When Khari Wendell McClelland wanted to connect to his great-great-great-grandmother Kizzy 鈥� an escaped slave who made the arduous journey to Canada in the 1850s and about whom there was more family lore than hard facts 鈥� he turned to the music that might have accompanied her as she made her escape from America.
The result of this exploration is Freedom Singer, a music-driven theatrical experience co-created by and that makes a stop in 麻豆传媒映画next week as part of its national tour.
uses music as a vehicle to understand a distant and sometimes misunderstood past, says Kushnir during a recent phone interview.
鈥淸McClelland] felt inspired as an artist to imagine what Kizzy鈥檚 life might have been like, and because he鈥檚 a musician 鈥揾e鈥檚 a singer-songwriter 鈥� his creative impulse was to find the songs Kizzy may have been singing at that time, and likely the songs that accompanied her as she escaped slavery in the U.S.鈥� Kushnir directed the production and his Toronto-based theatre company, Project: Humanity, uses journalistic research and verbatim texts to explore social issues.
Prior to Freedom Singer, Kushnir says that much of his understanding of Canada鈥檚 role in the Underground Railroad came from that 听鈥� but 鈥測ou can do just minimal research and discover the ways that that mythology and that narrative [of Canada as a pure safe haven] are flawed,鈥� he says. He points to the Komagata Maru incident, the Chinese Head Tax, residential schools and Canada鈥檚 own history of slavery as evidence that 鈥渢here are any number of things that compromise the notion that Canada is a pure haven for those fleeing oppression.鈥�
The discussion is more relevant than ever in the age of Trump, says Kushnir; Freedom Singer was on a tour stop in Winnipeg when there was an influx of Americans crossing the Manitoba border to seek refuge in Canada. 鈥淭here is value in the mythology, and there is value in the ways that Canadians have stepped up and have taken care of those facing oppression, but it鈥檚 a complicated story,鈥� says Kushnir. 鈥淲hat brought me to this project, given my interest as an artist is, how complicated a story can we tell, and can we celebrate and also reflect and discover the ways in which we could be better?鈥�
At its core, Freedom Singer is the musical journey of one man determined to connect with his ancestor 鈥� through storytelling, spoken word, and archival recordings, as well as songs from the Underground Railroad (which are re-imagined through hip-hop, soul, gospel, R & B, and various folk aesthetics) 鈥� so that his ancestor can be seen. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 easy to think of Kizzy as an ancestor, a slave, a fugitive, someone who has this remarkable and tragic story that resulted in escape, but Khari wants her to be a woman first,鈥� says Kushnir. 鈥淗e wants her to be a human being first.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 going to be a joyful experience,鈥� he adds. 鈥淧eople will take their own personal journey through this. The piece is a big invitation, and I would love people in 麻豆传媒映画to take us up on that."
听
Freedom Singer听is performed by McClelland along with Toronto soul singer and 麻豆传媒映画guitarist .
听
鈥� Freedom Singer听runs Oct. 7-18, at varying times, on the Goldcorp Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre (162 West 1st Ave.)听 $22 - $32.
