{"id":20524,"date":"2018-05-02T15:28:35","date_gmt":"2018-05-02T19:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=20524"},"modified":"2018-05-10T00:25:26","modified_gmt":"2018-05-10T04:25:26","slug":"temple-of-fame-to-show-the-progress-of-women-and-how-much-work-there-is-still-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/temple-of-fame-to-show-the-progress-of-women-and-how-much-work-there-is-still-to-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Temple of Fame to show the progress of women, and how much work there is still to do"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

A lot has changed in Canada over the last 100 years.
\nAt this time, just a century ago, we were at the height of war, our men were dying by the thousands, and women were just on the cusp of getting the vote.
\nIt seems a world away but, in many respects, that century hasn\u2019t seen wholesale change across the board. In many parts of Canada, there are still biases to address, stigmas to tackle, and long-simmering questions to ultimately be asked and answered.
\nThat is part of what drew Kim Wheatley to the Temple of Fame.
\nNext weekend, May 11 \u2013 13, on its centenary, the Aurora Museum & Archive will re-mount The Temple of Fame, a modernized play which has, since its first performance here in Aurora in 1900, celebrated the achievements and impact of remarkable women throughout history.
\nModernized for today\u2019s audiences by local writer and actress Corrie Clark \u2013 and, in this case \u201cmodernized\u201d means adding and subtracting characters to reflect today\u2019s cultural awareness and sensitivity \u2013 the play will be brought to life by many local women (and a few men) and bring together the efforts of a whole community.
\nThe first performance will take place at Trinity Anglican Church on Friday, May 11 at 8.30 p.m. This performance will feature an opening reception hosted by Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill MP Leona Alleslev entitled \u201cBeyond the Crown: Celebrating Strong Women.\u201d
\nThe second performance will take place at the same time Saturday evening, with a special evening reception hosted by the Aurora Chamber of Commerce.
\nMother\u2019s Day will be marked with a Sunday matinee at 2.30 p.m. featuring a Mother\u2019s Day Tea, in two sittings, hosted by the Aurora Historical Society.
\nThe Temple of Fame is based on a poem by Alexander Pope and features women throughout history pleading their case before the \u201cGoddess of Fame\u201d on why they should win the crown and take their rightful place in the Pantheon.
\nOver time, and in its many iterations, it has featured largely white women, occasionally figures of colonialism.
\nThis time is markedly different and, in auditioning for a place in the production, Ms. Wheatley, an Ojibwe women, says she sensed an opportunity.
\nMs. Wheatley takes on three different roles in The Temple of Fame, an allegorical \u201cCanada\u201d and the warrior Queen Boudicca, but, perhaps most importantly, she is sharing the story of Shkoden Neegaan Waawaaskonen.
\nThat is, she\u2019s sharing her own story. Shkoden Neegaan Waawaaskonen is her spirit name. The member of the Shawnaga First Nation is an Anishnaabe Cultural Consultant who has dedicated her life to foster and renew relationships and partnerships in this country that should be the norm.
\n\u201cShkoden Neegaan Waawaaskonen is a personal expression of who I am, because it is truly who I am,\u201d she explains. \u201cAs an Ojibwe woman, it is an honour to be included as part of the panorama of women that are going to be presenting their claim for the crown. I am very excited about this. Boudicca is a warrior and I take into positive expressions of my anger and my passion; it is a little out of my element, but I was so excited to have an opportunity to portray strong women, and that is what I am doing.
\n\u201cAs \u2018Canada\u2019 I am representing a new nation of people. This nation affected my people on a personal level greatly. I like holding the space of land and really reminding people that yes, there is land here, but there were people here long before this land got this new name. I am looking forward to inserting elements of truth and really kind of nudging people into a recognition that [Canada] is longer than 150 years with my presence.\u201d
\nMs. Wheatley describes herself as a \u201ccultural educator\u201d rather than \u201ccultural performer.\u201d The lines are definite. A performer, she says, is pretending to be something; but this is who she really is.
\n\u201cMy role in the public realm is to remind people of the true history of Canada, the fact that we are still here, sensitize them towards another way of knowing and renew the relationships and partnerships we should have as sovereign nations in this country.\u201d
\nThe Temple of Fame has brought together a diverse cross-section of local women to breathe life into an equally diverse cross section of international \u201cher-story.\u201d
\nPatricia Wallace, for instance, is taking on three roles, including that of Elizabeth I.
\nHaving retired from her job with the York Regional Police earlier this year, Ms. Wallace says she was looking for volunteer opportunities within the community, and Shawna White, Curator of the Aurora Museum and Archives, suggested she come out to audition for Temple of Fame.
\n\u201cShe said, \u2018Have I got the thing for you!\u2019 and I thought, \u2018Come on! I\u2019ve never acted in my life, but okay!\u2019 I came out to the auditions, still laughing at myself that I was even considering it, got up there, read the part, and lo and behold I got a part \u2013 I couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d says Ms. Wallace. \u201cWhat attracted me is it is a part of Aurora history. It is 100 years old, it speaks to the progression of women in Canadian and North American society, business, education, how far we have come and how far we have yet to go. What we achieved over 100 years is really a drop in the budget. That is important as a review of the next 100 years, so we can see our way forward.\u201d
\nThis is a sentiment shared by Alison Collins-Mrakas, who takes on the role of \u201cThe Goddess\u201d to whom each of the women are pleading their cases.
\n\u201cI think it is an extraordinary opportunity for a once in a century event,\u201d says Ms. Collins-Mrakas. \u201cIn this age of #metoo and empowerment, it is a positive story about the history and resilience of women and what they can achieve.\u201d
\nFor Jasmine Johnson, this is not only a chance to be part of local history, but to explore roots as well.
\n\u201cWhen I heard it was about women and a 100 year old play, I was interested to see what characters they added, which characters were removed, and how it would all come together in the end,\u201d says Ms. Johnson, who plays a \u201cWoman of the Next Century\u201d as well as Mary Ann Shadd, the first Black publisher in North America. \u201cI studied so much Black history and I never heard of her before. The fact she wasn\u2019t in any prominent books makes her an important character for people to know about and the influence she had on both Canada and the United States.\u201d
\nIt is all about these opportunities for Ms. Wheatley.
\nAs she looks forward to the Mother\u2019s Day Weekend performances, she says she hopes the latest incarnation of The Temple of Fame opens up a dialogue, particularly between indigenous and non-indigenous peoples.
\n\u201cI hope that people are more than curious and they do get to the stage of asking questions and continuing to provide invitations for us to be part of events and performances and gatherings that happen, not only in Aurora, but across the Region. \u201cWe\u2019re still here and we\u2019re always open and willing as nations of people to bring that indigenous presence so I am hoping that is what will happen. I hope people will get comfortable with the reality we\u2019re still here and that they will be sensitized to open up some good dialogue and perhaps shift their perspective on our place in Canadian society.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more on The Temple of Fame, including tickets for each performance, visit auroramuseum.ca\/temple.<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir A lot has changed in Canada over the last 100 years. At this time, just a century ago, we were at the height of war, our men were dying by the thousands, and women were just on the cusp of getting the vote. It seems a world away but, in many respects, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[27,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/2018-05-03-01.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5l2","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-03 15:31:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}