The Labyrinth Project
Victoria, BC | 2013
Supported by the Truth and Reconciliation Initiative of Canada, this project was organized by Will Weigler, one of the preeminent participatory theater playwrights and directors in North America. He is also Mark Lakeman’s childhood hero and dear friend. Will invited design support for this project, to create a series of nineteen sequential theatrical stories and environments that were conceived and composed in collaboration with native and settler youth. The effect was like a time tunnel, in which attendees traveled through immersion experiences that told intense and inspiring stories of European colonization and Indigenous resistance. The project won wide praise, and First Nations leaders and community members traveled from across Canada to experience the project for themselves. The project became a how-to book, and has begun to be produced in other cities across Canada. Our job was to design the project from afar, and then transport three hundred doors and other materials from the ReBuilding Center in Portland to Victoria, and then lead the installation. Guildworks, our frequent project collaborator, also assisted with the installations.