Who we are
Uy Skweyul!
The Reconciliation Theatre Society (RTS) is an indigenous-led non-profit society registered in British Columbia with the stated purpose of producing live theatre through a reconciliation lens. RTS began in 2019 as a grass roots play-reading circle of Indigenous and settler theatre artists meeting monthly to read plays by Indigenous playwrights from Turtle Island. It was our hope to advance the goals of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and create an inclusive theatre community.
Our first production went into rehearsal in spring of 2022, and performed for local audiences at the OV Arts Centre in downtown Nanaimo over the Canada Day weekend. The First Nations Health Authority invited us to perform for their Provincial Wellness Conference in the fall of 2022. From that private event, “The Berlin Blues” by Drew Hayden Taylor, later opened to the public at the OV Arts Center in May of 2023. In July, we were invited to perform in Victoria by Langham Court Theatre, where we were named the Times-Colonist “critic’s pick” for Canada Day weekend and saw tremendous audiences. 2024 saw RTS produce local Kwakwaka’wakw playwright Dan Puglas’ original play “Nice While it Lasted” again at the OV Arts Center, which then toured to 8 other venues from Campbell River to Victoria.
RTS is currently in our second full season of live theatre performances in downtown Nanaimo and across Vancouver Island. In October our annual “Halloween Spooktacular” featured a haunted basement and ghost stories from “Never Whistle at Night: an Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology”. In February we repeated the overwhelmingly success of our “Winter Performance Writers’ Intensive” culminating in 7 new works in the public showcase.
This July, family-theatre will be coming to a Vancouver Island venue near you with“The Boy in the Treehouse” by Anishinaabe playwright Drew Hayden Taylor. We can’t wait to meet you.
Our Board
More information on our board can be found here.
Funding Acknowledgements
Support for Reconciliation Theatre comes from a variety of sources including memberships, donations, ticket sales, sponsorships and grants.
RTS would like to acknowledge the British Columbia Arts Council and the City of Nanaimo Culture Department for their ongoing support.