Indians: A controversial play in 1980
As my exit from the theatre of life is imminent, I remember so fondly the many student actors with whom I had the privilege to work over a 35-year teaching career at Champlain St. Lawrence College in Quebec City.
The first play that I directed at St. Lawrence took place in the spring of 1980.
Indians, by Arthur Kopit, was initially staged at the Aldwych Theatre in London on July 4, 1968. It is a long one-act play that is about the genocide of the American Indians and the legendary figure of Buffalo Bill who is both sacrificial hero and sly showman. Indians is an experimental, absurdist piece featuring unconventional plotting and characterization.
The power of this play’s message and its avant-garde presentation garnered Kopit admiration, launching his career as a playwright from collegiate productions to the professional realm.
The late 1960s, when Indians was first produced, was a tumultuous time in the history of the United States. Minority groups, including the American Indians, were fighting for equal civil rights, which were legally granted by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Abroad, the U.S. government had involved itself in the Vietnam War against which many U.S. citizens protested. Kopit was inspired to write Indians after reading that the deaths of innocent people killed in the Vietnam War were viewed as the “inevitable consequences of war.” Indians is a critical look at a brutal period in history, the consequences of which both Americans and Canadians are still trying to face and acknowledge today.
Arguably, the play was ahead of its time. It certainly baffled and upset many audience members back in the day.
Read more about the play and the author here:
The Grand Duke Alexis, played in the St. Lawrence production by Paul Cummins, is seen here strangling the play’s director.
Grand Duke Alexis of Russia visits the United States, and Buffalo Bill escorts him on a tour of the wild west. The grand duke is excited by Buffalo Bill’s cowboy lifestyle and kills an Indigenous brave, Spotted Tail, in an effort to be more like Buffalo Bill. The grand duke’s simple-minded view of the Indians is similar to that of the Ol’ Time President of the US, as depicted in the play.
I am immeasurably grateful to all the students who performed so wonderfully in productions for our school’s annual Theatre Week and in the full-length plays that showed off their immense talents.
I hope to write more about these lovely people before leaving this stage of my existence.
Your friend,
Robert
More about St. Lawrence theatre and about the actor who played Buffalo Bill here:
Getting old is no piece of cake – Robert McBryde
Oh how I remember that play. I also remember getting permission from Hugh Fraser to remain as sound and lights tech because I had fallen victim to what was it, regulation 30 and was sent home for the rest of the semester, which gave me some time to make a basic radio link from the equipment room where all the sound was done, back to Chuck the rocking Robot that was managing the back wall follow spots.
And the following year when our very own Version of Michael J Fox with red curly hair moved from Bill Cody to Willy Loman. And Chuck learned to knock on a bathroom door before entering while we were running lines at your place across from Le Drugstore in Old Qc.
(Did we not take DOAS on the road on the road, two or three other schools? St.Pats High, and maybe CEGEP Chicoutimi?)
Thanks for the re-memories. And for being tough on my work in class. Those $10 words have paid a bunch of bills over time.
Great to hear from you, Randy! You were a terrific technician.
Yes, we took DOAS on the road. At least two maybe three schools, including all the way to Chicoutimi!