We Own This Now

Starring Ted Swartz and Michelle Milne, We Own This Now is a play by Alison Casella Brookins that looks at love of land, loss of land, and what it means to “own” something. We Own This Now examines how the Doctrine of Discovery is still being used and causing harm today.

Sunday, October 15
7:00 - 9:00PM EDT

Rockway Mennonite Collegiate
110 Doon Road
Kitchener ON
Canada

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A man and a woman looking out A man and a woman looking out

About the play

Chris has farmed the land his grandmother found as a home in Kansas after fleeing Russia almost 100 years ago. His daughter Riley is learning more about the people who were on that land before her Oma arrived, and the jarring connections she has to the fate of those people. Chris and Riley navigate their changing relationship to each other, the land they’ve been living on, and the stories they tell.

Historical documents, absurd situations, and extended metaphors accompany Riley and Chris’s journey. They — and the audience — learn how the Doctrine of Discovery (the legal framework that justifies theft of land and oppression of Indigenous Peoples) is still being used and causing harm today. 

Starring Ted Swartz and Michelle Milne, We Own this Now is a play by Alison Casella Brookins.

This play is primarily intended for settler audiences.

Behind the scenes

"We Own This Now" asks questions worth reflecting on:

What does it mean to “own” something? What is the relationship between “owning” and “taking” — and what is the relationship between “ownership” and (taking) responsibility?

Presented by Ted & Company TheaterWorks: Led by veteran actor and playwright, Ted Swartz, Ted & Company TheaterWorks uses humor and professional storytelling to talk about issues of faith and social justice through live shows, DVDs, digital videos, scripts, discussion guides, and more. Our team of dynamic actors and musicians are passionate about creating art that provokes both laughter and reflection, as all good comedy does.

Photo Credit: Glenn Riegel

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