Festival honouring playwright gets underway in Summerland

Wednesday’s official opening of the third annual Ryga Festival in Summerland began with a welcome from the Penticton Indian Band’s traditional knowledge keeper, Richard Armstrong.

“(George) Ryga was quite a friend of ours. I have a good feeling to welcome you. I will now say a prayer that talks to the earth in my language,” Armstrong said.

At the prayer’s conclusion, he said in English, “Each of you be safe going home.”

In addition to his duties as knowledge keeper, Armstrong teaches Indigenous studies at UBC Okanagan.

George Ryga, who lived and worked in Summerland from 1963 until his death in 1987, had a close association with Indigenous people beginning with the Cree in his days growing up in Northern Alberta.

In the Okanagan, he consulted with local bands while writing his 1967 ground-breaking play, “The Ecstasy of Rita Joe.”

The first Canadian play to address the plight of the country’s Indigenous people, “Rita Joe” remains the best-selling Canadian play of all time.

“On behalf of the Ryga Festival Society, I welcome you and thank you for coming,” said society president Peter Hay.

Hay, his wife, Dorthea Atwater, and other close associates are the driving forces behind the Ryga Festival.

“We appreciate the extraordinary support from the community,” he said.

Hay praised artistic director Heather Davies for her contributions to the festival.

“Summerland has become her spiritual home,” he said.

Davies explained that what she’d come to understand about Ryga was all about space: space in which to create, to tell stories, to share food and to form partnerships.

“That’s why we have events all over this community — to carry this passion into all those spaces,” she said.

A highlight of this year’s festival is a compact version of awardwinning Canadian composer Victor Davies’ opera adaptation of “Rita Joe” at 7 tonight at Centre Stage Theatre.

Performances in Toronto earlier this year were well-received.

“It’s a concert of opera highlights,” said Heather Davies, Victor’s daughter.

To produce the entire play or opera in Summerland would be prohibitively expensive, she explained.

“The pocket-sized production is one way we can bring the story back to the community where it was created. It refreshes the way we can share the story with the audience,” Heather said.

Altogether, there are 17 events during the 2018 Ryga Festival, including four workshops on dynamic storytelling, traditional songs, cookbook writing, and film and TV acting.

For a complete schedule of events and ticket information, visit www.rygafest.ca/full-schedule.