Workshop Stream
From October 16-26, 2025, Bailey Bornyk (Michif) and Frances Koncan (Anishinaabe from Couchichin First Nation), Creators from Weesageechak Begins to Dance 38, will develop their works with mentor Mel Hague as part of the Second iteration of the Weesageechak Begins to Dance Workshop Stream presented by Native Earth Performing Arts in association with Factory Theatre.
The Workshop projects are:
• Tiger Lily by Frances Koncan (Anishinaabe from Couchiching First Nation)
• Bone Pickers by Bailey Bornyk (Michif)
Workshop
Tiger Lily
by Frances Koncan
10 years after the events of "Peter Pan", Neverland is dying. Scarred by colonization and an ongoing genocide, the magic of the island has been replaced by war and brutality. After a long fight for survival, Tiger Lily and her people have decided to leave Neverland behind forever. But just as she is about to depart, figures from her childhood return: Peter Pan, Wendy, and Captain Hook. Her confrontations with them force her to revisit the past, acknowledge the present, and make a difficult choice for not only her own future, but the future of her people, and the future of Neverland.
Creator: Frances Koncan (Anishinaabe from Couchiching First Nation)
Mentor: Mel Hague
Frances Koncan, Creator
Frances Koncan (she/they) is an Anishinaabe and Slovene playwright from Couchiching First Nation. She grew up on Treaty 1 territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba and attended the University of Manitoba (BA Psychology) and the City University of New York Brooklyn College (MFA Playwriting). Their plays have been presented across Canada, by companies including the Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Manitoba Theatre for Young People, Firehall Arts Centre, Magnus Theatre, Globe Theatre, Native Earth Performing Arts, Great Canadian Theatre Company, National Arts Centre Indigenous Theatre, and the Stratford Festival. She is an Assistant Professor of Playwriting at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, B.C. where she currently resides. Select plays include Women of the Fur Trade, Space Girl, and zahgidiwin/love.
Workshop
Bone Pickers
by Bailey Bornyk
Bone Pickers follows two young families in the late 19th century trying to make it through day to day struggles after a massacre of the buffalo (bison) occurs in a settler-colonial attempt to starve off the Indigenous (Michif, Cree, Saulteaux, Sioux, etc.) population. The mothers are consumed with child rearing and child loss, while the men find themselves in a flux of employment between work clearing the plains of buffalo bones and farm help. Even after the massacre, they find themselves in the same situations, their lives and governing systems (specifically Michif) still revolving and centred around the buffalo and the hunt.
Creator: Bailey Bornyk (Michif)
Mentor: Mel Hague
Bailey Bornyk, Creator
Bailey Bornyk is a writer of Michif and Ukrainian/Russian/German-settler heritage from Saskatoon, and currently works and lives out of Toronto, Canada. He is a member of the Gabriel Dumont Local #11 and recently graduated as an English Major, Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Toronto. Bailey’s art and writing appears in The Polyglot Magazine, IHRAM Literary Journal, and Bobbi Lee: A Collection of Indigenous Knowledges. His artistic practice spans writing, beadwork, embroidery, textile, tattoo taking inspiration from the natural world interlaced with family stories.
Workshop Mentor
Mel Hague
Mel Hague, Mentor
Mel Hague is a Toronto based Curator and dramaturge. Mel is the Artistic Director of Factory Theatre in Toronto. Previously, Mel has worked with Canadian Stage Company, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Obsidian Theatre Company, IFT Theatre, Banff Centre Playwrights Colony, bcurrent performing arts, fu-Gen Asian Canadian Theatre, Eastern Front Theatre, Queer Acts Festival, The Paprika Festival, and Mulgrave Road Theatre. Mel was the Director of the Rhubarb Festival from 2014 – 2019, and was selected as a Leader in Residence at the National Theatre School of Canada.