Sewatokwà:tshera’ Theatre

06/05/2026

We are proud to recognize Cigar Chief as a Founding Supporter of Sewatokwà:tshera’ Theatre.

Nya:wén to Cigar Chief for supporting our inaugural season and helping bring Cottagers and Indians to the stage. Their support extends beyond this production and will carry forward into our 2027 season and world premiere production.

We are grateful to have Cigar Chief with us as we begin this new chapter for theatre in Kenhtè:ke.

06/04/2026

We are proud to recognize Dowling House Country Inn & Retreat as a Founding Supporter of Sewatokwà:tshera’ Theatre.

Community theatre does not happen on its own. It is built through partnerships, shared vision, and people who believe that storytelling matters.

Dowling House Country Inn & Retreat has joined us as a Founding Supporter for our inaugural season, helping bring Cottagers and Indians by Drew Hayden Taylor to the stage and supporting the growth of Indigenous theatre in Kenhtè:ke.

Their contribution helps us create opportunities for artists, build community through the arts, and establish a lasting home for Indigenous storytelling.

Nya:wen to Robert Dorey and Dowling House Country Inn & Retreat for their generosity, encouragement, and support.

06/03/2026

“The production deliberately resists reducing the characters into opposing sides, resisting the urge to flatten people into simple positions or assumptions. Arthur and Maureen both genuinely believe they are protecting something important, and the play becomes far more interesting once audiences realize neither character exists as a caricature.”

Read the full Artscene article at https://countyarts.ca/artscene/cottagers-indians/

Tickets are on sale at onedishproject.com/cottagersandindians

June 10-13 and 17-20 at the Tyendinaga Mohawk Community Centre

Cottagers and Indians, written by Drew Hayden Taylor, explores the politics and issues surrounding a real-life event still occurring in the Kawartha Lakes region of Central Ontario. An Indigenous man, Arthur Copper, has taken it upon himself to repopulate the nearby lakes with wild rice, known among...

06/01/2026

05/31/2026

“It’s Canadian history. These conversations are happening right now across this country. The play forces people to sit with those tensions, the humour, the discomfort, and the humanity behind it. That’s what theatre is supposed to do. It creates space for people to witness something together. That’s community healing.”

A new Indigenous-led theatre is taking root in Kenhtè:ke (Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory), and its purpose reaches far beyond the stage. Founded by educator, actor, and community organizer Sha'tekayèn:ton Andrew Brant, Sewatokwà:tshera' Theatre is the newest branch of the One Dish Project, an initia...

05/29/2026

Tickets are now on sale for Cottagers and Indians by Drew Hayden Taylor at the Tyendinaga Mohawk Community Centre.

📅 June 10–13 & 17–20, 2026
📍 1807 York Road, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory

What happens when two neighbours, both convinced they are doing the right thing, find themselves on opposite sides of the same issue?

Funny, frustrating, heartfelt, and thought-provoking, Cottagers and Indians invites audiences into a conversation about land, stewardship, relationships, and the complicated realities of sharing space.

Before each performance, guests are invited to explore the Underground Gallery, featuring work by Indigenous artists from Kenhtè:ke and beyond. Doors open at 5:00 p.m.

Sliding scale ticket options are available for Elders and youth, Indigenous and non-Indigenous guests, as well as table seating packages.

Join us for an evening of theatre that will have you laughing, reflecting, and continuing the conversation long after the curtain call.

🎟️ Tickets available now

June 10-13 & 17-20, 2026 @ Tyendinaga Mohawk Community Centre, 1807 York Road, Tyendinaga Mohawk Terrotory, K0K 1X0; Cottagers and Indians explores the politics and issues surrounding a real-life event still occurring in the Kawartha Lakes region of Central Ontario.

05/29/2026

Director’s Note

My name is Sha’tekayèn:ton. I am Turtle Clan, and I received my name as a toddler during Midwinter Ceremony in Akwesasne into the Ayonwatha family. My name means “he is of equal parts.”

I have often reflected on that meaning. Throughout my life, I have found myself standing between worlds, listening to people speak about the same issue while carrying entirely different understandings of land, history, responsibility, and belonging. Over time, I came to realize that most people are not villains in their own story. More often, they are people trying to protect something they love, even when those efforts bring them into conflict with one another.

Perhaps that is why Cottagers and Indians resonated so deeply with me.

When I first read the play, I recognized something familiar in Arthur and Maureen. Not because I saw myself entirely in either character, but because I have spent much of my life standing somewhere between them, listening. What struck me about Drew Hayden Taylor’s writing is that he refuses to allow people to be reduced to assumptions, labels, and sides.

Arthur and Maureen are not caricatures. They are people carrying different histories, responsibilities, frustrations, assumptions, and relationships to place. Both believe they are protecting something important. Neither exists simply to be right, and neither exists simply to be wrong. The play asks us to sit with something more difficult than certainty. It asks us to remain present long enough to recognize the humanity of the person standing across from us, even when disagreement remains.

That idea became the foundation of this production. Throughout rehearsals, we worked to resist the temptation to exaggerate conflict or reduce these characters into positions. Some of the strongest moments emerged not when scenes became louder, but when they became quieter.

Cottagers and Indians does not ask us to leave in agreement. It asks us to look at the same water and understand that the person standing beside us may be seeing something else entirely, and to stay in that conversation anyway.

I look forward to sharing this story with you.
www.onedishproject.com/cottagersandindians

05/22/2026

🎟️🎭Nineteen days until opening night 🎭🎟️

Rehearsals for Cottagers and Indians are well underway, and this cast is bringing an incredible level of energy, humour, honesty, and presence into the room every single night. Wihse Green and Janet Reyes are already creating something special together as Arthur Copper and Maureen Poole. The chemistry, tension, humour, and emotion between them is undeniable.

This is a story that will make you laugh loudly one moment, then hit somewhere deep the next. Beneath the humour is something honest about land, identity, belonging, and the conversations people are still struggling to have.

🎟️🎭 Tickets are already moving, so make sure to secure your seats before performances begin on June 10 at the Tyendinaga Mohawk Community Centre. 🎭🎟️

www.onedishproject.com/cottagersandindians

05/18/2026

The lake looks peaceful until someone decides who belongs on it. This June, Sewatokwà:tshera’ Theatre presents Cottagers and Indians by Drew Hayden Taylor.

A sharp, funny, and uncomfortable look at land, food sovereignty, property, and the tensions that still exist along the shoreline.

June 10–20, 2026 at the Tyendinaga Mohawk Community Centre
1807 York Road, Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, K0K 1X0

Tickets available now.

June 10-13 & 17-20, 2026 @ Tyendinaga Mohawk Community Centre, 1807 York Road, Tyendinaga Mohawk Terrotory, K0K 1X0; Cottagers and Indians explores the politics and issues surrounding a real-life event still occurring in the Kawartha Lakes region of Central Ontario.

05/17/2026

What one side calls protection, the other calls infestation. Depends on which shore you’re standing on.

Cottagers and Indians by Drew Hayden Taylor: Presented by Sewatokwà:tshera’ Theatre, Sha’tekayèn:ton Brant directing, featuring Wihse Green as Arthur Copper and introducing Janet Reyes as Maureen Poole.

Cottagers and Indians was originally commissioned and produced by Tarragon Theatre, Richard Rose, Artistic Director. It received its world premiere at the Tarragon Theatre Extraspace on Feb 20, 2018, Patti Shaughnessy directing, performed by Herbie Barnes and Tracey Hoyt.

June 10–13 and 17–20, 2026
Tyendinaga Mohawk Community Centre

Tickets are on sale now:
https://www.onedishproject.com/cottagersandindians