A show about a trailblazing Indigenous woman is set to take to the stage at the Firehall Arts Centre—and close out the theatre’s vibrant 2023-2024 season.

Paddle Song, a one-woman musical starring Cheri Maracle, is based on the legacy of Mohawk poet E. Pauline Johnson, who is notable for her work that reflects her mixed-race heritage and her strong feminist views. 

Written by Dinah Christie and Tom Hill, Paddle Song shares her story—from growing up canoeing on the Grand River, to travelling throughout North America and Europe as a single woman and speaking about her experiences as an Indigenous and English person to primarily white audiences.

Johnson was also a renowned feminist who fought endlessly for inclusivity and acceptance for women in the male-dominated literary industry.

“Women are fonder of me than men are,” Johnson said, as quoted in Veronica Strong-Boag and Carole Gerson’s Paddling Her Own Canoe: The Times and Texts of E. Pauline Johnson. “I have had none fail me, and I hope I have failed none. It is a keen pleasure for me to meet a congenial woman, one that I feel will understand me, and will in turn, let me peep into her own life—having confidence in me, is one of the dearest things between friends, strangers, acquaintances, or kindred.”

Paddle Song

When: May 25 to June 2

Where: Firehall Arts Centre

Tickets: $30+, available here