Based on the opera The Lake by Barbara Pentland and Dorothy Livesay
Performed August 15–17, 2014 Quails’ Gate Winery, West Kelowna, BC
A Performance in Collaboration from Astrolabe Musik Theatre, Turning Point Ensemble and Westbank First Nation
The Lake | N-ha-a-itk was a unique collaborative project between Westbank First Nation, Astrolabe Musik Theatre, the Turning Point Ensemble and Quails’ Gate Winery. During the performance, Westbank First Nation songs and dances, newly created scenes and a new work by composer Leslie Uyeda were integrated into an historical opera entitled The Lake by Barbara Pentland (composer) and Dorothy Livesay (librettist). The opera was composed in 1952 and is set in 1873 on the very site now occupied by Quails’ Gate Winery. The opera tells the story of four historical characters—pioneer Susan Allison, her husband John Allison, Métis handyman and guide Johnny MacDougall and their syilx child nurse and helper Marie.
This production was also the subject of a new documentary short from Opus 59 Films, commissioned by CMC BC for its Legacy Composer Series.