Benoit Aquin
By Léa Hiram
On December 18, 2011 in Salluit, an enthusiastic and captivated audience attended the opening performance of Kautjajuk, the legend of the ill-treated orphan, by the Nunavik Theatre Company.
In 2009, as part of the Inuktituurniup Saturtaugasuarninga project (IS) , Avataq’s Inuktitut department initiated a series of theatre workshops, led by Montreal’s Les Vidanges en Cavale, which attracted the participation of some 30 Nunavik youths.
The project used theatre as a means of living expression, with the goal of training Nunavik youth to present the Inuit culture and language in all its richness and vitality.
During the workshops, some of the young people expressed an interest in working on an Inuit legend and interpreting it in play format. This desire resulted in what was to become the first youth theatre company in Nunavik.
Thus it was that in 2011, following a number of workshops to create, write and rehearse, the play Kautjajuk – adapted and written in Inuktitut by Adamie Kalingo – was born.
Kautjajuk benefited from a number of collaborations: Nunavik Creations designed and provided the costumes, Mattiusi Iyaituk realized the masks, Inukjuak Unaaq men’s association made the props, Etua Snowball created the music and Acme Services Scéniques produced the sets.
The Nunavik Theatre Company will tour their performance of Kautjajuk throughout Nunavik in 2012.
Left to right : Johnny Kakkinirk, Steven Alayco, Puasi Napartuk, Marie Deaudelin, Kathy Tukkiapik, Peter Jaaka, Elena Nassak, Léa Hiram, Linda Kowcharlie, Pauyungie Nutaraaluk, Onira Lussier, Lydia Alaku.
