Late Nisga'a politician's years at residential school inspired stage production

At the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in Burnaby, B.C., production staff have set up several bunk beds on the main stage. 

It's in preparation for the play Bunk #7, the true story of six young Indigenous teens at the Edmonton Indian Residential School in St. Albert, Alta.

The story outlines the lived experiences of Larry Guno — the late Nisga'a playwright, lawyer and politician who attended the school in 1959 and 1960 — and describes a riot led by students that broke out following the dismissal of a well-liked supervisor. 

Kym Guno, Larry Guno's younger sister, says residential schools have shaped the lives of many of her family members — but Larry was one of the few who spoke out about the experience. 

"Through the years we could see what it had done to them. My brothers, my sisters, what was done to them just about dragged them right down," she said. "They did not want to get help for it or to talk about it."

Eventually Guno had a desire to share his story through writing Bunk #7.

The backdrop for the play features several bunk beds, and is a rendering of the room where Guno and other teenage boys stayed at the Edmonton Indian Residential School. Bunk #7 refers to the bunk that Guno occupied at the school. 

"What he wanted with the play was to show no matter the horrors those children went through, they overcame it, they banded together. Different nations, their ancestors, their songs, their wisdom, their light, it all came through," Kym Guno said.

Guno died before play was complete

Marianne Brørup Weston, who is the long-running director of the play, says she was close friends with Guno.

She recalls how the idea for the play was formed when Guno talked to her about attending residential school. 

"Larry told me the story and he was a terrific storyteller. The way he delivered the story, it gave me goosebumps. Being a theatre director, I was able to see pictures in my head," she said.

"So I said to him, 'this would make a really good play,' and he said, 'It's funny you should say that because I've always wanted to write a play.'"

Guno spent four years writing Bunk #7, but passed away in 2005 at the age of 65 with the play "95 per cent completed," Weston said. 

"It sat in that state until 2018. [There was a] play reading tour it did of the unfinished script with at-risk youth and Indian residential school survivors in northwest B.C. in 2008. I was part of that tour to gather information and listen to survivors," Weston said.

'He cried with joy' during staged reading

While Guno died before he could see the complete production on stage, he was there when the unfinished script was introduced to audiences through a series of workshops in Toronto in 2003. 

"It involved a public staged reading of it and we sat together, we held hands, and he cried with joy."

The Burnaby shows mark the first time the play has come to the Lower Mainland, with shows over the last two years running across northern B.C. 

Kym Guno has flown to the Lower Mainland with her family to see the play in person. It's not the first time, nor will it be her last, she says, adding that the growth of the production is a nod to her brother's life and legacy.

"I think he would love it. I think he would be proud and he would be happy that his family has continued on to carry on his work," she said.

Tickets are on sale now for Bunk #7 with showings at the Shadbolt Centre on Thursday and Friday.