This play about Indigenous students doing Shakespeare at a residential school asks us to reflect on Canada’s past — and future

A good play should spark a conversation. “1939,” however, does far more than that.
This historical drama by Jani Lauzon and Kaitlyn Riordan, now running at Canadian Stage after its 2022 world premiere at the Stratford Festival, weaves an intricate web of interconnected conversations, inspiring a dialogue not only between the past and present but also among Canada’s colonial legacies and, most importantly, audiences themselves. 
This production couldn’t come at a more urgent time, coinciding with the fourth annual National Day for Truth and Reconciliation and as we continue to reckon with the historical stain that is the Canadian residential school system. But as much as this work focuses on these dark histories, it’s also an uplifting and ultimately joyous story, a deeply moving ode to the power of cultural resilience. 
Set at a residential school in northern Ontario, in the year of the play’s title, “1939” follows a group of Indigenous students and their teachers as they mount a production of Shakespeare’s problem play, “All’s Well That Ends Well.” The stakes are high: the school production is intended as a showcase for King George VI and Queen Elizabeth during their royal visit to Canada. 
Miss Ap Dafydd (Catherine Fitch), the play’s director and a literature teacher at the residential school, has a strict vision for the production. She’s what you could describe as a Shakespearean purist taken to the extreme, instructing her students that they must all perform with a posh British accent, in the style of the great English actor Ellen Terry. (She even has a recording of Terry’s performance as Juliet, which her students are meant to imitate.) 
But Ap Dafydd’s prescriptive approach clashes with that of her students, who want their performances to be informed and inspired by their cultural heritage and lived experiences. Evelyne Rice (Merewyn Comeau) sees parallels between her role, Helena, and her family of medicine people, while Jean Delorme (John Wamsley), wants to portray his character, Parolles, as a Métis man, like himself. 
At roughly two-and-a-half hours, Lauzon and Riordan’s play tends to drag during its initial exposition, particularly in scenes showing the students and teachers navigating the logistics of mounting their production. But as the narrative expands, focusing on each of the characters and their individual stories, “1939” transforms into an especially poignant piece of theatre. 
At its heart are two siblings, Beth (Grace Lamarche, in an exceptionally layered performance) and Joseph Summers (Richard Comeau). The former is a keen student who wants to please her teachers, while Joseph wants nothing more than to return to their family. 
The production, directed with a deft and gentle touch by Lauzon, doesn’t dwell on the students’ trauma, though it’s still there, simmering underneath. (In one brief but haunting moment, the students list all their friends and peers who’ve gone missing.) 
Instead, the underlying tension is between cultural erasure and artistic resilience. Lauzon embeds this idea throughout her production. Joanna Yu’s set consists of various wooden chairs and tables, and a backdrop of three chalkboards. During the scene transitions, the Indigenous students write words and messages on these blackboards, only for them to be erased by the teachers. Yet as much as these “educators” attempt to strip the teenagers of languages and cultures, they continue to defy those efforts. 
“1939” is also surprisingly funny, reflective of how many of the students use humour to cope with their harsh realities. Much of the comedy comes from Susan Blackwell (Brefny Caribou), a 16-year-old Cree student always armed with a quick pun. There’s also a farcical subplot involving Father Callum Williams (Nathan Howe), a priest and hockey coach with a terrible fear of public speaking who volunteers to act in the school play. 
The eight-member cast, rounded out by Amanda Lisman as a journalist reporting on the royal visit, is comprised of new and returning actors from the Stratford production, all in fine form and with impeccable chemistry. Lauzon has done a commendable job of restaging the play (originally meant to fit the Studio Theatre’s thrust stage in Stratford) for Canadian Stage’s proscenium venue, even if the new setup feels rather shallow. 
But the strength of “1939” lies in its text. It asks us not only to reflect on the past but to consider the future. 
It’s heartening that after each performance of “1939,” Canadian Stage is offering a reflection circle with audience members and Indigenous facilitators. I attended the circle after my Friday performance and it was an enriching experience. For more than half an hour, audiences shared how Lauzon and Riordan’s story resonated with them, discussing the role they each play on the long road toward truth and reconciliation. 
It was a powerful, engaging, thoughtful conversation. And you can’t ask for much else from a play.