Loring - Where the Blood Mixes

Where the Blood Mixes Copyright 2009 Kevin Loring Talonbooks
PO Box 2076, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6B 3S3
www.talonbooks.com Cover design by Adam Swica. Third printing: December 2010 The publisher gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts; the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program; and the Province of British Columbia through the British Columbia Arts Council and the Book Publishing Tax Credit for our publishing activities. No part of this book, covered by the copyright hereon, may be reproduced or used in any form or by any meansgraphic, electronic or mechanicalwithout prior permission of the publisher, except for excerpts in a review. Any request for photocopying of any part of this book shall be directed in writing to Access Copyright (The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency), 1 Yonge Street, Suite 800, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5E 1E5; tel.: (416) 868-1620; fax: (416) 868-1621. Rights to produce Where the Blood Mixes, in whole or in part, in any medium by any group, amateur or professional, are retained by the author. Interested persons are requested to contact Kevin Loring via Talonbooks.

Cataloguing data available from Library and Archives Canada ISBN 978-0-88922-768-2 To Jade

It takes an army to bring a play to the stage. The playwright would like to acknowledge the artful militia who helped make this one the success it has been. Many thanks to the following people and organizations for their support and inspiration: Margo Kane, Glynis Leyshon, Marie Clements, Sharon Pollock, John Lazarus, Jovanni Sy, Rachel Ditor, Ken Cameron, Jody-Kay Marklew, Carl Stromquist, Stuart Pierre, Bronwyn Bowlby, Jason Burnstick, Gary Farmer, Kathryn Shaw, Tantoo Cardinal, Rob Lewis, Chelsea McPeake, Meredith Elliott, David Ross, Ben Cardinal, Quelemia Sparrow, Itai Urdal, Carol Chrisjohn, Lori Marchand, David McNally, the Lytton First Nation, Chief Byron Spinks, Raymond Philips, the Canada Council for the Arts, Studio 58, Freda Loring and Guy Neufeld, Floyd Adams, the British Columbia Arts Council, Arts Partners for Creative Development, Luminato, Torontos Festival of Arts and Creativity, Magnetic North Theatre Festival, Don Shipley, Tom McBeath, Joy Coghill, the City of Vancouver, urban ink, the Kay Meek Centre, Spirit of BC Arts Fund, the Hamber Foundation and the Playhouse Theatre Company. Where the Blood Mixes premiered June 7, 2008 at the Factory Theatre, as part of Luminato, Torontos Festival of Arts and Creativity, with the following cast and crew:

MOOCH	Ben Cardinal
JUNE	Margo Kane
FLOYD	Billy Merasty
GEORGE	Tom McBeath
CHRISTINE	Quelemia Sparrow
MUSICIAN / COMPOSER	Jason Burnstick
Director	Glynis Leyshon
Set Design	Robert Lewis
Costume Design	Patricia Smith
Lighting Design	Itai Erdal
Visual Design	Carl Stromquist
Projection Design	Jamie Nesbitt
Stage Manager	Carol Chrisjohn
Apprentice Stage Manager	Bronwyn Bowlby
Technical Director	Kelvin Bonneau

FLOYD	a native man, middle-age
MOOCH	a native man, middle-age
JUNE,	a native woman, middle-age
CHRISTINE	Floyds daughter, twenties
GEORGE	a Caucasian man, bartender, middle-age
CHORUS	the voices of the children lost in the system
MUSICIAN

oolh shkeeyAydn quequshtAyp ta.sh pant woo.Aya wa TLK emchEEn whee.Kt zogwz0gwt tash nahdeep ta.sh wOOmahh. quequshchAmwh. [O salmon, thank you for returning to Lytton (Kumsheen), we will be strong now that you have given us your life.

Upper case vowels are enunciated more fully than lower case vowels.

Upper case vowels are enunciated more fully than lower case vowels.

For example, if you break the word shkeeyAydn, which means salmon, into its syllables, shkeey-Aydn, the emphasis in the pronunciation is on Ay.

The ee of shkeey is the same as in English (as in seed).

When two vowels appear together, it means the vowel sound is extended, as in shkeeyAydn and wOOmahh.

This doubling and the differing emphasis between upper and lower case letters are indicators of the tonal qualities of the language.

The 0 in zogwz0gwt is a fuller o sound that is articulated in the middle of the soft palate.

Upper case consonants denote hard consonant sounds. The double hh in wOOmahh indicates an extended h sound.

The OO in wOOmahh is pronounced as an open oh. The double vowel is held twice a long as a single vowel.

One of the difficulties that English speakers encounter with our language is that many of its sounds are articulated further back in the soft and hard palates, rather than at the front of the mouth as in English.

One of the difficulties that English speakers encounter with our language is that many of its sounds are articulated further back in the soft and hard palates, rather than at the front of the mouth as in English.

Also, the relationship between consonants and vowels is quite strange to an English speaker. It is important, therefore, to sound out, as best as possible, the words as they appear, bearing in mind that trying to articulate them with the front of your mouth and lips alone will prove difficult.

When a fluent speaker speaks the language, it flows together quite beautifully, and has an almost song-like quality that rises and falls in tone, as indicated by the emphasis on the upper case, extended vowels, which are broken by glottal stops and consonants. The words should flow easily into each other. This quality is quite difficult to achieve at first, but with practice the sounds of the language start to make sense.

Enter young native woman wearing a simple white dress.The sound of wind blowing across hollow pipes.A song, a soft and distant lullaby.Underwater light pours down, diffused by the rivers surface.Enter young native woman wearing a simple white dress.The sound of wind blowing across hollow pipes.A song, a soft and distant lullaby.Underwater light pours down, diffused by the rivers surface.

Projected onto the woman is a pictograph, revealed in the shimmering light. She radiates a ghostly aura. CHRISTINE I was born in the heart.I was born in the deepest part.In the middle of it all, I was born.In the place where the rhythm beats, Deep inside my mother, Where the rivers meet, My father dreamt me there.Where blood mixes with blood and the sturgeon waits, And the wind sings the songs of the dead.The lights come up and CHRISTINE is gone. FLOYD is in the bar.

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