Live Bait New Works Festival kicks off Wednesday
The fourth annual Live Bait New Works Festival kicks off Wednesday evening in Sackville, with live events on offer at the Sackville United Church, the Music Barn, and online.
Mount A student Paul Brisk Jr. takes the stage with the first event of the festival, a presentation and discussion of a new play in progress called Becoming My Own Native.
Hear Paul Brisk Jr. on Tantramar Report:
Brisk hails from Listiguj, a Mi’kmaq First Nation across the Restigouche River from Campbellton. He says his new play will draw in “bits and pieces from everywhere” to tell a story of becoming oneself.
“I’ve spent a very long time of my life with external and internal forces telling me this thing about being a native is that, and this stereotype is that,” says Brisk. “It affected my life, in every aspect and every avenue, from the type of food I ate, to the language I spoke, to the type of education that I should be achieving.”
His new play is an exercise in self-acceptance, says Brisk. “It’s a whole project of me putting into words the the level of acceptance I’ve come to accept myself with, while also bringing Indigenous circumstance to the forefront of the conversation.”
Brisk started out as a music student at Mount A, and is due to wrap up as a drama student this coming year, where he hopes to continue work on Becoming My Own Native.… Continue