Full Circle is proud to celebrate National Aboriginal Day by helping present
O’wet/Lost Lagoon
written and performed by Quelemia Sparrow
O’wet (oh-wee): a verb colloquially used to denote propelling a canoe. O’wet is also connected to a shaman’s canoe ride to the land of the dead to retrieve a lost soul.
Lost Lagoon: A body of water in between Xway Xway (Stanley Park) and downtown Vancouver that once flowed in and out freely with the tides and now stands land locked.
O’wet / Lost Lagoon was originally commissioned by Full Circle: First Nations Performance as part of a larger work, and benefited from the work of the Full Circle Aboriginal Ensemble, including director Margo Kane, dramaturg Michael Springate, and Associate Dramaturg and Researcher Kwasuun Sarah Vedan.
O’wet/Lost Lagoon is a solo performance about reclamation and change that weaves real-life stories with the visceral experience of a spiritual canoe journey. Written and performed by Quelemia Sparrow it grapples with the identity of a mixed-race aboriginal woman in a present-day, colonized world.
Writer/Performer – Quelemia Sparrow
Director – Marisa Emma Smith | Dramaturg – Heidi Taylor | Set/Props Design – Shizuka Kai
Lighting Design – Itai Erdal | Media Design – Candelario Andrade
Sound Design and Original Composition – Sandy Scofield | Assistant Director – Tai Amy Grauman