
Written and Directed by Matthew MacKenzie
Factory presents an Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts and Punctuate! Theatre production
As the prime suspect in a workplace accident, Floyd flees through the Rockies to escape the clutches of the RCMP. On his riveting journey westward to the Pacific, Floyd looks back on his childhood, meets some unlikely companions, and undergoes a startling transformation. A love letter to nature and critique of the devastating consequences of industrial expansion, Bears is a wild multi-disciplinary adventure.
Bears will leave you breathless
NOW Magazine
Bears combines ingenuity, humour, and a powerful message
Toronto Star
A highly entertaining evening at the theatre
The Globe and Mail




About the Playwright/Director

Matthew MacKenzie
Matthew Mackenzie is a multi-award winning and Sterling nominated playwright. Among his awards and recognition are the National Theatre School’s Lieutenant Governor’s award for excellence and community involvement, Tarragon Theatre’s Top Emerging Playwright Award (2012), and he was the 2010 Grand Prize recipient of the 44th Alberta Playwriting Competition. Matthew has had nearly a dozen of his works produced in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, and New York. Since the 2014 theatre season, Matthew has had 8 professional premieres of his work across Canada.
In 1841, MacKenzie’s great, great, great kokom Kisiskaciwan passed through Alberta. For three days, as her party stocked up on supplies, she sat by the North Saskatchewan River—her namesake, and cried. An Englishman recorded in his account of the journey that Kisiskaciwan had the same veneration for the North Saskatchewan as those of the Hindu faith do for the Ganges. This historical account led MacKenzie to write Bears.
Cast

Sheldon Elter
Floyd

Tracey Nepinak
Mama

Shammy Belmore
Chorus

Karina Cox
Chorus

Skye Demas
Chorus

Lara Ebata
Chorus

Zoë Glassman
Chorus

Rebecca Sadowski
Chorus

Kendra Shorter
Chorus

Gianna Vacirca
Chorus/She Grizzly
Creative Team

Christine Sokaymoh Frederick
Artistic Producer

Monica Dottor
Co-Creator/Choreographer/Costume Designer

T. Erin Gruber
Environmental Designer

Noor Dean Musani
Composer/Sound Designer

Patrick Lundeen
Associate Director

Kate Sandeson
Stage Manager

Trent Crosby
Production Manager/Technical Director

Brianna Kolybaba
Costume Designer

Doreen L. Cardinal
Indigenous Liasion

Sheiny Satanove
Associate Producer

Krista Lin
Tour Manager

Madi Blondal
Assistant Environmental Designer

Becky Wong
Production Assistant