Last year, I attended Cliff Cardinals radical take on Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.” In a surprising plot twist, it didn’t end up being a performance about the classic play and instead, a 90 minute land acknowledgment from writer and poet Cliff Cardinal. It was an extraordinary reflective piece about reconciliation, the sincerity of land acknowledgments in Canada and other important big questions such as : Why are Indigenous people always seen connected to the ecosystem? And why can’t we separate a scientist delivering facts from her cultural identity?
Here is a review of the show (I wish I could find clips online of it!) : https://nowtoronto.com/news/review-cliff-cardinal-delivers-a-radical-take-on-as-you-like-it
If you ever have a chance to see his work, I highly recommend it!