The Diviners: Based on the novel by Margaret Laurence. Text by Vern Thiessen with Yvette Nolan

An NAC Indigenous Theatre/NAC English Theatre Co-production Originally produced by the Stratford Festival

Some truths surface only when you dive into the past.

When, after a fight with her mother, 18-year-old Pique storms out of the house in search of her Métis roots, Morag Gunn is left to write the novel that will unearth childhood memories and the truth about the town where she grew up. Flowing seamlessly between past and present, this adaptation exhumes and intertwines the stories of Pique’s ancestors— both the Red River Métis and the Highland Scots. By weaving together personal memory with collective history, the play looks at how communities carry both trauma and resilience across generations. Audiences are invited to share in Pique’s reclaimed stories and to consider how understanding the past can create space for healing, unity, and joy in the present.

Vern Thiessen and Yvette Nolan’s powerful version of Margaret Laurence’s 1974 classic uses breathtaking theatricality, songs and Métis jigging to help us imagine what a common future shaped by reconciliation could look like, if we choose to embrace it.

Audio Described Performance on January 23, 2027 at 2 pm For more information and to reserve tickets to the Audio Described Performance, please contact Aimee Bouchard, Learning & Engagement Coordinator for English Theatre at [email protected].