A Soldier’s Tale

Michael Greyeyes’ Signal Theatre creatively helms and produces, along with producing partners DanceWorks and commissioning partners Canada Dance Festival and the National Arts Centre. |
Choreographed and directed by Michael Greyeyes, this dance theatre work probes the lives of soldiers over the span of fifty years, from the end of the Second World War to our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan in the 21st century. Devised for 13 performers, A Soldier’s Tale examines the ugly realities of war, reminding us that warfare and the reasons we wage it are irrelevant to those on the front line; war remains the same for each generation and the horrors of it do not lessen with time. The words from George Santayana’s powerful “Soliloquies in England and later Soliloquies” echo loudly in this context, “Only the dead have seen the end of war.”

Beagan provides text for this dancetheatre work, and Moro has created sound and video design. Both are honoured to work in collaboration with many remarkably talented artists, including Indigenous artists Yvette Nolan, PJ Prudat, Keith Barker, originating artist Tamara Podemski, and Eva and Lilia Greyeyes.
Barker’s acting transports those of able hearts and minds to a new level of empathy, while Prudat’s sympathetic wife-of-veteran illuminates suffering in a way that sings too beautifully for pain.