New Blood is a production that the students with Strathmore High School (SHS) have been bringing to the stage for a few years thanks in part to director, Deanne Bertsch. 

The show tells the history of residential schools and reconciliation through dance, drama, poetry. It is set to the music of Peter Gabriel.  Director Deanne Bertsch has been bringing this show to audiences for over 7 years and explained who the production is based on.

"New Blood is a story based on the life of Chief Vincent Yellow Old Woman who was a Chief at Siksika Nation. But it really is the story of so many Indigenous people all across Canada, it's the story of residential schools, about a young child going to residential schools.  Being there 10 years and then coming out at 15, and how that experience affected him and made life very difficult.  Then returning to his home and finding healing through the creator, finding healing through his family and his community."

On March 18,19 and 20 theatre students with Rosebud School of The Arts and performers from Siksika Nation will come together to bring this show to life once again on the main stage of the Rosebud Opera House. 

Rosebud theatre student and performer Travis Edwards explained why these shows, discussions, and awareness still need to happen today, "It's more relevant than ever, I think it's important for people to know and hear this story and engage and take part in a show and a conversation and ask questions and see what else they can do to help."

One of the pieces of this production does just that explained Director Deanne Bertsch, "We do a Q&A after every single show and when we have elders from any Indigenous communities attending. There have been so many words of healing, people saying 'thank you, that's exactly how it was, that was my story.'" 

Bertsch went on to say that the performers who have the opportunity to take part in the Q&A's after each performance and hear these stories often take away just as much if not more from those experiences as they do from just performing the show.  

Rosebud theatre student Lacey Kornelson is looking forward to the Q&A sessions after each show, explaining that she has done talkbacks after other productions in the past but she is excited to be a part of such an important conversation with the audience after this performance. 

The performers have been in rehearsal since November and Kornelson has felt the impact of this piece of theatre personally just in doing the rehearsals, "I think for me, it's just really allowing myself to feel what was going on at the time and it made me think back to the past and made me wish I could change some things that happened. Realizing that I can't change it has just made me passionate to do what I can now because it is our responsibility to try and make things better."

Nikko Hunt, a grade 12 student from Siksika Nation has the opportunity to be a part of this cast and bring this show to a new audience and this production is one that is very close to her heart, "I'm a Blackfoot youth and so my grandma experienced residential school and I find a lot of people don't really know the full story so it means a lot because you get to see an understanding grow in the audience and then I feel like this, kind of, helps to reconcile things."

This will be the first time this show has been performed on the main stage at Rosebud Theatre and all involved are ready and excited to share this story with visitors. Along with weekend shows, there will be an afternoon show on Friday, March 18th available for students, more information can be found at www.rosebudtheatre.com.