have received Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations, with one win. In 2020, Honour Beat won the Gwen Pharis Ringwood Award. Beagan is also an award nominated actor and director. She is the 2020 laureate of the Siminovitch Prize.