We strongly recommend that masks be worn in our venues. As our theatres place the audience so close to the action on stage, masking helps protect not only audience members but also the actors, who cannot wear masks when performing. By keeping them safe, we all can help prevent COVID-related performance
videotaping or other video or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.
The use of cameras, cellular phones, paging devices and all other record ing devices is strictly prohibited in the theatre. Please ensure all cellular phones and watch alarms are turned off. Neptune Theatre is a scent-free environment.
Neptune Theatre is a member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres and engages, under the terms of the Canadian Theatre Agreement, professional Artists who are members of Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. Neptune Theatre engages professional technicians represented by IATSE Local 680.
Neptune Theatre acknowledges the support of our government partners:
CAST
CREATIVE TEAM
In huff, brothers Wind, Huff, and Charles are trying to cope with their father’s abusive whims and their mother’s recent suicide. In a brutal reality of death and addiction, they huff gas and pull destructive pranks. Preyed upon by Trickster and his own fragile psyche, Wind looks for a way out, one that might lead him into his mother’s shadow.
“huff began, like all my stories do, as a creative exploration of the pain of those living outside the mainstream: the weirdos, the addicts, and the romantics. To take the characters to their lowest, where they hurt the most, and to find them there with love. huff represents the people whom I believe are Canada’s most taboo subculture: First Nations youth abusing solvents, at high risk of sui cide. The challenge of telling a story so bleak is to draw the audience in, not push them away; to inspire hope, not hopelessness; and especially to incite others to tell their own stories.”
– Cliff Cardinal
Named by The Globe and Mail as a Canadian Cultural Icon in 2022, Cliff Cardinal is a polarizing writer and performer known for black humour and compassionate poeticism. His
solo theatre productions Stitch, huff, and Cliff Cardinal’s CBC Special have won numerous awards. He is an associate artist at Video Cabaret where he develops his new work. Born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reser vation, he studied playwriting at the National Theatre School of Canada and fronts the hilarious and nefarious Cliff Cardinal and The Skylarks.
Cardinal is best known for his oneman play huff, which he has per formed over 200 times. This harrow ing yet hilarious show about youth who abuse solvents, at high risk of suicide won the Buddies in Bad Times’ Vanguard Award for Risk and Innovation, two Dora Mavor Moore Awards (Outstanding Performance,Outstanding New Play), RBC’s Emerging Playwright Award, The LustrumAward (which recognizes the great est moments at the Edinburgh FringeFestival), and was shortlisted for Amnesty International’s Freedom Of Expression Award. The production garnered a five-star review in The Guardian Observer titled “a hard-hit ting tour de force.” huff has been published, translated into French, continues to tour and was released as a podcast by the CBC.
A big thank you for joining us at Prismatic 2022! For those of you who are new to us, welcome to Prismatic: an annual, multidisciplinary arts fes tival that solely showcases the work of Indigenous artists and artists of colour.
Fourteen years ago, our national ly-recognized festival dedicated to equity and justice was founded un der the guidance and leadership of Shahin Sayadi, with one sole pur pose: to support the artists. Since day one, race politics have been at the forefront of what we do, and we continue to recognize the importance and leadership of artists as the ultimate change-makers, guid ing the direction of our sector and the world beyond it.
Looking to the present where issues and priorities perpetually change in the world around us, we are grateful for our new creative partnership as the Company in Residence at Nep tune Theatre, which includes the Open Spaces Program—providing free rehearsal space to artists, and supporting the regional creative arts community.
Working together to bring the work of the esteemed and incredibly talented Cliff Cardinal to the Scotiabank Stage this year reinforces a com mitment to the phenomenal artists who have dedicated their lives to ex pressing the way they see the world through art. It’s their innovation, courage, and talent that continues to drive our work as a platform that amplifies their art and our leadership in opening space for their voices where they are often excluded.
Cliff is a brilliant and talented story teller; through his writing and pow erful stage presence, he continual ly gifts audiences with resounding truths. We invite you to join us with an open heart and mind to receive all that is huff
Raeesa Lalani, Artistic Director, Prismatic Arts Festival
PRISMATIC STAFF LIST
Raeesa Lalani Artistic Director
Shahin Sayadi Executive Director
Maggie Stewart Managing Director
Kelly Li Managing Producer
Hannah Zamora Marketing & Communications Co-ordinator
Michael Mader Technical Director
Matthew Kratz Technical Assistant
PRISMATIC BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jacqueline Warwick Chair
Miya Turnbull Vice-Chair
Kate Hamilton Secretary & Treasurer Jeff Ward
Laurie Gillis
Neal Morgan
Kaif Lalani
Finally, a whole pandemic later, we get to welcome Cliff Cardinal, and his play huff, to Neptune Theatre in a longplanned presenting collaboration with The Prismatic Arts Festival.
With the powerful vision and voice of its creator, this play is the first play in our 60th anniversary season to play on our Scotiabank Stage and we could not be in better hands.
Working closely with a company in residence such as the Prismatic Arts Festival allows us endless opportuni
join forces and hold space for
in many ways: performance, creation, and support. We are thrilled
find you joining us today, in this space, for huff.
General Manager
Webb, Artistic Director
CLIFF CARDINAL
Role: Playwright/Performer
Named by The Globe and Mail as a Canadian Cultural Icon in 2022, Cliff Cardinal is a polarizing writer and performer known for black humour and compassionate poeticism. His solo theatre productions STITCH, HUFF, and CLIFF CAR DINAL’S CBC SPECIAL have won numerous awards. He is an associate artist at Video Cabaret where he develops his new work. Born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, he studied playwriting at the National Theatre School of Can ada and fronts the hilarious and nefarious Cliff Cardinal and The Skylarks.
Cardinal’s first multi-character play, TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, opened Video Cabaret’s 2019 season at The Busy Street Theatre in Toronto with Cardinal himself directing. A workshop version of the script debuted at Summerworks ’13, where NOW Magazine said, “This captivating tale of an off-grid mother and her desperate children solidifies Cardinal as one of the most talented and intriguing writers in the country.”
Cardinal is best known for his one-man play HUFF, which he has performed over 200 times. This harrowing yet hi larious show about youth who abuse solvents, at high risk of suicide won the Buddies in Bad Times’ Vanguard Award for Risk and Innovation, two Dora Mavor Moore Awards (Outstanding Performance, Outstanding New Play), RBC’s Emerging Playwright Award, The Lustrum Award (which recognizes the greatest moments at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) and was shortlisted for Amnesty Internation al’s Freedom Of Expression Award. The production gar nered a five-star review in The Guardian Observer titled “a hard-hitting tour de force.” HUFF has been published, translated into French, continues to tour and was released as a podcast by the CBC.
CLIFF CARDINAL AND THE SKYLARKS’ first recording, THIS IS NOT A MISTAKE was released in 2016 and their follow up GONNA BE FINE was released in 2020, both are available online. The band’s upcoming release is due out in summer 2022 on Merlainen Music.
CLIFF CARDINAL’S CBC SPECIAL, a songwriter/storyteller performance, toured festivals in Ottawa, Calgary, St. Cath arines, through Canada’s North starting in Yellowknife and won the Jon Kaplan Spotlight Award for the top perfor mance at Toronto’s SummerWorks Festival.
Cardinal lives in Toronto with his wife Sage Paul (Artistic Director of Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto), their dog, Frodo, and their cat, Tiga.
RYAN CUNNINGHAM
Role: Producer Ryan is nêhiyawêwin
from Amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton) and a member of The Michel Band First Nation. He is the Co-Founder of Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts where he was the founding artistic director from 2009-2014. He was the artistic director at Native Earth Performing Arts from 2014-2017. In 2017 he founded Cunning Concepts & Creations a production/management company that tours the world with the award winning play HUFF written and performed by Cliff Cardinal. As an actor he has performed on stag es across the country for the past 27 years including: The Shaw Festival, Crows Theatre, The National Arts Centre, Native Earth Performing Arts, the Citadel Theatre and The Firehall Arts Centre… to name a few. Currently he is an artist in residence at the BMO Lab at UofT and Canadian Stage Theatre. And this year was awarded the Rising Star Award as the Emerging Director at Crows Theatre. Ryan has been nominated for the KLM Hunter Artist Award and the inaugural Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize.
KARIN RANDOJA
Role: Director/Dramaturge
Karin is a director, specializing in devised performanc es, including huff; Cliff Cardinal’s CBC Special; This is the Point; Gertrude and Alice; Jacinto; Brotherhood:The Hiph opera; Breakfast and Clean Irene and Dirty Maxine. Karin was a founding member of Primus Theatre, The Indepen dent Aunties, and The Dance with Us, Not with AIDS project in Mozambique, Africa. Her work has received numerous Canadian and International awards and has been seen in Australia, Denmark, England, India, Italy, France, Japan, Mo zambique, Scotland and the U.S. As a teacher/director, she has worked at Humber College, The Centre for Indigenous Theatre and The National Theatre School Canada, of which she is also a graduate.
ALEX WILLIAMS
Role: Sound Design
Alex has been a media artist, actor and filmmaker for the past 20 years. Selected credits besides Huff include Hon our Beat (The Grand), Kiss (Canstage/ARC/Theatre Smash), Fare Game (Theatre Passe Muraille), You are Here (Horse shoes and Handgrenades), The Heiress (Chemainus). His investigative documentary The Pass System, about segregation of Indigenous people in Canada, was broad cast nationally and received two Canadian Screen Awards nominations. Williams holds a BFA in Film/Video (Emily Carr University), an MFA in film (York), is a doctoral candidate (York), and taught both at the National Theatre School and Sheridan College in Design and Production.
MICHELLE RAMSAY
Role: Lighting Design
Other Theatre: among men, Year of the Rat, acts of faith (Factory Theatre); The Doctors Dilemma, Sherlock Holmes and the Raven’s Curse (Shaw Festival); 9 to 5: The Musical (Capitol Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Our Town (Theatre Rusticle); Broken Tailbone (Nightswimming); RUR: A Torrent of Light, Shanawdihit (Tapestry Opera); Lilies (lemonTree Creations/Why Not). Other: She has received eight Dora Awards, a SATAward, the 2008 Pauline McGibbon Award, and was a finalist for the 2021 Siminovitch Prize. She is on the Board of the Associated Designers of Canada.
ALLAN DAY
Role: Technical Director
Allan is so happy to be here and back with the fantastic Huff team. He’s also been the Head of lighting for many years at the Fleck Dance Theatre in Toronto.
JENNIFER STOBART
Role: Stage Manager
Jennifer has has the honour of touring with huff for seven years. A veteran of live theatre, having stage managed over 165 professional productions in theatres both grand and modest, Jennifer has toured coast to coast in Canada and the United States several times, to Dublin, Ireland, London, England, Sydney, and Perth Australia, and Edinburgh, Scotland. Recently she stage managed the runway performances with Indigenous Fashion Arts (in Toronto), Dreaming Roots for the Yukon First Nations Culture and Tourism, in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, The Four Poster with The Classic Theatre Festival in Ottawa, and, As You Like It: A Radical re-telling by Cliff Cardinal in Peterborough Ontario. Immediately up coming, she will be heading to Edmonton to work on Tosca with the Edmonton Opera Company. As always she sends her love to her Mom, her adventuring travelling companion.
