MANITOWANING—The Debajehmujig Storytellers’ Larry E. Lewis Creation Centre located at 43 Queen Street in Manitowaning is usually a bustling hive of creativity—and this summer is no exception. From 11 am to 3 pm on Thursday, July 18 the theatre company is inviting the public to come in and visit during an open house.
“We will have a live reading of the 2024 summer main stage production ‘New Elders,’ as well as refreshments and beverages and in house musical samplings,” said Debaj General Manager Lynda Trudeau. “In addition, our current exhibition by Barry Beaver is on display at the K. B. Reynolds Mastin Gallery.”
As an extra enticement, Ms. Trudeau notes that there will be “some pretty cool draws happening as well.”
Too often, Debajehmujig is one of Manitoulin’s best kept secrets. In addition to creating and performing original works of theatre, the company trains young Indigenous thespians and arts animators. Over the years Debaj has also hosted a number of global arts performances the likes of which even larger centres would envy.
Although the open house will not feature a full performance of the summer mainstage production, there will be a workshop reading of the script taking place during the open house.
“We are really excited about some of the new spaces that have been created here,” said Ms. Trudeau. The Expositor is interviewing her in what will soon become ‘Studio B,’ a more intimate space than the larger performance hall.
“The hall is great for many things, but it is so large that you sometimes have a hard time hearing during smaller workshops,” she noted. The new space will be less daunting than the larger one where mainstage productions take place.
There is a new artisan creation space, with large windows providing ample natural light, that has been built utilizing some of the space from the oversized kitchen. The kitchen itself is the beneficiary of new commercial equipment and a cultural space is being created in the upstairs portion of the building.
“There is so much going on here, we are really excited to share what is happening with the Island community,” she said. “It’s going to be awesome.”
